We didn’t get it done this year, but we will continue to grow and learn. 

We are only just getting started.

After a pre-season full of promise came a season full of significant challenges, disappointment and a little bit of heartbreak. What we felt that we built over the pre-season wasn’t enough, but just as things got really hard, I thought that we found ourselves again. 

I saw within the playing group more ownership, investment, expression, connection and ambition from more players than I’d ever seen before, and I believe we laid a platform for our path ahead.

One of the highlights for me was the response of the group in the last two weeks of the season. To finish on a high with a win against the Suns was a reward for that effort and intent, and I feel the will within the group to go again, right now. 

We are really excited by the development of our younger players this year which was highlighted at the club best and fairest with winner Amy McDonald (23), Becky Webster (20) and Olivia Purcell (20) in the top five. We also saw six players make their debut in the hoops.

We had the honour of wearing the first ever pride jumper, playing for the first time in an Indigenous jumper in an AFLW Djilang game, symbols that mean as much to our playing group as they do to our community.

I feel so honoured to have captained this team for the calibre of the individuals within it.

One of those players leaves us after joining the club as a foundation member. I have played more football alongside Aasta O’Connor than anyone else. A player who chose to come Geelong to help create something great and I know her legacy will continue to live on within this group just like Melissa Hickey and Anna Teague last year.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Maddie Boyd, Nicole Garner and Mia Skinner for their significant contributions and wish them well in the future. 

Finally, on behalf of the entire women’s football program I want to say a special thank you for your contribution and support. Without it we wouldn’t get the opportunity to do what we love, and while we may not yet be the greatest team of all, we still aspire to greatness and believe in our ability to achieve it.

Go Cats!

Meghan McDonald
AFLW Captain