? ??????? ??? ???-?????? ??? ?????????? ??? ?????? ??????? ?????? ??????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ????????, ?? ???? ????? ?? ?? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ???? Nicola Barr ?? ???? ????? ??? ????? ?????. ?

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I first started playing AFL at school in year 11. I always played lots of different sports growing up, and our Sports Director asked us if we wanted to give AFL a go. I said yes, and the rest is history!

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AFL is a sport that requires lots of different skills. Because I played so many different sports growing up, I loved AFL because it was almost like a combination of all of those skills – running, kicking, catching.

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I’ve got some great memories of AFL Youth Girls camps, travelling around Australia to play against other states in U18s. I loved making new friends and learning the game along the way. I can’t go past winning a couple of junior premierships with my junior club either!

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I started playing footy at Sydney Uni when I was still in high school. It was a pretty different game to junior football, much more physical than what I was used to. But it forced me to step up my skills and my ability to run in the game. I loved the opportunity and Sydney Uni was a great place for me to start my senior women’s football.

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It was more brutal than I was expecting! But I absolutely loved it.

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Yes, it definitely was. I remember heading to the inaugural draft in Melbourne back in 2016 and was so excited when they took me at number one. It was all pretty surreal. The Giants have been amazing, and I am really looking forward to seeing us continue to develop and improve.

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We train at different times to the mens program, so often see them when they leave and we are on our way in to train. We’ve had a couple of training sessions with the boys which were great. They have such elite skills and so those trainings are an opportunity to step up. We’ve also had a couple of the boys assist with coaching us. Heath Shaw in particular has been on the sidelines with us for some games and his knowledge of the game and support for us was awesome.

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The AFLW program has been a rollercoaster over the last five years. It can be a challenge playing elite football in a part time environment, but we’ve learnt a lot over the last five years about how to be the best that we can be. Each year we’re continuing to grow and learn how to get the best out of everyone. I’m so excited to see what the next few years bring.

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I spend my teenage life growing up in the North Shore, and so when there was an opportunity to play for my local senior club in premier division I was excited. The Bombers are really invested in their women’s program and want to see it continue to improve. You can see the success of the program simply through the amount of women’s teams there now are at the Bombers! The Bombers are passionate about their women’s program and that’s the thing that drew me in.

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It’s hard to go past Isadora Mcleay right now – she’s obviously just been drafted to the Giants and she’s a player that’s been able to develop her skillset and footy smarts at the Bombers. Whilst she is injured now, I know she’s going to be a star in the AFLW one day. There are also several other players who have been in the mix with the Giants train on squad – Georgia Walker, Dom Carruthers and Zoe Hurrell. The Bombers program is supportive of anyone who wants to have a go and develop their footy. You definitely get as much out of footy as you put in and I wouldn’t question any of the girls’ efforts!

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Can’t go past Dom Carruthers!

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Haha! I am really enjoying doing lots of different things right now, one of them being bit of media every now and then. It’s something that I enjoy and if I can continue to do bits and pieces alongside playing then any experience is good experience.

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