The evolution of AFLW is creating an incredible legacy for girls’s soccer in accordance with the competitors’s first-ever draft decide.
Nicola Barr was taken by the Giants with decide No. 1 of the 2016 draft and can play her fiftieth sport this weekend in opposition to the Demons.
“I’m feeling really old, to be honest,” Barr laughed. “I don’t think I am old, I might just be a bit older in my team.”
But the 27-year-old remains to be in a little bit of disbelief at how rapidly the AFLW has had an influence on the subsequent era of footballers.
“To be a part of the AFLW since day one is such a privilege,” Barr mentioned. “The level of the competition and the style of football that we’re seeing has been amazing.
“I look at the legacy we’re leaving for younger girls, it’s really special. So many girls are picking up football from a young age.
“As a result, the young players coming into the competition are incredible. They’re so skilful and they look like they’ve had a footy in their hands for a long time.”
The 50-game milestone has turn into a major one in latest seasons for AFLW gamers as the standard of the competitors continues to enhance.
Barr is simply the second participant to do it on the Giants and is one in all simply two gamers nonetheless on their record from that first season.
And slightly than relaxation on her laurels, the subsequent era of gamers are pushing her to enhance.
“She’s one of our best trainers,” Cam Bernasconi, the Giants’ AFLW coach, mentioned. “It’s no fluke that she’s such an important player for us.
“I think the best thing I’ve found coaching Nic is her ability to evolve as a player. When I was involved in AFLW in year one, she was a wing and halfback. Then last year she came in and was a forward. Now, she’s an inside mid.
“Her ability to evolve and challenge herself to become the best player she can be has been awesome.
“We’ll really celebrate Nic this weekend. Hopefully, if you’re trying to find a bit of motivation internally you’d love to crack in and have a really strong game.”
While the Giants have been on the flawed facet of a slim round-one defeat to the Swans, there’s a whole lot of perception within the group that they’re on the best path.
After accidents impacted Bernasconi’s first season in cost, their free-flowing sport model was on show at North Sydney Oval and the gamers really feel extra comfy within the system.
The nature of the 10-round competitors means time is proscribed to show their season round, and it will likely be a tricky job in opposition to the reigning premiers, Melbourne, at Manuka Oval on Sunday.
But Barr is assured that this group has what it takes.
“We know we can play better football than that,” Barr mentioned. “[It was] probably just too many poor decisions in the last quarter.
“We’ve got a really young team, I think on average it’s the youngest team in the comp. But it’s an exciting brand of footy … we’ve got a lot more method to that fast-ball movement than last year and we know we’ve got the people in the team to make that work.
“You think about the Giants’ men’s team, they had a slow start and now they’re in finals. They’ve got a few more games to make that system work.
“But I don’t think I’ve ever had as much belief in our team as I have had this year.”
Originally revealed as Nicola Barr, the AFLW’s inaugural No.1 draft decide, continues to drive requirements on the Giants forward of her fiftieth sport
Source: www.news.com.au
