After a breakout season in 2021, GIANTS young-gun Georgia Garnett is looking forward to taking her game to the next level.
 
A NSW/ACT junior from Castle Hill, the 20-year-old burst onto the scene earlier this year after making her long-awaited debut in round three against the Suns.
 
From there she went from strength-to-strength, holding down a spot in the final-22 for the remainder of the AFLW season and going on to take out the club’s Rising Star and Community Awards at the Gabrielle Trainor Medal in the process.
 
With the 2022 AFLW season set to kick-off in just three short weeks, Garnett is looking forward to being back on the field for another exciting season of women’s footy.
 
“I’m super pumped for the season to start” Garenett shared.

“It feels like it’s been a very long time since we’ve played against someone else. We’ve done a lot of match simulation against each other so I can’t wait to finally be playing against opposition and other clubs. 
 
“We’ve put in a lot of work this pre-season and I think our brand of footy has changed a little bit from the past, so I can’t wait to see how that translates.  
 
“We have a really good mix of young-blood and experienced heads - with the young girls coming through it’s been fun to play with a lot of pace, and then those senior players bring a lot of hardness and skill to the group, so we have a nice mix. 
 
“Credit to Allan and the coaching staff for drafting girls who they knew would fit in and were good people, we all get along really well.
 
“We’re all really good mates off the field and we take care of each other, so I think that will show on the field too.” 
 
It’s been a long build up for the GIANTS AFLW playing group. 
 
Every off-season feels long, but this one has felt particularly arduous after strict COVID restrictions impacted much of the state over the past few months.



But with pre-season finally getting underway in October, Garnett is confident the hard work she and her teammates have put in will hold them in good stead heading into 2022.



“We were lucky enough to have access to the Club in the backend of the off-season heading into our pre-season in October,” Garnett said.



“We had a lot more girls in Sydney this off-season then we’ve probably had in the past so I think we were pretty fortunate to get some good sessions in early in what has been a pretty crazy year.
 
“Tom Reddin our strength and conditioning coach had a focus on us getting a lot quicker as a group and for me that’s something I really wanted to work on. In the off-season we did a lot of speed and strength work to help with my athleticism a bit more."
 
As well as the physical work Garnett has put in, she also faced another challenge when she caught COVID and was sent into isolation. 
 
The Rising Star was vocal about her experience and credited her double vaccination to her short recovery time.  
 
“Physically I’m feeling fine, I’m back at full training now,” she said.



“I played some of our intra-club match last week and felt fine, so physically I’m all good. It was probably just the mental side of it that was a little bit tough, knowing that I was missing an important block of pre-season, but coming back I’ve been able to catch up, our coaches have been really good with that." 
 
Looking ahead to January when the GIANTS will take the field for the first time in 2022, Garnett is looking forward to a big season in the orange and charcoal.



“I’m just really excited to be honest,” she said.
 
“I think the main thing I took out of last season was just a bit of confidence. I had that first year where I didn’t play, so towards the backend of that first year and the first two games of this year, I started to think maybe I wasn’t ever going to. 



“Having those games under my belt now has given me a lot more confidence coming into this pre-season, as well as having a better understanding of my strengths and weaknesses when I’m out playing.



“I have a clearer idea of what I need to do, and what I need to work on going into 2022, and I’m pumped about that." 
 
The GIANTS begin their AFLW season on January 9 against the Suns in Queensland, before returning home to Sydney for their first home game in round four on January 30 against the Bulldogs.



Show your support and join the Big Big Sound today at giants.afl/membership