The GIANTS’ first pick in the NAB AFL Women’s Draft, Jodie Hicks, has been signed by the Sydney Sixers for their upcoming WBBL03 campaign.

The talented athlete represented the Sixers for the past two WBBL campaigns, including being part of their Championship winning squad in 16/17.

The 20-year-old joined the GIANTS with pick five in the NAB AFL Women’s Draft on Wednesday.

“I always played footy when I was a young kid, I probably started playing AFL before I learned about cricket,” she said.

“Coming from a country town, I could only play until I was 14 so I started looking for other sports in Hay.

“I played netball, cricket, just played whatever I could. I still played rep footy every now and then and I’ve always liked it, every time at cricket I’ve had a footy in my hands so I’ve always wanted to pursue it.”

Hicks will now juggle her training commitments for both sports but with a week between the cricket and AFL seasons, she will be available for all games for both teams.

“We had a good chat with both the coaching staff and they were very accepting of it and both keen to help out where possible so I won’t say it’s going to be easy but looking at it at the moment, we should be able to do it,” she said.

“It will involve a lot of strength and running training and trying not to overdo things but both teams are on board.

“I reckon I’ll do both as long as possible and try and inspire others to do the same thing.

“Both sports at a very good stage. One’s going into fully professional and ones just starting out so as long as I can maintain my body and health I’ll participate in both as long as I can.”

Hicks hails from Hay in the Riverina and is a product of NSW/ACT Youth Girls Talent Pathway program.

Hicks starred for NSW/ACT at national level, twice being named in the Under-18s All Australian team.

After playing with or against many of the players in the GIANTS’ team, Hicks is looking forward to joining them at the highest level.

“There’s a lot of girls who I played rep footy with or who I grew up playing footy with so it will be nice to play alongside them because some I’ve just played against,” she said.

“We have a great group of girls and I think there’s a great culture so it’s definitely a reason why I wanted to be part of the season.”

Equipped with accurate kicking and hardness at the ball, Hicks will be seen in the GIANTS’ midfield or kicking goals up forward in 2018.