“Hello you’ve called the GIANTS, this is Maddy speaking.”
GIANTS AFL Women’s midfielder Maddy Collier is busy at work as the first face you see when you enter the GIANTS’ reception area.
Between taking calls, serving customers at the team store and welcoming visitors to the WestConnex Centre, the 23-year-old is able to reflect on her busy 2018 and look forward to the 2019 pre-season, which begins on Thursday.
“I’m very excited,” she said. “I think it’s been too long since we’ve been together and I’m keen to meet the new girls.
“Training goes from being those boring running sessions you have to do on your own, to being able to get out on the park with everyone and kick the footy.
“It’s a pretty exciting time of the year.”
Collier’s enthusiasm for the new season is due to her renewed outlook on the game.
“It’s easy to get caught up in how significant the competition is,” she said.
“Not that it’s a bad thing but I think I’ve proved to myself that every time I take a step back and see the bigger picture, put things into perspective and enjoy the process, I end up playing better.
"I've realised I need to not overthink what’s going on and to embrace it all and play because I love the game.
“I don’t want it to be something that stresses me out, I want to play because I enjoy it.”
The GIANTS’ 2018 campaign, and Collier’s time spent with Essendon's VFLW side has taught the Nowra product some important lessons.
“I didn’t have the best season, but it’s actually taught me quite a lot about myself but also I guess where the level of footy is at and where it’s heading,” she said.
“The VFL was different, I’ve never experienced anything like that.
“I went down there because I wanted to take the next step. There was lots of learning to come out of playing in the VFLW and you get to line-up against some pretty good players so that was good, and I made a lot of new friends and lived somewhere different.
“I’m kind of just keen for the next season to start after all I’ve learned in 2018.”
The GIANTS return to pre-season training on Thursday and Collier is looking forward to meeting her new teammates.
Collier played with draftee Ingrid Nielsen at the UNSW-ES Bulldogs and coached the GIANTS’ top pick Alyce Parker at state under-16s level.
“I used to play with Ingrid at UNSW and she’s a booming kick and is a great girl,” she said.
“She works really hard around the ground which is great.
“I coached Alyce Parker back in the day and she’s been a gun from the get-go, she’s only going to get better.
“She’s a left footer who loves a Dusty Martin don’t argue and she’s an awesome kid.”
