After the GIANTS’ round one AFL Women’s win over Gold Coast, forward Rebecca Privitelli posted a series of photos to Instagram.
The first showed Privitelli soaked and grinning like a Cheshire cat alongside teammates Jess Dal Pos and Louise Stephenson. The following five photos showed the trio at different times from their junior years.
The first image is blurry, a sign of where camera phones were at in 2010, but it shows Privitelli and Stephenson in the green, yellow and red kit of their junior club St. Damians embracing Dal Pos, who is wearing the blue of Darebin.
Stephenson and Privitelli met first at St. Damians training.
“Priv had played junior footy with the boys and then we both started at St. Damien’s, the girls club, when we were 14,” Stephenson recalls.
“I didn’t talk to anyone until I was in my second year and then I was like, ‘Hey, I’m Lou’.”
A few weeks later they’d meet Dal Pos on the football field. Both teams were battlers - Dal Pos’ Darebin struggled to field a full team as both clubs languished at the bottom of the ladder.
“We played against each other relentlessly for about four years straight,” Dal Pos recalled.
“The first year St. Damians and Darebin both weren’t any good, is that right?” Stephenson said.
“Darebin were worse,” Privitelli interjected.
“Yeah, you guys would smash the pants off us,” Dal Pos said.
All three showed glimpses of footballing talent, Privitelli dominating up front, Stephenson playing in every position conceivable and Dal Pos dominating the ruck. Yes, you read that correctly, the pocket rocket played a game in the ruck for Darebin as Privitelli kicked 9.5 at full forward.
“Full-blown rucking,” Dal Pos recalls. “We were about six people short and I was the only person there.”
“Those youth girls days were when you had to go on the other team because the other team couldn’t field a full side so you’d have two or three go over to the other side,” Privitelli said.
Then it all changed. Privitelli’s dad took over as coach at St. Damians and Dal Pos’ dad also took charge at Darebin. The two sides faced off in a few grand finals.
Darebin had the wood over St. Damians, winning each of their grand final meetings, a fact that still annoys Stephenson. “Bloody Jess Dal Pos every single time. Her and her sister were like bullets.”
While they faced off in grand finals, their friendship was flourishing. The trio were selected in the Northern Football League’s representative squad and they bonded quicky before playing alongside each other for Victoira.
“I remember showing up to (NFL) training and saying, ‘If they’re (Privitelli and Stephenson) not there I’m not going to go’,” Dal Pos said.
“I’d get so nervous in the car and my dad would be like, ‘Why are you stressing? You’ll be picked, you’ll be fine’, and I was like, ‘I’m not worried about selection, I’m worried about the social situation’.
“I had no one to talk to and half the team scared me.”
Reflecting on those early photos and what women’s football like was at the time, they had no thoughts that they’d ever be able to play at the highest level. A national women’s competition was just the occasional whisper at AFL House at the time.
AFL with a W next to it was the work of dreamers. The idea that the media would debate about having to add an M alongside the AFL branding to signify that it was a men’s competition never entered the ether.
For Privitelli, Stephenson and Dal Pos – and all of the women and girls playing football across the country – women’s football was completely different at that time. It was a tight-knit community and a safe space. Jumpers didn’t fit properly and were often not cut for the fit of women, but it didn’t bother the trio.
As senior football took over, Privitelli joined Dal Pos at Darebin while Stephenson joined Melbourne University.
Stephenson and Privitelli played alongside each other for the Western Bulldogs in the inaugural exhibition match, but the trio wouldn’t feature on the same field until the GIANTS’ round one 2018 clash with Melbourne.
Stephenson and Dal Pos were among the GIANTS’ first signings. Although consistent players in the VFLW competition, both wanted to find opportunities outside of Victoria. Privitelli also met with the GIANTS, but landed at Carlton via the draft.
“I rang up the GIANTS and said I’d be happy to move if you’ll have me,” Stephenson said.
“That’s when I met with Richard Griffiths (then GIANTS Chief Operating Officer) and Tim Schmidt (then GIANTS AFLW coach).
“Obviously coming up here was going to be a massive challenge and I was excited to be in a brand-new club and a state that didn’t know women's footy that well just yet, to help grow that a bit.”
“I wanted to get out of Melbourne,” Dal Pos said bluntly. “I knew I wasn’t going to get picked up in the draft and if I do, it won’t be where I want it to be.
“I was keen to do this (move to Sydney) no matter who else gets picked, and the second or third person they mentioned to me was Lou.
“I was like, ‘thank God’.”
After the first season of AFLW, Privitelli and Carlton parted ways so Stephenson started her campaign to get her friend to the GIANTS. Privitelli’s first season at the club was tough. She played just one game and at the end of the 2018 season, found herself delisted again.
A season of searching for balance and developing her game playing for the UNSW-ES Bulldogs in Sydney AFL’s Premier Division Women’s competition had her fit and firing ahead of the 2019 Draft. After a year out, Privitelli was ready to come back.
Her first game in round one showed what she could do as she barely dropped a mark in the wet. In round three she kicked three goals to announce herself as a forward force to be reckoned with.
For Stephenson and Dal Pos, they’ve quietly enjoyed watching their friend return to the form that saw her lovingly dubbed ‘Richo’ after Richmond full-forward Matthew Richardson.
“She would have smashed it from the get-go, but there’s been different things that have happened that stopped that,” Stephenson said.
“This talent that we’re seeing in Priv right now, she’s always had it. The environment, the coaches and the work that Priv has put in has helped her to thrive.”
“For the three of us, it’s been about our life journey, not just our footy journey,” Dal Pos said.
“The three of us can play footy, we’ve always known that, we (Dal Pos and Stephenson) just got really lucky and got here first and sorted our stuff out, and had change at the right time.
“I think you (Priv) needed it earlier but couldn’t get it but when you got up here you got it.
“You were always destined for this you were born for it. I think the three of us sorted out our lives and now we’re here and it’s wholeheartedly right.”
Dal Pos is now part of the GIANTS’ leadership group and is one of only two players within the squad to have not missed a game. Stephenson credits Dal Pos with playing a crucial role in cultivating the culture within the GIANTS’ AFLW program.
For Privitelli, she’s thrilled to be playing alongside a player that she has idolised since childhood.
“When I was younger – and I don’t know if I’ve ever told her this – I don’t know if ‘obsessed’ is the word but I wanted to be friends with Dal Pos,” Privitelli said.
“Every time I spoke to her, I was so shy and I just wanted her to like me because I thought she was so cool.
“I played at Darebin with her as well and the thought that she even thought that she wasn’t good enough to get picked up in Melbourne shocks me, because I’ve always held her in such high regard as a player.
“It’s no surprise that she’s thriving in this environment.”
When they speak about playing with each other each weekend at the GIANTS, it brings out nothing but positivity. Stephenson simply says she “loves it”. If it wasn’t for Privitelli’s post, Dal Pos wouldn’t have reflected on their journey together.
“I always forget about it,” she said. “It feels so normal.”
When asked what they think of when they look at those photos taken some 10 years ago, and what they were thinking at the time, they’re quick to answer.
“I didn’t think I’d be living in Sydney playing with these guys,” Privitelli said.
“I think in terms of looking at the state teams now you genuinely have to bullet the footy and hit someone on the chest to make a team, whereas half of our team probably couldn’t kick in that first year,” Stephenson said.
“Vicotria were elite compared to everyone else so looking at the standard of the game from then to now, so it’s incredible to see how far it’s come in 10 years.”
“I don’t want to relive those hairstyles,” Dal Pos said, pained. “The low pony… why?”
