GARNER GETS A CHANCE

BASEBALLER TO HAVE IMPACT NICOLE GARNER

THE journey to the top might not have been the conventional one for draftee Nicole Garner, but she plans on making up for lost time.

The 27-year-old was one of hundreds who attended the initial tryout day at GMHBA Stadium four years ago, but for myriad reasons it just wasn’t the right time for her to make the move here from Sale.

She has since forged a reputation at Casey in the VFLW competition, years after her baseball career took her overseas.

It was baseball that Garner fell in love with as a child, but football was always there in the background. She will look to use her worldly knowledge at her new club as she aims to play a mentoring role in 2020, but the sporting all-rounder says she is learning just as much from her younger teammates as they are from her.

“From my perspective, the experience I have from playing in other sports and being around other team environments will be able to help support the younger girls coming through,” Garner said.

“But I am learning from them just as much and from the coaches they have had and the things that I probably missed out on, so we bounce off each other really well.

“Some of the talent that is coming through is just incredible, so it is so amazing to see the girls that have been drafted now at 18 who have had a full career of football under them already. From a raw talent and technique and knowledge of the game experience perspective the next wave coming through is incredible to watch.”

Taken at pick 50 in the national draft, Garner is a former captain at Casey and won a premiership and best-and-fairest in Gippsland before being selected by Geelong.

She is likely to play off a wing or across half-back this season, a role she will likely fit into seamlessly given her natural fitness and competitive spirit.

Garner says the transition to life in the AFLW has been made far easier thanks to her relationship with coach Paul Hood, founded on a phone call in the days following the trials back in 2016.

“As small as it was, that phone call back in 2016 — where he saw something in me on that talent day and made that known — gave me the confidence that I could do this,” she said.

“That has helped me here because I have that connection with him already. Obviously I had to come in and meet him formally rather than just over the phone, but I already felt like I knew him and he is just amazing.

“He is such a fantastic coach and all-round great person. Any time of the day you can call him with any concerns — whether it is footballrelated or otherwise — and he is just the same Hoody all the time.

“You know what you are going to get, which is amazing.”