AUSSIE RULES Nothing to lose for Cats in finals
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MEG McDonald found out in an Uber the Cats would play finals.
Rushing to get to Whitten Oval, the Geelong defender knew her team’s hopes hinged on Collingwood’s clash with Brisbane at Victoria Park.
“I apologised (to the Uber driver) because I was being quite rude, but I was watching the footy (on my phone),” she laughed. “It’s a funny feeling, because we’re obviously pretty disappointed with the last two weeks and how we performed … certainly we were a bit flat after the GWS game and thought it might well be over.
“And then as Collingwood got up early I thought ‘this is just going to add to the heartbreak. It’s going to get hopeful, and then Brisbane are going to come back.’ But (the Magpies) got over the line in the end.”
For McDonald, it’s a far cry from the days of feeling like an impostor.
Cut by the Dogs at the end of AFLW01 and left unlisted in season two, McDonald knew she’d have to do the work.
She knew she belonged in AFL Women’s. She hadn’t been ready, sparking that sense of “impostor syndrome”.
But returning a missed call saw her find a home at the Cattery, where the defender is now preparing to play in a preliminary final.
Then there’s the nod of AllAustralian squad selection this week. “It’s an amazing honour – it’s strange to even be using words like that,” McDonald said. “I’ve always looked to the girls in the All-Australian team as almost in another league, but then I think as I’ve tried to get myself back into the league and then perform well; I appreciate more and more that it is just about hard work, good communication with the club and being in an environment that allows you to perform.
“I always believed that I had the ability to play AFLW. For it to have gone this well is a bit of a bonus.”
There’s a bit of a catch 22, given she’d be happy to not even touch the Sherrin each week.
“It’s exciting to be spoken of in those terms, but at the same time, I’m happy to not touch the ball week to week, being at fullback,” McDonald says.
“For the ball to go straight out of the centre and into the forward line, it’s happy days.”
Carlton star Darcy Vescio has shared digs and the housework with McDonald for the last four years, and if both Geelong and the Blues salute this weekend, they could well meet in the AFLW Grand Final.
Geelong has to get past the Crows first, at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
McDonald feels “liberated by the lack of expectation”, with the Crows favourite to take out a second flag in three seasons.
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