Conti to use pain in AFLW
WESTERN Bulldogs dualsport recruit Monique Conti is using the pain of falling short in the WNBL grand final to spur her to success in AFL Women’s.
Conti, 18, played for the Melbourne Boomers in the WNBL finals series, which was claimed by Townsville a fortnight ago.
And the Bulldog said her burning desire to achieve the ultimate in AFLW has only been fuelled by the defeat.
“Definitely. It was very sad to lose the championship but that experience was amazing,” Conti said.
“Not coming away with the actual championship does, with going into footy ... it makes me hungry for some wins and to get out there and hopefully go all the way and so we end up with a great result, which would be good.”
Conti made her AFLW debut on Sunday, collecting 14 disposals in the Dogs’ 26- point win over Fremantle in the season’s opening round.
She said her experience playing in front of big basketball crowds paled in comparison to the 8500- strong crowd at Whitten Oval.
“You’re still playing in big crowds in basketball, but that’s only just under 4000,” she said.
“I’d never really played a big game of football before, so this is definitely great experience at the atmosphere was insane.”
Her performance impressed coach Paul Groves, and Conti said there was plenty more where that came from now that her first AFLW game was under her belt.
“It’s out of the way, the first game, and all the hype. Now, it’s on to game two,” the teenager said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing if I can keep bringing more of my own game within the team.”