WHY MARDI LOVES HER FOOTY
MARDI Dangerfield’s love for footy took on a whole new meaning once she pulled on the boots herself.
The wife of Geelong superstar
Patrick Dangerfield has long been surrounded by the game, but when she ran onto the field for the WAMMOS — the Geelong Amateur women’s team — there was an instant connection.
“Local footy is the best,’’ Dangerfield said. “Just a good community and family vibe and all the good stuff about sport.
“It’s still super competitive but everyone has a different reason, I suppose, for being there and different priorities. But to be there together and playing for the love of the game is pretty special.”
Dangerfield started playing her second season with the club on Sunday, supported by her Brownlow medallist husband and their two children, George, 3, and Felicity, 1.
She said the success of the AFLW had helped fuel the local interest.
“It wasn’t so much that I really desperately wanted to play footy, I just knew I wanted to make sure that opportunity would be there for our junior girls coming through and that any girls who desperately want to play footy, they had somewhere to go,’’ Dangerfield said.
“That’s probably a similar comment that the AFLW girls make. They have absolutely inspired so many people, but not everyone wants to play at that elite level. They just want to play because they love it.
“Then once I turned up I completely fell in love and was obsessed and I think it’s the best sport ever.”
But Dangerfield has so far failed to recruit some of the other Geelong Cats’ partners to join the team.
“I have offered it literally to everyone who brings it up around me,’’ she laughed.