SOUTHERN Saints goalsneak Gabriella De Angelis has always loved Aussie rules football.

“I fell in love with footy when I was very, very young,” she said.  

“I grew up in a very strong and vocal Collingwood supporting household, so I didn’t really have a choice over which team I went for, but my mum asked me and my sister when we were very young if we wanted to do Auskick.

“We started doing Auskick, my sister wasn’t very sporty. I was definitely the one that was pushing this sporting agenda but she was a good sport. She went along with it but I sort of fell in love with it from the very beginning.

“I loved running around, I loved being up and about on the weekends and being around people, so I just fell in love with footy at Auskick.”

Having mixed it with the boys until Under 12s, De Angelis says she found it challenging to fit in and didn’t know that a girls league existed. Basketball teammates helped her do so, and a bright-eyed De Angelis rekindled her love for the sport, while also realising she had some talent in the code.

Her feats lead to being called up to TAC Cup squads (now known as Coates Talent League), firstly with the Sandringham Dragons and then at the Eastern Ranges when they came into the competition.

“I think it was this dual mindset,” De Angelis said of her footballing journey. “It was this dual idea of it being an outlet, and it was always something I loved doing and it was an escape for me.

Then when I started doing these academies, started developing my skills, started really pushing my endurance and the physical side, that’s when I started realising I could actually continue this – not really as a career, but definitely as something that I wanted to pursue and reach a higher level at.”

After finishing at the Ranges, De Angelis participated in trial days at several VFLW clubs – Casey, Richmond and at the Saints – but she felt at home straight away at the Saints, so stuck with the red, white and black.

She enjoyed her time as a midfielder throughout the junior pathway, but the excitement of being up forward is why De Angelis now features close to goal. Ever the crowd pleaser, she loves to get the home support involved in the thrill of a goal, and “making something out of nothing” brings her a lot of joy.

De Angelis was lucky enough to play in last year’s VFLW Grand Final, and despite the result, she speaks nothing but fondly of the day.

“That was a real, real highlight,” she said.

“The Grand Final was the result of a lot of hard work. We had to come together as a team in order to make it. I don’t think we were there purely based on our skill or our disposal efficiency. I think we were there because of how much each and every one of the players cared. I think we really put that into motion by how much we cared about succeeding.

“I had the best day. I enjoyed before, I enjoyed during and I even enjoyed after. I thought despite the result it was a day where I could just go and have a run around with my friends, and that’s what I think we all really play footy for in the end.

“We had fun, we could have done better, but I think that’s what this year is all about, trying to improve on that result. And I think that keeps us hungry.”

Although De Angelis has earmarked making it to the AFLW as a goal for some time, she confessed that she did not apply herself to achieving it as much as she perhaps should have. In 2023, it’s time to give it everything she’s got.