FORMER AFLW Bulldog now Darebin Falcon Angelica Gogos has achieved a lot in her short football career.

Unlike many players with on-par accomplishments, Gogos did not start her career until she was an adult. She initially fell in love with the sport by watching Collingwood as a kid.

“I grew up following Collingwood Football Club, so I just fell in love with watching them,” she said. “I never actually had much exposure as a young kid, I was playing soccer and netball so I also came into loving footy as a player later on in life, but always loved watching it, loved having a kick as a muck around, but grew to love it by watching it at first.”

Gogos’ footy playing journey though did not start until she was about 21 years-old, playing at Uni Games. She eventually found herself playing for Melbourne Uni in the what is now the VFL Women’s competition.

Then it was on to the AFLW, where she was drafted by the Western Bulldogs. She played five seasons at the Kennel, and was also a member of the 2018 premiership-winning side.

In 2017, Gogos noted that the Bulldogs rose quickly from the inaugural season disappointment to premiership glory.

“We didn’t have the best year as a club but it was a starting point and we worked really hard to get into the Grand Final the following year,” Gogos said. “Obviously we won that, which was pretty special so being a part of that, being a part of that history is something I’ll never forget. Then for me personally after that it was downhill with a few injuries. I retired due to injury so it was unfortunate.”

Although she decided to retire from the AFLW, that was not going to be the end of her footy playing journey, coming down to the Falcons ahead of the 2022 season.

“There was a bit of me that was not satisfied in finishing playing footy on an injury,” Gogos said. “That was my second year in a row of having a season ending injury, so I just had this fire in me to continue to play, but unfortunately my first year at Darebin last year ended on an injury as well so I’m keen on making this a year where I can fulfil that dream of playing a whole year.”

Known as a tough midfielder, the grunt needed for the role is why she became a midfielder in the first place.

“Definitely wasn’t playing any key roles, but I always just loved the in-and-under of being a midfielder,” Gogos said. “I was always known for my tackling and my in-and-under work and feeding it out to the players around me, so I’ve always loved the grunt work. I had a bit of time as a small back pocket, but now back in the midfield at Darebin which I love.”

With injuries ruining her past few seasons, just finishing out a whole year and bringing state league success back to the Falcons is front of mind for Gogos at the moment.

“I obviously know a lot about Darebin’s history and how successful they are and we had a really good dip last year, and I would love to see that again for the footy club,” she said. “Being someone new into Darebin, I’d like to see that side, that success they’ve had and to be a part of something like that would be pretty special. I’m getting a bit older so I don’t know how many years I’ve got in me, so where I’m at that would be something I’d love to be a part of.”