WHILE the Australian Diamonds are getting ready for a busy international calendar, two big name Aussie netballers have laced up their boots ready for another sport this summer.
Collingwood Magpies midcourter, Ash Brazill and recently retired defender, Sharni Layton have taken the field in 2019, with Layton crossing codes and joining second year footballer, Brazill at the Collingwood Magpies AFLW. Australian Netball League (ANL) midcourter, Taylah Davies is also taking the field in 2019, playing for GWS GIANTS ahead of playing for GIANTS Netball in the upcoming ANL season.
Brazill plays for Collingwood Magpies in both AFLW and netball, with all training conducted at Collingwoodâs home, the Holden Centre, in Melbourneâs sports precinct. Fortunately the two sports are played at different times of year, allowing Brazill to play in both codes throughout their respective seasons.
âIf I think about my journey itâs like, with netball, I’ve done it from such a young age that it just comes so natural ⊠I’ve always loved football but thereâs never been that path where you could even go anywhere,â Brazill said. âItâs pretty funny to just go like from netty to footy ⊠when Iâm on the court Iâm a netballer, when Iâm on the field Iâm a footballer. I never am one time playing and feeling like Iâm at the other so thatâs a good thing!â
One of the most challenging aspects of making the switch between the two sports for Brazill is how the different dynamics of the grounds can change the outcome of a game.
âYou know that stepping on a netball court itâs 30 metres long, the court doesnât change no matter where you go in the world,â Brazill said, comparing AFLW to the indoor sport of professional netball. She jokingly told her AFLW teammates that on court âsometimes the aircon is like, a little bit highâ, while training in wind, rain or shine on the field.
âWith AFL every ground is different ⊠our ground here that we practice on is a lot wider, and our first game was in Geelong and it’s so super narrow, so it completely changed the way we play,â Brazill said.
While the move from court to field has its own difficulties, Brazill says the switch to AFLW has been a big change because of the growth and amount of players as well as the immense skill displayed on the field.
âFor me at the moment itâs trying to figure out who these girls are. In netball I know every single player, I’ve grown up with them, itâs going into my tenth season so, like – Kim Green, I could tell you what sheâs gonna do before sheâs gonna do it and she could tell you the exact same for me,â Brazill said. âLast year I tore my hammy and missed about five games or something, and came back in Round 6 and played against Sabrina Frederick-Traub, so that was probably the most kind of pressure playing on one of the best in the league.
âIn netball you know these players inside and out and then you walk on the field like – Sabrina I knew because her face was everywhere for the AFLW, but how she plays? No idea. Sheâs just like a machine. So like I guess you can know them a little bit by watching her game but it’s so different playing them.
“Youâre playing girls when you donât even know their name yet, and itâs a mystery ⊠sometimes you feel like youâre going in there blind but I kind of like that as well, because they donât really know too much about you either.”
As for playing at Victoria Park, home of the Magpies long before the competitionâs demand outgrew the stadium, Brazill said the feeling of running out onto the field for the Round 2 clash against Melbourne was âunrealâ.
âOur fans at Collingwood are so loyal that it was like we were going back to like our home ground. We got told a bit of history before going out ⊠Collingwood was the first ever club to have a female stand, so like, just having that history alone and then being the first AFLW team to play out there was pretty cool,â she said.
As for her phenomenal tackle on Melbourneâs Tegan Cunningham, Brazill said she was mostly focused on her tackling technique to ensure she did not get Cunningham in the back or injure herself.
âIn that moment I think someone went to tackle her and she slipped them ⊠I just saw her and no one was in front of her and you just like – instinct takes over. I canât even really remember it to be honest,â tells Brazill. âIâm just like lucky that I got her, if I didnât get her it wouldâve been embarrassing!â
When it comes to balancing AFLW and netball, Brazill says that her training workload is managed to ensure she does not put her body under too much stress, though her 2018 season was completely different.
âWith netball we train every day – weâre in here from like 7am to like 2pm, and then footy we train three times a week and so thatâs from 6pm, we probably leave the club at 10pm at night,â Brazill said.
âAt the moment we have a physio thatâs overlooking both ⊠he monitors what I do. Last year it was tough, like we didnât have that so I just ran everything and then now heâs like âyouâre doing this for this long, then do the last rep offâ, so like Iâm still doing everything but I might do like two less reps than everyone else.â
Australian Diamonds gold medallist, dual Netball World Champion and ex-Magpies Netball goalkeeper, Sharni Layton has joined Brazill on the field in 2019, making the hop to AFLW after announcing her retirement from netball at the end of the 2018 Suncorp Super Netball season.
Brazill said it was no surprise to see Layton make the change, having spoken about it when Brazill decided to take up footy in 2017.
âItâs very different for Sharns, like I played footy growing up, Sharns hadnât ⊠skill wise sheâs gone from being like the best netballer in the world, to someone whoâs learning how to kick a football. From her very first session to now, sheâs improved out of sight,â Brazill says of Layton, who has been a close friend since age 18.
âShe doesnât have a leader badge in our team, but sheâs definitely one of our leaders that has been really helping teach the young kids what work ethic is at training and how to recover properly,” Brazill said.
“When weâre training sheâs full forward; Iâm full back, so weâre on each other! Itâs hilarious,â she said.
While Brazill is currently loving her footy, she says there are still some netball habits she can’t shake.
“I fake tan before every game – classic netballer – ‘look good, feel good, play good! When I was coached by Norma Plummer the only time she ever benched me was the day I didnât fake tan, and she thought I was gonna pass out … I’m so weird about it, like even with footy the girls are like ‘you act like youâre this tough kid and then you come in fake tanned’. Iâve got to, I’m a netballer!” Brazill said.