Life of a footballer is a personal insight by Calder Cannons and Diamond Creek footballer Chloe Molloy. The Life of a Footballer series follows on from last year’s edition which saw Bendigo Pioneers’ midfielder Jamieson Sheahan provide us insights into the inner workings of a TAC Cup club. In 2017, Chloe Molloy has joined the AFL Draft Central team and will give readers an insight into how she juggles university studies with her football at Diamond Creek, and her pathway to follow her dream into the AFLW. You can find her first instalment here

Two games have passed since I last checked in – with the most recent game against a determined St Kilda Sharks outfit on Sunday.

Unfortunately, we suffered out first loss for the season. Of course to lose is not a great feeling, especially when we know that we didn’t play our best footy – but we are more gutted knowing that we are so much better than what we displayed. Training on Tuesday night consisted of a longer review than usual and we thoroughly debriefed our performance. We placed a huge emphasis on the fact that it’s how we react to the loss that will define who we are and what we stand for as a footy team. But I couldn’t speak any more highly of our playing group and coaching staff, and I am confident that we will respond positively on the weekend, implementing learnings and feedback from Sunday’s game to get a better result.

Flashback to a few weeks ago; boy oh boy was that a nail-biter of a game. Darebin are a talent-flooded team, with major VFLW names associated to their club. Despite being a fresh player to the club, I had full understanding of the history behind the two rival teams, and how much this game meant to Diamond Creek.

It was a grouse weekend, as all three of our senior teams were playing at the same ground. It was a big day and it started off with two great wins – It was now up to us (The VFL team) to top it off and make it a clean sweep for the day.

I came up against a good defender on the day; she challenged me well and had constant touch on me. I was caught out of position a lot, to which I have reflected on and have been shown now how to adjust to this, which is good for me as it helps me expand my footy brain. It actually excites me with how much more I have to learn about the game. Darebin worked so well together, linking up the ground, making them a tough opposition.

It was a such a close match, and with an inside 30 in the last moments of the game, Sophie Abbatangelo secured a mark, went back and slotted the goal that put us in front by a few points. The final siren finally sounded, and as Clare Cosy wrote in her piece, “The little club that could, did.” The final win put the cherry on top; these three wins were to go down in history. Our backline were outstanding and kept us in the game. Every player contributed, and it was a tremendous team effort and success. It was a big day for the community, and I couldn’t be any more humbled to be part of that day and the club.

In other news, semester one of university has come to an end. So I am now exam free, stress free, and time free (meaning I have free time finally!!).

It has been good to have the weight of university and exams off my shoulders, and I am really looking forward to the break. It is a bit overdue.

As we all know, the exam period makes for one cranky, stressed woman, especially when you’re an A grade procrastinator like myself. As much as I am happy for the break, I am very keen to start next semester as I love the course and Holmesglen have been super supportive in balancing my lifestyle.

Work is going really well and I am learning how to become a barista with Ruby Green & Co, which is really handy. It is not as easy as it looks (well maybe it is and I just make it look difficult) – but anyway I am currently in training for that. So please don’t hesitate to pop down and grab a coffee from me! I have also been doing a stack of clinics with the AFL, which has been keeping me on my toes a fair bit.

I have also taken full advantage of my free time, and I could count on two hands the amount of times I have been out for breakfast/lunch/dinner within the space of one week. Fun fact for the audience, I am a massive brunch lover! And a coffee lover, so supply me with brunch and a latte, and I will be your best friend.

With all this free time that I now have, I managed to finally get to an AFL match! I am a Collingwood supporter (not sure how many of you will stop reading now I’ve mentioned that) but I went to the Collingwood vs Melbourne game. It was also the Freeze MND game; so I got to see all the celebrities go down the slide into the ice, personally I don’t understand why I wasn’t chosen to go down the slide (Cue laughing). It was a good evening, and the company made it much more enjoyable. It would’ve been a lot better if Collingwood won, but  nevertheless it was a game with a great cause and an exciting match. And I am pretty sure I got to witness ‘mark of the year’ by Jeremy Howe, I will never get ‘howe’ he does it.

Thanks again for reading, I am about to sit down and watch AFL 360 to watch my trusty Creekers skipper, Steph Chiocci on a segment. Also please feel free to donate me $2, as for every time I make an entry, I cost myself a $2 fine. But I do hope you enjoy the content as much as I enjoy writing them and keep up to date with my pieces. Keep an eye out for next week’s entry, as we take on VU Spurs who are now on top of the VFL Swisse Women’s ladder.

(Editors note – Chloe failed to mention that she slotted a bag of four goals against Geelong and now is sitting seven goals clear in the VFLW goal kickers list, with 16 goals for the season)