north east regional extra | February 19 - 25, 2020
nemedia.com.au
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February 19 - 25, 2020 By BELINDA HARRISON
FROM the ‘annoying little sister on the sidelines’ to an AFL Women’s (AFLW) champion, Daisy Pearce has come a long way since her Auskick days in Bright. Her list of achievements as a footballer is impressive a 10-time premiership player (seven of those as captain), six-time best and fairest VFL Women’s winner, five-time Darebin best and fairest winner, captain of Darebin in the Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL) and VFL Women’s (VFLW) from 2008 to 2016, representing Victoria three times at senior and under-19 level, being drafted in the inaugural AFLW season in 2016 by the Melbourne Football Club, where she was also named captain for the 2017 and 2018 seasons and won their best and fairest award both years (Daisy missed the 2019 season due to giving birth to twins Roy and Sylvie in February 2019), dual AFL Women’s All Australian player, captain of the AFL Women’s State of Origin match, where she was adjudged as best afield and now, as returning captain of Melbourne in 2020 after working hard to regain her fitness and hunger to get back to playing professionally. That’s to say nothing of Daisy’s off-field media work as a boundary rider with Channel 7 and SEN covering AFL and AFLW matches, appearing as a panel member of AFL Game Day and hosting her own podcast on SEN since last year. “I’m so thankful for the opportunities I’ve had with Channel 7 and SEN and the support and confidence they’ve thrown behind a raw country girl who just simply loves the game,” she said. Daisy also holds a Bachelor of Nursing/Bachelor of Midwifery from La Trobe University (Bundoora campus) and received La Trobe University’s Young Achiever Award last November. The award is presented to former students who have achieved significant career success within a relatively short period of time, and that couldn’t be truer for Daisy. “I feel like there are many more deserving winners than me but I was truly humbled to be recognised,” Daisy said of the achievement. Her introduction to football was no accident - her father had played and loved football all his life and Daisy’s older brother was also playing when she fell in love with the sport. “Like a lot of country towns, the footy club was pretty much the heartbeat of the community when I was growing up and I loved spending time there...I started playing as soon as I was allowed (which was at age 6),” Daisy said.
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Never say never to your goals
◆ NO DEMONS: Daisy Pearce returns as captain of the Melbourne Football Club this year following the birth of her twins in 2019. PHOTO: Quinn Rooney/AFL
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