By JARROD POTTER
PULLING on her beloved Bulldogs jersey once again, midfielder Katie Loynes completed a full circle journey on Sunday as she returned to football’s top ranks.
After 18 months spent rehabilitating knee and ankle injuries, Loynes, 29, originally from Berwick, got to live out her football dream once more – running out onto the MCG to play in the AFL.
She has risen through the local ranks from Berwick Women’s Football Club all the way to the premier standard and Loynes savoured every moment of her second chance football journey.
The Lyndhurst Secondary College teacher traded marking assignments for marking opposition as she roamed the MCG for the second time in her football career.
Preparing for her long-awaited return to the AFL – including publicity shots of her and other players on top of one of the MCG stands – Loynes was elated to be back in the spotlight for women’s football and resume her AFL career.
But the lure of spotlights and the grand atmosphere only took Loynes’ attention briefly.
Once the match started, she was focused only on the task at hand – trying to knock off Melbourne for the first time.
“I absolutely loved it – just getting ready, with the whole preparation for the match … I definitely thought it was a big thrill,” Loynes said.
“Running out onto the ground always takes you back a bit, but once the ball bounces you forget about the surroundings and you’re focused on doing your role for the team.”
Craig Starcevich joined the Bulldogs as head coach as well as a number of experienced players up and down the field to make the second time around more cohesive for Loynes, with every player buying into the belief they could defeat the Demons.
“I thought our new coach Craig Starcevich was excellent,” Loynes said. “The way the girls gelled together- there was a lot of belief – we had great leaders in all lines, Hutchins and Steph Chiocci being captain and Emma Kearney through midfield, which was great to have the belief that we could definitely win.”
But despite good preparations and buoyant confidence, the Western Bulldogs could not seize their chances late in the game to push ahead as Melbourne took an eight-point victory.
Loynes thought it boiled down to the age-old football problem; wasted opportunities.
“Both sides missed a lot of opportunities – we had most of the possession in our forward-50, but couldn’t capitalise on those chances,” Loynes said.
“We didn’t kick those running shots on goal and our missed chances in the final stages as well.”
She remains confident ahead of the second AFL match, scheduled for later this year, that the Dogs can get the job done in its fourth attempt and finally sing the song.
“I think the most important thing is that we’ll keep most of the girls together – we can really look at this game and played and improve on a lot of things,” Loynes said. “That’s probably the best thing and hopefully improves things for the following match.”
Women’s football received a ringing endorsement earlier this year from AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan as he set a tentative deadline for the Women’s AFL competition by 2017.
Loynes believes the AFL Women’s match – and increasing public awareness – will be the best springboard for increasing numbers to help make the league as strong as possible.
“Gillon has been a massive supporter of us – he came down to both rooms and congratulated us on what a wonderful game it was,” Loynes said. “Not just him speaking about it in the press, but all the newspapers have generated a lot more appeal for it.
“There was a heap of publicity with it being in the Herald-Sun the last three or four days before the match.
“At the moment we’re probably a little short on the number of participants – if that can increased then 2017 is definitely a possibility.”
A second AFL Women’s match this year is scheduled for Sunday 16 August ahead of the round 20 Dogs-Demons clash at Etihad Stadium and will be televised on Channel 7.
AFL
MELBOURNE 3.3 3.8 3.11 4.13 (37)WESTERN BULLDOGS 1.2 2.3 3.4 4.5 (29)Melbourne goals: Harris, Swanson, Bowers, Phillips. Best: Donnellan, Swanson, Blackburn, Pearce, Bentley, Bowers.
Western Bulldogs goals: Vescio, Hope 2. Best: Brennan, Hope, Anderson, Hutchins, Vescio, Chiocci.
