Tara Murray
At just 22, Elisabeth Georgostathis is one of the Western Bulldogs most experienced players this AFLW season.
A number of departures the past couple of years and injuries to some more experienced players have left a young Bulldogs list.
On Saturday, Georgostathis is set to run out for game 50 in the blue, red and white.
For someone who grew up in Melbourne’s western suburbs it’s pretty special.
“It’s so exciting,” she said before the game. “It’s taken me about five years to get there ,
“It is pretty cool that every game has been with the Bulldogs. It’s a really good environment and I’m absolutely happy that I’ve played my 49 games so far at the Bulldogs.
Georgostathis said she had never thought about playing 50 games when she first started her career but it was something that kept getting closer and closer.
She said now as one of the more experienced players she was keen to help those who are coming through the system.
There’s been a lot of change at the Bulldogs the past few years which this group is embracing.
“There’s been challenges with girls moving on and stuff,” she said. “We’re seeing a lot of new girls and they’re all starting at a younger age which is so exciting for women’s footy.
“They are coming out and challenging the older girls..
“I’m just 22 years old and I’m one of the more experienced girls now, it is pretty cool.
“I’ve got to show and give my learnings and understandings of the younger girls on the playing list.”
After a slow start to the season where they struggled to score the first couple of rounds, the Bulldogs have started to find their feet.
They put two straight wins together against Collingwood and Sydney.
Georgostathis said the turning point came earlier than that.
“We didn’t start the season the way we wanted to,” she said. “Something shifted against Brisbane especially in the second half.
“Our pressure and effort has been there all season. It was more of a reward for effort.”
The Sydney game was a special one as the Bulldogs won at Whitten Oval for the first time in more than 900 days.
The Bulldogs trailed by three points at three quarter before winning by seven points.
“For me in the backline it was good not having it out of”our forward line,” she said. “We kept it in there and the girls did a really good job.
“The effort and pressure was amazing. It was only when there was two minutes left in the quarter I thought we have this.
“We’ve been able to get reward for effort in the past two games which has been really good.”
It didn’t get any easier for the Bulldogs on Saturday against the ladder leading North Melbourne,
Georgostathis said before the game that they were up for the challenge
We want to give them a challenge,. We think we can win this game.
Play the way we have the last two weeks, hopefully we can knock them off.
