#4 - With Tayla Harris

Tayla Harris needs no introduction — from Australian boxing titles to AFLW Premiership, she’s earned her place alongside some of the most iconic athletes in the world. Through her unapologetic authenticity, Tayla inspires the next generation to chase whatever they put their minds to. Join Bonnie as she sits down with Tayla for a raw and empowering conversation about sport, identity, and staying true to yourself.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 00 (00:06):
Hello and welcome to Too Good Talks.
I have another extraordinaryindividual in the studio today
and we are going to take a deepdive into her journey and also
have a giggle along the way aswell as have a deeper meaningful
conversation.
Taylor Harris, welcome to theshow.
Thank you.
That was great.
Did you like it?
Yeah.
Obviously, just before thatstarted, the jingle, yeah, I

(00:29):
didn't know what to expect.
You did an excellent job.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I've been working on my intro.
We're only a few episodes deep,so we're We're, you know, we're
still feeling it out.
And I think that was a goodbring in.
But thanks for coming.
Thanks for coming to the podtoday.
My pleasure.
I want to dive right in to justsome recent events.
You had a social media postrecently where you decided to

(00:52):
basically trick everyone thatyou had shaved your head.
Well, yeah, I just don't care.
So I just do whatever I want inthe moment and I just...
was obviously doing somethingelse.
I was filming an ad and forthat ad, I had to have a bald
hat on or a bald head orwhatever.
And the makeup people wereincredible.

(01:15):
They were full cinema.
Oh, cool.
Movie makeup people.
experts and so they've made myhair bald and you wouldn't even
know my obviously real hair isunderneath anyway I was taking
photos thinking how funny isthis um and then one particular
photo I was like oh this thislooks real I'll just see if I
can get a few people and thenyeah Nan saw and she started

(01:37):
crying oh no um and yeah I got afew messages saying like have
you really done this it wassweet like some people were very
people were super likesupportive on your I was reading
the comments and I was like,because I was trying to figure
out if this was real or fake, aseveryone was.
But everyone was so supportiveand like, you've been wanting to

(01:58):
do this for ages.
And I'm like, what?
Yeah, because I messaged someof my friends saying like,
comment this so it can doubledown on like convincing people.
Then I put some stories onwhich helped my case.
Helped the cause.
So yeah, it was hilarious.
But then it was quite funnybecause obviously some people
were nice about it and whateveror whatever.
So I thought, and then on thedirect messages, specifically

(02:21):
guys had heaps to say about whatthey thought in a negative way.
So I was like, this is reallyinteresting because I didn't do
it.
It's like a good socialexperience.
It was.
It was an experiment.
Yeah.
Because I didn't do it.
Actually, I was kind of like,oh, well, whatever.
It doesn't actually matter.
But had I have, and thesepeople say awful things, it's
like, geez, get a life probably.
Yeah, absolutely.

(02:42):
That is something.
But anyway.
You went to Paris.
during the Olympics.
And you, I really want to talkabout this experience because I
was hella jealous sitting inMelbourne and I knew you were
going on this, on this trip, andyou got to meet some inspiring
and incredible people on thisexperience.

(03:03):
How did it come about and whowere the people that you met?
Yeah, I had an opportunity.
Nike is one of my majorsponsors who I've been with for
four years to date and I've justsigned on for another four
years.
So congratulations.
I've got to do some really coolthings so far, but this one
really topped it.
I'm part of a cohort ofathletes, Nike athletes,

(03:25):
obviously.
called the Female Athlete ThinkTank, or Athlete Think Tank,
and it's women.
So we go and we, in line with amajor event, obviously the
Olympics on this instance, andwe all spend a week or so
together and do heaps of reallyconstructive workshops and have
insight into things that Nikecan do share with us for example

(03:48):
innovation of sports bras likewe had some input and influence
on things that are coming infuture because who better than
the athletes who wear them andutilize them so I really respect
and appreciate that Nike dothat and then to invite me as
part of it is one of my mosthighly yeah when I think about

(04:10):
like the things that I'veachieved achieved in my career
that is up the top for one ofthe top ones so absolutely it's
a credit to you just to quicklyinterrupt credit to you and how
you've taken yourself from likeplaying AFLW being a boxer as
well but then elevating yourselfinternationally like it's a
credit to how you go about whatyou do like your brand but also

(04:32):
like the authenticity that youshare whether it's through
social media through podcastslike this and the media that you
do take part in like it's acredit it to you so that's a
huge tick and like well donethanks yeah no I yeah it was one
of those things that came upand it was it worked and I
obviously told the foot we werein pre-season at this point and
I let Mick head coach know andanyone else who needed to know

(04:56):
in as much notice that I couldwhich was heaps of notice and I
explained what it meant and whatit was and how this can help me
in my personal life and how Ican go and bring back some bits
of advice or some gold that ihad learned over there from some
pretty incredible athletesnamely serena williams was there
but also there was yeah i meanthere was sue bird who's in wnba

(05:19):
legends yeah and then hall offamer yeah track and field
athletes and then yeah you'vegot um paralympians and then
literally all of the spaces werecovered and everybody was
represented which is the wholepoint um so to be able to share
space with them and I found theconversations like on the bus,
for example, on the way to thenext thing that we were doing

(05:41):
really valuable because thoseare the conversations that are
really casual and it's not somuch pressure.
You're just sitting there andchatting and getting to know
each other.
So, yeah, I will never regretgoing on that experience.
And I think that I got toexperience something that not
only is memorable for the restof my life, but probably changed
the trajectory of my life in asense because I learnt some

(06:03):
incredible mindset tips fromathletes who have been at the
absolute top.
Not just these athletes who aredoing well and whatever.
These are literally the bestever in history.
Best of the best.
So how else...
You have to take those...
This is life.
You have to take opportunitieswhen they come.
And it was something that I hadticked off in the appropriate
way to get approval for with myalready...

(06:25):
committed status at footy andyeah just an opportunity that is
as big as this and like yousaid those little conversations
with these athletes what was itlike meeting Serena Williams Sue
Bird like were there specificlittle gems that you did get
from them that you still hold onto now yeah I think probably

(06:50):
what I would say about meetingthem is that they're just normal
people like everyone else andthe whole landscape of this
particular trip and group wasthat we're all on an even
playing field so to speak so iguess the conversations were
just very normal and it was easyfor me to not get overawed by
serena for example who'sliterally um the best tennis

(07:14):
player on the planet yeah butyeah but i didn't like in that
moment i was just like this isserena you know not everything
else that goes along with hername.
And so that conversation wasreally cool because it was just
that.
But in terms of insight andthings that I picked up from
her, one of them, which I'vetaken with me and I felt that I

(07:36):
knew was powerful, but curiosityis the one that she said and
continued to speak about.
Not only her, but othersresonated with this, but
curiosity throughout manyaspects of life whether it be
obviously sport but business aswell but she was using like
explaining things like remaincurious about why your body is

(07:57):
reacting in a certain way or whythis person or situation has
presented itself in this momentlike why would that be rather
than just thinking like this iswhat is going on right now it's
like of course live in it and doit but definitely consider that
there could be more to it orthat you could be making more of
it yeah 100% I'd love to likechat about a little bit more

(08:22):
about curiosity because this issomething like going through
this getting the podcast up andrunning and like some key values
that this podcast is based offis one of them is curiosity
because we have to remaincurious and particularly when
you want to have meaningfulconversations you need to be
curious and want to know moreabout your life, your journey

(08:43):
and all of that but it'ssomething that's really stuck
out for me and something that'sbecome a goal of mine for this
year is remaining curiouswhether that's in your craft and
like learning more aboutfootball and that specifically
for me but when it comes to youlike your relationships, your
friendships or things that likemay piss you off, you're like
remain curious and lean intothat rather than like having a

(09:04):
knee-jerk reaction and you knowjust reacting to be like oh you
know that shit that's annoyingand it's like oh no why did it
make me feel like that and thenyou can work through it a little
bit I think a little bit morematurely and have a bit more
perspective when you're workingthrough different things for
sure I totally agree and I thinkalso with that why would they
react like that or act like thatto you it's like you don't know

(09:27):
what this person is obviouslymaybe going through or whatever
but more so you don't know wherethat's really come from like I
think it's so valuable just tobe able to have perspective in
that moment of heat or maybe youyou're a bit angry or whatever

Speaker 01 (09:41):
yeah

Speaker 00 (09:42):
but if you're able to get a hold of that and
actually go what is going onhere in a real inquisitive way
rather than an anger I thinkit's probably like a reflection
of like maturity as well yeah Ithink so yeah when you become
when you can step back and kindof look at things in more
perspective and see it withcuriosity.

(10:04):
But I think there's real powerin it.
I think that word curiosity isso powerful in how you approach
different things.
Yeah, I agree.
And also, I guess withadversity or challenges that
come your way, I guess there'salways...
Positive somewhere in theremight be pretty far down
possibly if it's particularlychallenging, but there's going

(10:26):
to be something that comes ofit.
And yeah, to be able to keepchipping away and finding that
and realising that is actually agood part of the journey.
And so all the path to personalgrowth is often through...
Being curious, sitting at thebottom of the pit that whatever
resilience building you find andyou see the light at the end of

(10:47):
the tunnel.
Oh, that's such a coolexperience, Daisy.
Like how I don't think,obviously people will always
have their opinions on yourdecisions because you're in the
limelight.
But to go and experience that,rub shoulders with like-minded
people, normal people, but alsobe able to come back and learn

(11:07):
and utilise things that impactyour life.
What a cool experience.
Yeah, well, not only that, Igot to...
also bring that back to myteammates and at the time it was
the perfect scenario because Icame back immediately off the
plane to training and I hadorganized a presentation of
sorts yeah for the group of whatI learned I had my notepad full
and I said and then it wasquite candid because I was kind

(11:29):
of flicking through and sayinglike oh yeah and then I've
written this I don't really knowwhat it means oh yeah that's
right this is what I spoke to soand so about so yeah that felt
like I was able to give back tothe footy club who who allowed
me and gave me permission to gowhich of course I didn't have to
but realistically when Iconsider in the grand scheme and
how things unfolded is I guessbizarre how the world works like

(11:52):
I ended up obviously beinginjured for the season but in
saying that and I think aboutthe fact that had I not have
gone then got injured in thefirst quarter of the first game
it would have just been likehave I missed an opportunity of
a lifetime like yeah and forwhat like it just yeah that
never is relative because itdidn't happen like that's not
how it unfolded but I'm veryhappy that I did go and it at

(12:14):
the end of the day when I'm 60or something and telling my kids
or grandkids about thisexperience it's Any of the other
stuff is irrelevant.
Only the moment that I got toleave and be in and make the
most of is what gets told.
Yeah, absolutely.
No, what an experience.
And probably all of us, allyour friends definitely were

(12:35):
here in Melbourne.
We're jealous of thatexperience, but we've also been
able to talk to you and you'veshared what you have learned,
not only to your teammates, butto your close circle and friends
around you, which we do reallyappreciate that.
So thanks for sharing thatexperience.
So cool.
But you did just mention thatyou were injured first quarter
of last year with yourshoulders.

(12:56):
How's your recovery going?
Where are we at?
How's the mind-body feelingleading into, well, we're in
pre-pre-season at the moment,but leading into the 2025
season?
I'm in a good spot at themoment and it's been five,
almost six months or so since myleft shoulder operation, which
is the point where you kind ofstart to feel yourself again and

(13:17):
you can actually get back intoproper training.
And I definitely feel that withboxing training, particularly
like each session, I feel likeI'm back to normal, like I'm
getting my speed back and powerand reaction time and
everything.
So that's a fun part of therehab journey.
Yeah.
I mean, obviously it was, superchallenging, but it would have
been pretty crappy if it was oneshoulder, but having to have

(13:40):
two back-to-back shoulderreconstructions was not ideal.
That's a long time not boxingfor you.
What was that like?
Yeah, I think I was talking tomy coach, Ty, about this today.
The fact that it's veryunderstated when an athlete gets
injured that they literallycan't do the one thing that they
do, right?
It's so...

(14:00):
mentally challenging beyond theactual injury.
Honestly, the injury and thepain and the rehab and doing the
exercises and whatever is fine.
It's all part of the job.
But the the actual fact thatyou just can't do the thing that
you love and put your wholelife into is bizarre.
And I guess that's unique toathletes in a sense.

(14:21):
And with our season AFLW beingso far between seasons, it's a
really long time in between, butobviously I've got my boxing as
well.
So to have been able to returnto that recently has been a very
big difference for me and mygeneral wellbeing.
But yeah, boxing is, I justadore my boxing gym my boxing

(14:43):
community boxing itself so thatadded in as well as obviously
returning to football prepre-season with teammates like
all these things are falling inline so i'm in a good spot now
but with the operation i'd neverhad an operation before other
than the right shoulder the yearbefore the year earlier or
whatever And so I was talking todad about it and he was saying

(15:05):
how, he's a mechanic and he wassaying you don't get a boat or a
car and not expect to serviceit or upgrade it.
And so that helped me a bit.
I like that analogy, that's agood one.
Thinking, well, I mean, I'm anathlete and this is a high
performing vehicle, so to speak.
The highest of performance.
Well, ideally.
Anyway, so of course, yeah,there is necessary to fix it up.

(15:26):
Dad also had a hip replacementin the same year.
So thankfully- But yeah, it wasreally full on and it was
something that I hadn'texperienced in my career.
I had a minor knee thing a fewyears ago, but other than that,
I'd been very lucky with injuryand to have two major ones was
challenging, but I'm thankfulnow for it because the

(15:47):
resilience factor is enormousand I can be proud of the way
that I've got through it.
all I can do now is come backand enjoy playing footy and
boxing.
And obviously I'll try my bestto play well and that will all
be what it'll be.
But at the end of the day, liketo be able to not have played
for a

Speaker 01 (16:04):
fair

Speaker 00 (16:05):
chunk and now to get a little taste again, it's
exciting.
It is exciting.
And I think people can be like,maybe not quite understand what
it's like when you do take awaythe thing that, that athletes
love to do and it's play theirsport boxing or footy and when
that's taken away a lot ofpurpose is also taken away and I

(16:25):
think A lot of people do talkabout identity for athletes.
And yes, a lot of it is wrappedup in your sport and when
things are going well and you'reable to play and enjoying
yourself.
But when that is taken away, itreally highlights potentially
the work that individuals needto do to balance out their
identity.

(16:45):
But that takes time.
And when it is taken away andyou have...
been forced not to play it's sohard to just like sometimes
there are some grim days likeyes there's like worse things in
the world but like for athleteand their identity and not being
able to play the thing theylove, it actually can get, it's
difficult.
Like I've just gone through itas well with my knee and ankle.

(17:08):
Well, as you know, it's notjust the playing.
The playing is just oneelement.
It's the fact that I have twoborder collies and I need two
arms.
Yes, that's also important.
And I couldn't like, or drive.
I couldn't drive for a portionof time.
And it's that independence thatyou lose through injury.
And of course, as youmentioned, like there are worse
things, but in the moment it isvery challenging.

(17:29):
day-to-day life when you'reovercoming an injury and you're
the type of person that requiresthe outdoors or owns two border
collies and needs them to berun around so yeah and I also
had bought a house and wasrenovating a house so I'm
ripping up carpet in a sling anddoing all the like hitting
nails with the water all thisstuff in immobilized which is

(17:52):
infuriating because I like to dothings myself and I like to get
things done um I like to getthem done yesterday so yes yeah
today and they haven't been donebecause you have shoulder
surgery exactly so I don't knowthose little challenges
presented but yeah all uh in thepast now so Yeah, I guess it's
important to reflect.
I think whenever you hurtyourself, you don't realise how

(18:13):
much you use it.
Yes.
Yes.
Like this was obviously ankle,knee and shoulders are obviously
really important.
But when I was on a scooter andI couldn't like...
Steps would have been yourenemy.
I couldn't just do anything.
It was just frustrating as...
All hell, really.
All those little things.
But when you're growing up,remember when you think that you
want to have crutches or a castor something?

(18:33):
Yeah, 100%.
Like, what's that concept?
Or a sling.
I remember thinking I mighthave wanted a sling or thought
it was cool or something.
And then I had it for three,maybe four minutes.
And I was like, that's enough.
Yeah.
Like the person that came toschool with it on, you're like,
oh, wow, they're getting likespecial treatment.
Yeah.
I'm like, oh, that's cool.
I'm throwing myself out of thetree trying to break my arm next
minute.
Anyway, no, now as an adult,I've realized it's not a good

(18:55):
place to be.
No, it's not.
It's so I think I mentionedthis on a recent episode of
like, surgery is hardcore.
They do carpentry to your body.
It's actually quite impressivewhat they do.
You spoke about boxing.
How did you get into it?
Where did the love for it comefrom?
When I was young, dad took medown to the local PCYC gym.

(19:19):
and just kind of said, let'sgive boxing and go as cross
training for footy.
And I really, really loved it.
And I thought it was a sportthat I wanted to keep doing,
obviously.
And it was something I did withdad and it was cool.
And then later on, obviously,footy representative teams and
stuff as a teenager was reallybusy.
So I kind of wasn't doingboxing for a minute.

(19:40):
And then I got my driver'slicense and I could drive myself
to the gym.
And so I was at the gym, boxinggym, literally every morning
and afternoon, loved it andloved my coaches.
And, uh, Yeah, I just felt likeit was this place I felt like
was where I wanted to be andwhere I felt good and happy.
And I think boxing's a reallycool sport because I swear I'm

(20:00):
never in, well, I guess incomparison to footy, because
you've got your teammates, itisn't always on you.
Like you're not always focusingon a ground ball or a mark.
Whereas in boxing, you'realways focusing on not getting
punched in the face.
So it is a space where forhowever long you're doing that
training session, you very muchonly can worry about that And

(20:20):
it's like when– like obviouslyI've got a lot of things to do
and think about and whatever.
So it's like all of a suddenfor an hour or whatever it is, I
can actually be in that moment,which is quite– invigorating.
So it's like a realmindfulness, like you as present
as you can be because you haveto be to avoid getting punched
in the face.
What is it like stepping intothe ring knowing that that

(20:46):
person really wants to punch youin the face and kind of hurt
you?
Like, yeah, I'm just notstepping in.
Well, that's the thing, likenot many people would want to.
The reason I first did was verymuch not to be in the fight.
Like it wasn't that, it was mycoach thought that I could do it
or that I should give it a go.
He believed in me and I said,okay, let's do it.

(21:08):
And so I just went, I waswearing like footy shorts and
I'm like not even the rightshoes or whatever.
And it was great.
It was exciting.
Like it's, I'm a competitor.
So it was competing and it'sjust the same as footy.
Imagine, telling someone who'snot into AFL footy like are you
willing to go out there andsomeone could possibly knee you
in the head or you're going tothrow yourself over someone

(21:30):
who's kicking the ball as hardas they can and you're going to
put your face around the arealike that's crazy stuff now that
you've broken the game of footydown I understand what you're
saying yeah I think like weunderestimate how brutal footy
really is that's true and it'svery apparent when I'm at boxing
when my coach says I knowyou've been at training because
there's bruises everywhere I'vegot some sort of scratches
broken hands or what finger orwhatever from literally a

(21:53):
warm-up catching the ball orsomething stupid and at boxing
that doesn't happen you're notgonna do a hamstring on in the
boxing ring you might get abruised eye or a sore nose but
like i think boxing is a sportthat it's truly a purist sport
and it's dancing in a way likeyou're very much trying to yeah

(22:14):
perform a routine yeah and thenobviously the The hurting bit or
whatever or getting hit is allpart of it.
Adrenaline kicks in then andit's all...
Yeah, fight or flight, fight.
But getting in there in thefirst place is obviously the
biggest fight.
And the weight cut as well is awhole thing.
Yeah, can we talk about that?
If you'd like to.
Like your...
You've won two Australiantitles?

(22:35):
More?
Yeah, a couple.
You're so humble.
Whatever the number is outthere in the universe.
For me, I don't really careabout them.
I only care about the properworld title one day, which I
will win.
You will?
Of course I will.
I'm not spewing in the boxinggym in Keilor for not trying to
win a boxing world title.

(22:55):
And of course people can havetheir opinion on if I could or
couldn't or should or whatever.
I don't care.
Of course I'm going to try mybest to achieve the ultimate
thing and when that opportunitypresents itself in the future
yeah it's my job to be ready andthere has been some
opportunities along the way andit hasn't quite come to fruition

(23:16):
obviously with the schedulefooty and whatever it's been
hard to balance but I'll beboxing longer than I'll be
playing footy longevity andboxing is Much longer.
There's a world champion,Natasha Jonas, who is 40.
Yeah.
Give or take.
Give.
She's 40.
She's a world champion andactive, like still in her peak.

(23:40):
And fighting.
Yeah.
There's not many 40-year-oldAFLW players out there in their
peak.
No, not that.
But that shows our sport is sobrutal.
It does.
So that's my plan.
Yeah, cool plan.
So weight cutting, what's themost intense experience you've
had?
Well, I've had to loseobviously several kilos in
preparation for the weigh-in thenight before the fight and I

(24:00):
have to be in the sauna orthere's a thing, water loading
and you've got to drink lots ofwater and then not and whatever
and you wee.
And you wee.
To make it simple.
Yeah, so in the sauna,obviously, you're not, It's kind
of productive to be drinkingwater, but anyone who's been in
the sauna for 20 minutes islike...
Thirsty.
Thirsty.
Yeah, they're thirsty in there.

(24:22):
They're thirsty in there.
You've got to be in there untilall the weight falls off.
It could be one hour or twohours.
Who knows?
You just have to stay in there.
I think I'd get a bit agitated.
Did you get agitated?
Oh, yeah.
It's an awful experience.
It's hot in there.
Yeah, I'm aware.
It's a recovery protocol, but Iget to 15 minutes and my legs
start jiggling around.
I'm like, okay, I'm done.

(24:43):
I've got to call it here yeahit's challenging but that's
that's one um and then onceyou've made option wait which is
24 hours usually before thefire yeah the night before
generally and then can from thatpoint you're not going to weigh
in again right so you can likeload up fuel up and like Yeah,
you can.
So you weigh in and take it offand then step off and you have

(25:05):
whatever you've got,electrolytes, water and whatever
else.
I like blueberries.
And you have them ready to justeat and drink straight away.
But of course, you don't wantto go too crazy because you're
going to feel yuck if you justsmash it all down.
So you'd be a little bitstrategic about the whole thing.
But your stomach has shrunk atthis point.
And so you want to eat all thisfood and whatever.
But it's all there in front ofme.

(25:26):
And my eyes are way too big formy stomach.
You can eat as much as you can,but It's like, oh, I'm full all
of a sudden.
But I'm thinking that I wouldeat literally– a fully grown
horse.
Yes.
But you can't because yourstomach's like, no, I'm a...
But the other bit is youactually have to fight then.
This is the thing.

(25:46):
It's like the weigh-in is athing.
Yeah.
But then the actual fighthasn't even started yet.
But you've already done thefirst fight.
How exhausting.
Which is the weight cut.
Yeah.
I swear the fight is mucheasier than the weight cut.
Yeah.
Because the fight you'reprepared for.
You've done everythingpossible.
You just have to turn up on thenight and enjoy...
the moment like and actuallycompete and do what you want to
do yes what's the walk into thering like oh it's fun it's it's

(26:10):
it's a show that's why i loveprofessional boxing as opposed
to possibly amateur boxing it'sa whole show yeah it's your
music and your outfit and yougot your cages and you got
lights and smoke machines andall this carry on and it's fun
it's yeah i like it because it'sjust entertainment and other
people are there they've paid towatch it so it's my job to make

(26:30):
it fun make it a show yeah welli can't wait for the world
title show oh that's going to beso exciting well yeah I believe
in you thank you and I get veryexcited when you talk about um
boxing because I can see howmuch passion it brings you and I
know um it's something thatyou'd want to continue explore
maybe not right now because ofof football and you're going to

(26:51):
live out your football journeyfor as long as that takes you
but geez I'm excited to see whatthat looks like beyond thank
you boxing will be like boxingit'll be something that I'll
have in my life I predict forhopefully a lot of my life.
And so I'm, I'm just doing mything.
Like I'm chipping away andtraining and learning with my
coach and all that in thebackground.
And at some point, obviouslyI'll be able to fight again, but

(27:13):
to date, I haven't done a fightthat I've been at all happy
with.
None of them have been to mystandards.
So I know that there's a hugeamount of work to be done.
So, and yeah, I guess anyopinion on me saying that today
based on my previous fights isnot actually what I'm saying.
I'm saying I'm, aware of whatI'm willing to put in from now

(27:35):
to then hopefully in pre-40s.
Pre-40s time.
That you're able to do it.
An opportunity and I'll be ableto fulfill it.
Yeah, that's really cool.
Well, let's touch on a littlebit of your...
AFLW career.
Because I know you're the mosthumble of them all.
We've got an AFLW Premiershipplayer in 2022.

(27:55):
Four times AFL AustralianAll-Australian team.
Doesn't matter.
Premiership.
That's all that matters.
Also leading goal kicker forCarlton three times and then
Melbourne as well.
Grew up in Queensland.
Yes.
That does matter.
Because when you were growingup, A little bit like myself,

(28:17):
even down here in Melbourne,it's a footy state where
Queensland and the northernstates less so.
What was the football landscapeup in Queensland when you were
growing up and where did thepassion spark for footy?
I started at the Astley HornetsFooty Club on the north side of
Brisbane, and I love that club,and I was very glad that I went
there.
I landed there first, and Istayed there for as long as I

(28:38):
could.
As a five-year-old girl, Iplayed with the boys, my
brother's team, and I was justplaying in the under sevens.
My brother was two years older,so I'd play with him for junior
footy, and then eventually Iwould go to my own age group.
Did you play with the boys?
Yes, I did.
I was the only girl.
Same.
For a few years, yeah.
Did you ever verse anothergirl?
No, not really, no.
Exactly, it was the same.

(28:59):
I kind of used it to myadvantage though because
sometimes the boys didn't knowif they wanted to tackle or not
or if they could.
So I was like, if you're notgoing to do it, brother, I'm
just going to go.
Yeah, same.
It was like that.
I was possibly more so, I'lljust like smash you, then you'll
get the message as opposed tothinking, oh, free pass.
That's so true.

(29:19):
Well, that was kind of dad's ormum and dad's advice.
Mum and dad's advice.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So Astley Hornets.
Yep.
Just, yeah, played my juniorfooty with the boys always.
And I had a really goodexperience.
I don't want it to be confusedthat I had some sort of
traumatic thing or whatever, asin like playing with the boys.

(29:40):
I loved it and I wouldn'tchange it.
And I was very appreciative ofmy group of boys that I played
with.
And some have gone on to doamazing things in the AFL footy
and otherwise.
So yeah.
Yeah.
I feel like I had a really goodtime as a junior in football at
the Hornets.
And then we, as girls, weren'tallowed to play after 14 years
old.
And so I had to go and playopen age women's football at

(30:03):
Zilmere Eagles, which was quitelike, that's us now against a 15
year old, 14, 15 year old.
And I was a stick figure.
So I just like, it's crazy tothink about.
Yeah.
But that was the reason whymum, so when I stopped playing
with the boys, mum was like, oh,you're 13 years old.
I don't know if I want to It'sa hard decision.

(30:23):
I'm still a bigger body.
But it was like I was thengoing to be playing against
women and mum was like, oh, Ijust don't really feel
comfortable yet.
Like, you're still prettyyoung.
Yeah.
It's hard for parents.
Yeah, for sure.
I wasn't taking no for ananswer.
Yeah.
I had too many other sportsthat I was dabbling in before I
was like, oh, okay.
She's a cross-coater.
I cross-coated.
What?
Netball?
Netball.
Basketball.
You name a sport, I've probablytried it.

(30:45):
Beach volleyball?
Oh, except that.
Only at school.
I did volleyball, beachvolleyball.
Okay.
Yeah, lacrosse.
I just dabbled.
No, lacrosse.
Bowling?
Like what kind of bowling?
Supercars?
Okay, all right.
Don't just like derail what Ijust said.
No, I just tried a lot ofthings.
A lot of things.
But back to you.

(31:05):
It's not me.
So footy.
Started playing with the women.
Yes.
And then?
What happened?
Katie Brennan was also in thewomen's league.
So Katie was playing for Logan,Cobras, which was the other
side of town.
And I didn't know Katie yet,but we played on the Queensland
team.

(31:25):
The representative under 18teams were now a thing that I
was interested in.
And so this is how I met KatieBrennan via the Queensland team.
She was the captain.
She used to wear headgear.
Captain Katie.
Yes.
And I just thought that she wasthe best thing.
Well, still think, sorry, notthought, not past tense.
I think she's the best.
I just think she's so good atfooty, but also she was just so

(31:47):
nice to me back then.
And that was so impactful as asmall child on this team of
women, or at least 18 or mucholder than me, year old.
So yeah, that was kind of thenext thing, those representative
teams for the women's.
And then out of nowhere, AFLWbecame a conversation.
Just before AFLW, we did havethe exhibition matches.

(32:08):
Oh, that's right.
For those that don't know thehistory of women's football,
Melbourne and Western Bulldogsheld these exhibition matches
for the best Yeah, best 40people, 40 players in the
women's league.
I think both interstate andalso down here in Victoria.

(32:29):
So that was kind of the historybefore AFLW came in.
That was, yeah, that was a coolexperience.
Who did you play?
You played for Melbourne?
I played for Melbourne in twoof them, I think.
So I think there was three,maybe four.
I think there were three orfour.
Of these exhibition games thatwe're talking about.
And I...
played for Melbourne.
And here I am now.
Full circle moment.
Yeah, that was obviously when Idid arrive at Melbourne, that

(32:51):
was a full circle moment.
But yeah, that was again, likeI was a young athlete at the
time, not 18 yet.
And this draft was on the livestream on the TV and me, Emily
Bates and Emma Zilke were allgot from Queensland selected in
this particular draft.
I know there's a photo of usstanding in our, with our

(33:13):
jerseys and they were Bulldogsand I was Melbourne and I was
the only Melbourne Queenslander.
So that was a cool experienceto come down to Melbourne as a,
as an underage kind of kid to bein the big city.
And that's how I found that Ireally loved Melbourne.
And I was desperate to livehere from a young age.
I was always going to end up inMelbourne and footy was the

(33:36):
big, cool to do so and won it soyou played with Brisbane for
two years no I want just oneyear but that first season but
didn't we play each other no youwould move to Carlton by that
point yeah that first seasonwhich was seven games seven
games That was it.
Yeah.
The total, including the grandfinal.
Seven games, A5W done.
But that, this is the thingthat people, and of course I'm

(33:56):
proud to have played forBrisbane in the inaugural
season, but reality is that thatfirst season was very much a,
what is this all about?
And it sparked the interesttime.
And then for players too, wedidn't know what we were signing
up for and it was a crazy rideand it was so fun.
And I'm glad that I got to dothat with friends, but literally

(34:17):
the week earlier than the AFLWbecame a thing, I was training
at the local club max one hour.
If that.
And the windows had beensmashed in with rocks.
The contrast is unbelievable.
And it's so cool to think howfar it's come now.
Oh, if you look at theevolution of AFLW and I think,

(34:38):
like I came in the second year,you were there from the start.
It's like how much it haschanged, how much the
professionalism has increased isIt's incredible the journey
that it's been on, the growththat has been there.
And we're now drafting18-year-olds that are coming in
and like, oh, this is the norm.

(34:58):
And it's like, wow.
If you'd known in the firstcouple of years what the
competition looked like, youwouldn't have believed it,
really.
It's so true.
And these kids are...
really skillful.
But the reason is because theypicked up a ball nine years ago,
eight years ago, whereasobviously in the first season
there was players who hadliterally never played AFL

(35:19):
before.
Yeah.
But they were athletes.
And that was the whole thingabout AFLW early days.
Yes.
Was that it was athletes asopposed to AFL footy players or
a bit half-half probably.
Yeah.
But now it's true footyplayers.
Now the narrative has changed.
And some Irish.
A lot of Irish.
Who bring the spark.
They bring the spark.
They bring something likeunorthodox to to the game.

(35:40):
And I think it's incrediblewhat they do.
Yeah.
I'm obsessed with them.
I'm obsessed with our Irish.
You're the Irish.
Sorry.
Who do you.
I'm shy.
Sinead Goldrick.
Sinead.
And Amy Macken.
I've got three.
Oh, yeah.
We've got three girls.

(36:00):
Yeah.
They're fantastic.
They bring so much to thecompetition.
And the growth in AFLW has beena lot to do with the Irish as
well.
They've had such a strongholdin the competition.
I'm just giggling.
You're just smiling at me and Ican't stop smiling.
You won a premiership becausethat's the ultimate success.
That's what we're here to do.
Why was that team sosuccessful?

(36:23):
That was the best when you wona premiership too.
Yeah.
At the Dogettes.
At the Dogettes.
So, you know, it just was...
The peak of it all.
It is, really.
Unfortunately, I had lost threeup until that point, but I'm
thankful because when the winhappened, and it happened to be

(36:43):
of all places in Brisbane, so mynan could come, which is
important to me.
The footy gods sometimes, theywhip up these stories and you
can't believe that they're true.
They know.
We know things.
And do you think the loss...
Because that was the year wehad two seasons, right?
Do you think the loss in 6B...
No.
The one before.

(37:04):
The season before you won.
Yes.
Do you think that drove...
the success for thatpremiership I think stung that
much or whether it was that orthe fact that we had experience
because I think to play in apremiership let alone win one is
a whole other game of footballand unless you've been there
before you cannot prepare for itand it's the things that you

(37:25):
don't even think about likeobviously the crowd is probably
bigger but it's the pre-gamestuff like you run out and then
you have to take a team photorandomly and then the timing is
a little bit different andobviously the week is media and
all this is hyped up so it'sThis, for a player who's never
done that before, is a bizarreexperience.
So to have had that so soonbefore, I think was really

(37:46):
valuable for our group.
And Adelaide, who we had lostto, obviously weren't in the
grand final.
Yeah, they were the only otherteam to have recently had that
very recent experience.
So, yeah, I think it played arole.
But I think the reason we wonthat game was our contested
football.
And thankfully, the ground wasliterally a sandpit because we

(38:08):
thrived on that.
Like, that's our game.
So, yeah, we were happy to turnup and just...
I don't know, scrap away andtry and win however necessary.
However you need it to be.
And sometimes that's footy.
Yeah, the most, from what I canremember, the most tackles in a
game ever or contestedsituations or something.
I remember watching that gameand I was like, you guys, the

(38:28):
pressure that you were puttingon Brisbane was just crazy.
And like they were, they can beso used to linking up and
moving the ball from one end tothe other really quickly, but
you just didn't allow them to dothat because the pressure was
so high and you could see thehunger you could see the
desperation and that contestedfooty was incredible.

(38:48):
Yeah, it was exciting.
We all just were willing tocontinue to do it all the way to
the last minute.
And we needed to because therewas a close game.
And then the win was justeuphoric.
Up until that, a lot of peoplewanted to say to me that we
happened to be versing Brisbane,who I'd played for.
I don't have any animositytowards Brisbane, so they're

(39:11):
kind of...
drawing a conclusion that thiswill be such a triumphant moment
because it's Brisbane.
No, that's my best friend overthere, Ali Anderson.
I'm sad that she lost today,but I'm happy I've won.
But like it wasn't any sort ofanything like that.
So that wasn't why I was tryingto win this game.
And then obviously, otherthings that have happened or
doubters and all this sort ofstuff.
Not for one second when thesiren went, did I think about

(39:34):
anything other than just lovingthe team in that moment and
being in the moment, notthinking about anyone else or
anything else other thanpositive things.
And my family are just overthere and friends have come and
supported me.
And I love that that was thereality.
Whereas lots of people wantedto tell me how it was going to
feel or how they thought I mightfeel based on my experience or

(39:54):
whatever.
But no, it was the opposite.
It was all very happy and

Unknown (39:58):
Bye.

Speaker 00 (39:59):
I was one minute crying next to them running
around crazy and then I'mjumping around and then I'm
crying again.
It's like this overwhelmingfeeling of achievement.
And it's when you get to dothat with your teammates and
then see the joy on their faceand you're like, oh, we did it.
Like we actually did ittogether.
Like that's all you're thinkingabout in that moment.
And that 20 minutes to the nextweek, really, that's all

(40:21):
your...
Or fortnight.
However long you want to partyfor.
But that's what you're feeling.
You're like, we just achievedwhat we set out this season.
And we did it and we executed.
What we set out, but whatliterally every single other
person set out to achieve.
We got to do it this time.
So, yes, it is, you know, it'sjust indescribable, I would say,

(40:41):
would be the feeling.
Yeah.
But...
Then now is the reality thatI'd like to do that again.
Yes.
Then you get the bug.
Yeah.
You're like, oh, I want to winagain.
Yeah.
So that's what we're bothplanning to do.
Yes.
Well, I hope we get to playeach other this year.
That will be.
Yeah.
Super fun.
Like both of us not injured.
Yeah.
And then like actually playingfootball.

(41:02):
In the fixture.
Yeah.
And the fixture comes out and.
Yeah.
Bombers and.
Melbourne.
I think.
I think we should because we.
Oh, no, we versed each other.
We played last year.
And the year before.
But maybe it's a bit of a...
So maybe we'll be out.
We'll be out of the rotation.
Anyways, fingers crossed,nonetheless.
We digress.

(41:22):
Now, this segment is one that Ireally enjoy.
This is called Too Good To BeTrue.
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
So do you have a story from...
Do you know the premise of thissegment?
Yeah, I've read the brief.
You've read the brief.
Okay, so...
Do you want me to go first oryou go first?
You've got stories.

Speaker 01 (41:40):
Oh,

Speaker 00 (41:41):
yeah.
Okay.
I can go first.
Give me a sentence first andthen I'll start asking
questions.
Oh.
Yes.
Okay.
Do you have a sentence for yourstory?
Okay.
A quick summary.
Beans has explosive diarrhea inpublic.
Beans is your dog.
Beans is my grandpa.
Beans is my dog.

(42:03):
Beans is my grandpa.
Beans is my grandpa dog.
Okay, this I just off the batwant to say true, but I want to
know this scenario and whathappened.
Where were you when thishappened?
I was in a vintage clothingstore in Fitzroy.
Let's say Fitzroy.
Let's say just for the now it'sa lie.

(42:24):
Are you just trying to trickme?
Okay, so You're in a vintagestore.
Why is this store okay for dogsto come in?
It had a polished concretefloor, so I could only assume.
One could only assume.
So you're walking past, I'mlike, yeah, this is dog friendly
because of the floor.
Okay, no carpet noted.
What had beans eaten?
Are they anything unusual to belike?

(42:46):
make him have explosivediarrhea?
No, because he only eats thewonderful Australian-made pet
food, Petzio.
Petzio, I've seen that over thesocials.
Yep, good plug there.
He literally has only evereaten Petzio.
Okay, so his guts actuallyshould be pretty sturdy.
Yeah, so this is why it couldbe a lie.
But he also could have eatensomething on the side of the

(43:07):
road where he's like, oh.
Dogs do that.
Yeah, okay.
How did you clean it up?
Like, what's the situation?
This is part of it.
So, of course, he's cute.
He's a young border collie.
Young grandpa border collie.
Yeah.
And the lady at the store wasexcited to see him walk in, of
course.
Polish funky floors.
But she prefaces, my bossnormally doesn't let dogs in

(43:28):
here.
So, like, just be quiet aboutit.
But he's so cute.
And I was like, no problem.
Okay.
I'm trying on some sort ofshirt that's probably 800 years
old in the vintage store.
I'm in the change room.
Going for $10.
No, in Fitzroy, I said.
So it's $30,000.
$45.
Yeah.
And so I'm in the change roomand I hear this whale sound.

(43:56):
Example of the whale.
And what?
Beans is wailing as well.
This is Beans' anus making thatsound.
I'm not sure if this section isgoing to get cut or not.
No, this ain't getting cut.
This is good content.
Describing graphically.

(44:16):
Okay.
We'll put, we'll stick a photoup of Beans so everyone can get
like a little bit more of apicture.
Yes, please.
And so he's...
He's had diarrhea.
We've all had it.
We've all been there.
We've all had to rush to thetoilet and sometimes make it,
sometimes not.
I saw like on Facebook orwhatever a meme about four of
five people suffer from havingdiarrhea.

(44:37):
But who's the one that enjoysit?
Oh, this segment is takingturn.
Sorry, boys.
Yes.
I've gone off track.
That's okay.
I think I'm going to come to adecision now.
Is that cool?

(44:58):
Yeah.
Because I think I've got enoughinformation here and I just
think...
I just think...
This wouldn't surprise me frombeans and yourself.
So I'm going to go in with thatthis is a truth.
This is a truth.
Yeah.
This happened.
And I can't go back.
I can never go back to thatvintage store.

(45:18):
No, not now, not ever.
No.
And she even told you not, youcan't come in.
I know.
You asked who cleaned it up.
Well, she rushed.
Well, I obviously said, let mequick.
Let me clean it up.
She rushed to get paper towelsand chucks and everything else
necessary.
And I'm on all fours.
Cleaning it up in the store.
Damn.
It happens.
Damn.
Anyway.

(45:39):
Can you imagine the videocamera, like the video camera
security cameras is like justwatching you just like...
And then the boss being like, Itold you.
Yeah.
I told you so.
I don't even think I can followup with a story after that.
I think you just kind of likenailed it.
And I don't want to ruin thatenergy of you and Beans.
Too good to be true segment.
I took a turn.

(45:59):
That was a good one, Tasey.
Well done.
I think we'll move on if wecan.
I'd like to.
Okay, great.
So would Beans.
So what's next?
What's next for you?
You're also a marriagecelebrant.
Can I just throw this one outthere to the people?
Do you have any bookings comingup?
I've got some things coming up,but my biggest booking is the
football season.
Next up, I'm married to theMelbourne Football Club and I'll

(46:23):
be conducting that ceremony.
Yes.
When the season starts.
When round one comes around.
Yes.
That's next, footy.
Yes.
Which, I mean, it's actuallyinsane that like obviously in
between that there's some...
Other things such as houserenovations.
Yeah.
House renovations importing.
Important.

(46:44):
Importing.
Importing.
Importing elephants.
Important.
Important.
Yes.
Tell me more about these houserenovations.
Yeah.
I am really enjoying this.
Yeah.
I bought a house and it wasold.
And it needed renovating.
Modernizing it.
And it never ends.
I heard about this and it'strue.

(47:05):
And you just find somethingelse to go.
There's more to come.
You need to fix that.
Yeah.
So I've been enjoying that.
And I've been utilizing myfriends and networks.
Everyone knows someone who's atradie.
And so I like that I get tocall on them and let them shine
in my house.
Let them shine in your housewhile you're watching them.
Yeah.
And paying them.
And paying them.

(47:25):
All right.
Well, I'm excited.
I'm excited for this year foryou.
Thank you.
I'm excited to see if any othercool trips pop up because
that's just like awesome andjust keep killing it like I
really appreciate you comingtoday and being as vulnerable
and authentic as you always arelet's be real and I think that's
what makes you shine as much asyou do and how successful you

(47:46):
are particularly throughprobably how successful you are
away from footy I think youshould be really proud of like
you've really built a reputationon just who you are and you
don't care you're just like thisis who I am and I think that's
really special thank you andlikewise this is I'm so proud of
you this is so exciting and Ican't wait to tune in to your

(48:08):
other guests and relive thestory that I've shared and
regretted sharing recently butyeah I'm really proud of you and
this is awesome and I can'twait to watch your footy because
of course also injury seasonthat is in the past now so both
of us are going to be out therehealthy and having a good time
being big old forwards big oldforwards and hopefully we get to
play each other yeah no thanksThank you so much for coming on.

(48:30):
Just keep doing you.
My pleasure.
Do you have a sign off?
Too good, too good, too goodtalks.
Now it is ready.
Three, two, one.
Too good, too good, too goodtalks.