The 2022 season has already been so different to any other, and who would have thought after two COVID-interrupted years that it could get any stranger.

Off the back of three games in nine days, we packed up and prepared to head west. Travelling for games isn’t the same anymore, but nonetheless we make it work.

Early Saturday morning we left our homes and drove to the airport, having no idea what we would be returning to in less than 48 hours.

I think we were all a little bit naive to the severity of the situation and to some extent looking forward to exchanging the miserable weather in Queensland for hot and dry conditions in Perth.

Chasing our sixth win for the season and a spot in finals, our minds were focused on the challenge ahead.

TO THE WEST

Our first hurdle of the weekend came after we boarded the bus to take us from the parking directly to the plane. After a night’s worth of rain, we couldn’t actually get to the tarmac. A 10-minute drive quickly turned in 40 minutes and a delayed flight. But by 9:30am, we were in the air and off to WA.

The best thing about travelling the distance to Perth is the team bonding that comes with it. The long plane ride was filled with watching match vision, catching up with coaches, origami, and a bit of Netflix, of course.

By the time we landed, the situation back home had already gotten worse. Our eyes were glued to social media as we saw news of homes flooding and families being rescued.

Suddenly, the situation had become very real.

Feeling the immense privilege we had to even enter WA to play football, we knew we needed to adhere as best we could to our hotel quarantine bubble.

By the time we got to the hotel, it was time for lunch, a quick change and down to Optus Stadium for our Captain’s Run.

A short and sharp run to get the blood flowing after a long day of travelling, plus recovery in the stunning facilities of Optus Stadium was just what we needed. We jumped back on the bus to the hotel for some physio and a much-needed shower before dinner and a good night’s rest.

GAME DAY

It’s game day, and to say the least we were all pretty pumped.

Our morning coffee and team walk were a little different with our bubble requirements in WA, so it was back on the bus to Optus for some fresh air.

But before we took off, and after breakfast, we had a meeting about the flood situation evolving back home.

By this stage things were bad, much of the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane regions were underwater, the Gold Coast was copping it hard too, and airports were cancelling flights and closing runways. We were told to make phone calls home and assess our personal situations.

Our Head of Women’s Football Bree Brock was working through our options after it was deemed unsafe for us to attempt to drive home after flying into a flooded Brisbane at 1am.

There were still so many unknowns about what roads were under, how bad were everyone’s homes and if could we even get back to them. Trying to figure all of this out in the middle of the night was certainly not going to be safe.

With Bree taking charge of the situation for us, we had to do our best to switch into game mode to try for our sixth win and secure a win for all our fans and members back home in Queensland.

And we did just that.

We played one of our best games ever, a game that demonstrated everything we are about… TEAM!

If you haven’t noticed already, our brand of footy is team first and it’s embedded in our culture. Although there were outstanding individual performances (hello Emily Bates breaking the record for most disposals in one half of football), it was a very pleasing team performance as we walked away with a new AFLW highest score.

With the tight turnaround of games over the past few weeks, followed by a trip to Perth and the developing situation back home, I think our team showed incredible resilience.

We had hoped that we had given our fans back home in Brisbane a little bit of positive news during a devastating weekend. 

RETURNING HOME

After the game, it was straight back on the bus for the airport. By this stage it had been decided that we would be staying the night as a team in a hotel in Brisbane, and that we would assess our situation the following morning.

Scrolling through social media was heartbreaking. Watching videos of animals stuck in flood waters, people being rescued from their roofs, water filling houses and debris floating through rivers. The devastation was unimaginable.

It was just after 1am when our extremely tired bodies landed in Brisbane. Still riding the high from our big win, we were quickly confronted with the reality of the situation back home.

Passing through the airport, we saw so many people sleeping on the floor or cuddled up to their back packs with nowhere to go. Waiting for cancelled flights to be rescheduled, or one of the very few taxis home.

As we headed to our hotel, it was surreal seeing surrounding streets and buildings were flooded with water and roads were closed.

Although it was very early in the morning, it was like a ghost town. A sad and eerie feeling overcame us as we returned home to the wild weather event.

The next morning, we were able to see a lot more. It wasn’t until we walked to a bridge that overlooked the Brisbane River and South Bank that I could really see how much damage this had really caused.

We all stood along the bridge horrified as we watched docks floating by and piling up against ferry terminals, and endless amounts of debris floating through the dark brown water of the Brisbane River.

Days to Come

A few days later when the water levels dropped, it was time to begin the clean-up process, and to no-one’s surprise, those in our team that could, leant a hand to help our own teammates clean and repair their damaged homes.

We have each other’s backs on and off the field.

I know the effects of an event like this will be ongoing for so many people in the Brisbane community, and it’s important to remember that in times like these, we support each other the best we can and lend a helping hand.

Some things are bigger than football.