Speedy Crows midfielder Justine Mules relishes juggling her physically demanding work with playing tough footy

Justine Mules is the speedy young midfielder who proves that hard work and dedication are worth it if you want to play elite-level women’s footy

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Justine Mules has been up since 5am. She’s managed to squeeze in a five-hour sleep, which is handy, but she knows it’s a long day ahead and one hell of a juggle.

First, it’s work — driving excavators across the city’s roads as part of her full time civil construction job for the Adelaide City Council. The job starts at 6am and can be physically gruelling, particularly during summer, but she loves it.

Then, at tools down at 3pm, she’s off to Crows training at the Adelaide Football Club’s West Lakes headquarters.

Training is from 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but there are recovery sessions most other nights of the week.

“I feel like my life is a joke sometimes,” the 24-year-old midfielder says with her trademark laugh. “It’s ridiculous the hours people put in to playing elite sport, but at the end of the day, if you want it that bad, you make it work, that’s what I keep telling myself.

Justine Mules chases after the ball during the Adelaide Crows win over Geelong at Norwood Oval on February 17, in a game where she collected 15 disposals. Picture: SARAH REED

“Because my job is so physical as well, I’m on the tools every day for eight hours and then having to come to training and do some weights and then go out and run pretty much 8kms per training session can get difficult.

“But like I said, if you want it, you make it work. I’m just very lucky that I have a partner who has lunches ready for me and the house is somewhat tidy too, which helps.”

It’s that striving to make the job/footy juggle work that has transformed the quick 24-year-old into an integral part of Adelaide’s speedy midfield.

This season, it’s fair to say that Mules is part of a renewed Crows midfield, boosted by the injection of Anne Hatchard from defence, new recruit Renee Forth and draftee Hannah Martin.

Mules says the trio are fitting in beautifully alongside herself, Erin Phillips, Deni Varnhagen and Ebony Marinoff.

“Forth’s skills are unbelievable, she is so silky smooth with great, clean ball movement and that is one of our focuses, to make sure we can get that ball out and hopefully it is clean,” Mules says.

Crows midfielder Justine Mules celebrates a goal with her teammates Renee Forth and Sarah Perkins in their win over Geelong on February 17. Photo: AAP Image/Sam Wundke

“Hatchard has put in the hard yards, that girl, she is so fit and so strong and it’s really good that she’s got the height to help out in the ruck as well. And Martin … she’s just got that natural talent.”

But Mules leaves her biggest praise — as many of her teammates do — for new recruit and former Adelaide Lightning champion basketballer Jess Foley who, in her first year of AFLW, has been forced into the ruck with the loss of Crows duo Rhiannon Metcalfe (ACL) and Jasmyn Hewett (ankle).

“She has saved us that girl,” Mules says. “During pre-season, we would have her in the forward or the backlines and she just reads the play so well and that’s probably come from her basketball experience and her natural talent.

“She’s so composed as well … just rolls with it.”

Justine Mules head back to work in 2017, after winning the inaugural AFLW premiership with the Adelaide Crows. Picture: SARAH REED

This season, Mules’s constant striving continues, and she has focused on developing her kick.

“In say, VFLW (playing for the NT Thunder), I would just get the ball and kick it long, I wouldn’t really lower my eyes and try to hit up a target, I was just focused on getting ball out as quick as I could.

“But now, I’m focused more on hitting up our forwards with those short, sharp kicks.”

Now in her third season with the Crows, Mules left for Darwin on Friday preparing to play a fast-paced round four match against the team’s undefeated Conference A rivals, Fremantle.

The Crows beat the Dockers at Darwin’s TIO Stadium by 20 points in a trial match in January as part of their pre-season camp, but in the first three rounds of the AFLW Fremantle remained undefeated while the Crows lost their first game to the Western Bulldogs by 1 point.

“We rate Fremantle very highly,” Mules says. “They have great attack on the ball and a great defence as well.”

Justine Mules has her ankles strapped before a training session. Picture: SARAH REED

At the end of round three, the Crows had the top two ranked AFLW players according to Champion Data’s average ranking points: Ebony Marinoff (174 points) and Erin Phillips (173).

But with the next two spots taken up by Fremantle’s Kiara Bowers (172) and Dana Hooker (166), Mules said it would take a great team effort to defeat the Dockers, using a team-defensive strategy to lock those two firing players down.

That word team is important to her and she describes this Crows squad as her family.

“We’re there pretty much every day with the girls and the coaches and there is so much respect for one another … I love those girls, they are my second family.”