Jamie Stanton reveals the pre-season light bulb moment

Jamie Stanton holds a unique piece of AFLW history.

JAMIE Stanton holds a unique piece of AFLW history.

Having played for the Lions, then North Melbourne and now the Suns, the former junior Matilda has played a huge role in three separate AFLW start-ups.

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As one of the more experienced AFLW players on the Suns list, it took until a pre-season light bulb moment for the 24-year-old to embrace the new world order at the Suns.

Jamie Stanton of the Suns kicks during the Round 1 AFLW match between the GWS Giants and Gold Coast Suns at Blacktown International Sportspark in Sydney, Saturday, February 8, 2020. (AAP Image/Brendon Thorne)

Having moved back to her native Gold Coast for the fourth season of AFLW, it wasn’t until after the Suns practice match against the Brisbane Lions in the pre-season that Stanton approached her coach David Lake and muttered something along the lines of ‘I think our game plan can work.’

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“I wasn’t doubting it but there was a lot of unknown and I thought we were playing a totally different game style to anyone else in the AFLW has played,” she said.

“Obviously playing at different clubs, everyone has a different game style and the way we wanted to play our footy is unique but also taking bits of teams in the competition who have done well before.

“You never know what it’s going to look like until your first game.

“Just after the Brisbane match simulation, I probably said something along those lines to Lakey (David Lake) that the game style we were trying to produce was effective at that level if we could produce it in season.

“Our game style can and does work.

“When we get it going, it’s very hard to stop and there’s this aurora of a ‘you can do anything’ type concept.”

Stanton said that you had to look no further than the Suns second half against the Brisbane Lions to see the fruits of the players’ belief in their run and gun game plan despite having to settle for a draw.

Kalinda Howarth of the Suns celebrates kicking a goal with Jamie Stanton (right) during the Round 3 AFLW match between the Gold Coast Suns and Brisbane Lions at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast, Saturday, February 22, 2020 (AAP Image/Darren England)

One week after taking on her former side in Brisbane, Stanton will get a second chance to claim bragging rights over her former colleagues when the Suns take on North Melbourne tomorrow.

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The school teacher said she was embracing the opportunity to provide inside intel on her former teammates in pursuit of the Suns second AFLW win.

“It gets you a little bit more up and about and I’ve obviously got some friends who sit on the other side of the field now,” she said.

“We’ve got Dale (Suns football technology expert Dale Holland) and Lakey who do a lot of opposition analysis and they asked me if I agreed (with their analysis on the Kangaroos) and I said yes.

“I give more of an insight in terms of player to player if anyone wants to know more about how to play on an individual player.”