Bombers star Georgia Nanscawen reveals the sliding doors moment she could’ve been a Docker ahead of elimination final

Georgia Nanscawen will be one of the most important players in Saturday’s elimination final. But in an alternate universe she could have been playing for the rival Dockers.

In an alternate universe, Essendon star midfielder Georgia Nanscawen could have been playing against the Bombers in this Saturday’s AFLW elimination final.

Nanscawen’s road to the AFLW began when she took a break from hockey in late 2017. Burnt out and mentally bruised after eight years of representing Australia, including travelling to the Rio Olympics as a reserve player which meant waiting on an injury to a teammate to play and not being allowed to stay in the athlete’s village, Nanscawen fell out of love with hockey.

“I wasn’t excited to wake up and train, let alone play,” Nanscawen told this masthead.

Nanscawen was open to fresh possibilities and was to remain in Perth where Hockey Australia’s high-performance program is based. The AFLW was in its infancy back then and Nanscawen had no intention of code-hopping so soon.

But unbeknown to her, North Melbourne took note of Nanscawen’s hockey retirement. Then Kangaroos football operations manager Laura Kane coached Nanscawen in high school football. North Melbourne was on the lookout for cross-coders as it worked to finalise its inaugural AFLW list.

Nanscawen represented Australia in hockey. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Nanscawen had started training with local WAWFL club Swan Districts when she received a message from North Melbourne list manager Rhys Harwood asking her if she had any interest in playing AFLW. And the rest is history.

“I stepped away from hockey with no intention to play AFLW,” she said. “I just wanted to go and play sport for the love of sport again.

“I was very under the radar. By the time I’d played my first game for Swan Districts, I’d already committed to North.

“Just before I’d announced that I was going to North, Freo had caught on it but by that stage, I’d already committed.

“Once hockey finished, there wasn’t much keeping me in Perth. It was the perfect time to get back to Melbourne.”

Nanscawen ended up playing three games for Swan Districts, a side that featured several inaugural Dockers like Kara and Ebony Antonio, Gemma Houghton and now Essendon teammate Steph Cain.

It would’ve made perfect sense for Nanscawen to end up in purple. Instead, she moved back home and played two games for North Melbourne in the Kangaroos’ inaugural season before being delisted.

“I didn’t know what to expect rocking up at North,” she said. “I was plucked from nowhere.

“They recruited really strongly that first year and most of their midfielders are still there and dominating. I played two games as a small forward and didn’t do much, to be honest.”

Georgia Nanscawen (L) playing for the North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos in 2019. Picture: Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images

That led Nanscawen back to state league football. Swan Districts teammate Courtney Ugle was training with Essendon’s VFLW team at the time and helped her get in touch with coach Brendan Major.

“There was only two weeks before the VFLW season started so I needed to find a club really quickly,” she said. “I wanted to go to a non-aligned VFLW club to take the pressure off and have a bit of fun again.

“I think I was given the last list spot that year. If I’d gotten there a week later, I wouldn’t be playing for Essendon.

“As soon as I walked in the door, I knew it was somewhere I wanted to play. I felt so valued and so happy. I’d had so many years where I’d put so much pressure and stress on myself to perform at the highest level.”

Nanscawen excelled. She won Essendon’s best and fairest in her first season and was named in the VFLW team of the year. Other AFLW clubs expressed interest and encouraged Nanscawen to nominate for the draft. But she turned them all down.

“I was happy playing at Essendon,” she said. “I was committed to sticking it out until we got the license.”

It was an inspired decision.

In 2021, Nanscawen won her first Lambert-Pearce medal as the VFLW’s best and fairest player. In March 2022, Nanscawen was signed as Essendon’s first AFLW player.

Will Nanscawen give the Dockers regrets this weekend? Picture: Michael Klein

Later that year, she led the Bombers to their first VFLW premiership but she ruptured her ACL during the grand final and missed Essendon’s inaugural AFLW season. It didn’t stop her winning her second Lambert-Pearce medal, polling 33 from a possible 36 votes, and another Essendon best and fairest.

Now, two years into her AFLW career at Essendon, Nanscawen has emerged as one of Essendon’s most important players.

With a win over Carlton in the final round of the home and away season, the Bombers locked in a return to finals and a date with the Dockers at Fremantle Oval on Saturday.

A series of sliding doors have led Nanscawen to this moment – an elimination final against the very team she could’ve signed with. But she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s been an absolute rollercoaster,” she said. “This season has been about identifying what our identity and purpose is.

“We’re excited for another opportunity in finals.”