Geelong captain Melissa Hickey at home at Cats and ready to lead a new era of women’s football
Geelong’s inaugural AFLW captain Melissa Hickey feels right at home at the Cats — and not just because of her close family bond with the club. She’s found her voice as a leader, recovered from an ACL tear and is ready to make history this weekend.
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Melissa Hickey has lived her life embracing challenge and change — this is a woman unafraid to step out of her comfort zone.
So when asked the question, the former Melbourne marquee — one of the first 16 players chosen to play AFLW — jumped at the chance to join Geelong for its foundation year in the national league.
She finds herself in a different role both as captain and player, and she couldn’t be happier.
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“At 34, you don’t think you’d have many new experiences but I’ll be captaining and maybe playing a bit more on the wing,” said 172cm Hickey, who made her name as a defender.
“I’m excited. It’s been cool to learn something new again.”
Her mindset has changed. Sure she still wants to play well, but what’s more important to her is the team and how she can help other players be better.
“It’s a pretty special role to play, especially at a new club,” Hickey said.
“I’m a leader who tries to lead by example but also empower those around me as well.
“The young girls, I can see how amazing they are, but if I can help them to believe that, then they’re only going to become better footballers and better people.
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“I really love working one-on-one with teammates. I’m probably not the best at getting in front of people and revving them up. It’s more being able to pick up if someone’s having an off day and checking in with them, and challenging them as well.”
Hickey still calls Thornbury home and carpools with a crew of other city Cats for Saturday club commitments.
But two nights a week she crashes in a bungalow out the back of a friend’s place at Ocean Grove.
She works at Geelong one day a week, including as a mentor with the club’s VFLW side, as well as building her mindset coaching business, working with schools, sporting bodies and corporates to empower females on and off the field. She also coaches football at Darebin and Carey Grammar, but for the next two months, it’s all about AFLW.
Hickey has found her place at the Cats.
While she learned a lot from her old Demons captain Daisy Pearce, she’s enjoyed finding her own voice.
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“I loved playing with Daisy (Melbourne captain Daisy Pearce) and playing under her,” she said.
“(But now) I almost feel like I’ve got my own wings … I feel like there’s a real ability to impact and influence the group with my style.
“It’s almost the part of footy I’m enjoying the most, the satisfaction of empowering my teammates and trying to build this really strong club.”
As a child in Mildura, Hickey was a Geelong fan, Gary Ablett (Snr) poster and all.
The whole family was mad for the Cats, in part because of her grandfather’s cousin — Geelong legend Reg Hickey, who helped bring four pennants to Kardinia Park in a playing/coaching career that stretched from the 1920s to the ‘50s.
But it’s bigger than Reg, these Geelong ties. It’s about heart, not just history, because Peter Hickey, Melissa’s father, really loves the blue and white hoops.
Four years ago Peter had a cardiac arrest during a fun run. He was in a coma for a week and he has an acquired brain injury.
His mobility has been affected and Hickey’s mum Linda, who presented Hickey with her Geelong jumper last week, is Peter’s full-time carer.
“She’s the real hero in all of this,” Hickey said of her mum.
It’s made the move to Geelong more significant for the Cats’ No.18, also the number Peter wore playing footy in Mildura.
While Peter’s memory and speech have been affected, the joy of his daughter becoming a Cat and their leader was plain to see.
“He was a footballer and probably the main reason I got into footy,” Hickey said.
“My link and bond with my dad has always been around footy. (The move to Geelong) carries more weight because of that.
“To be able to go back and say I was playing for Geelong … and I got to tell him over FaceTime about the captaincy, to see his face, it makes it extra special.”
Peter, Linda and Hickey’s sisters Ali and Jess will be at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night when a new era in women’s football, and Hickey’s career, begins.
It will be just shy of 11 months since she tore her ACL as a Demon in AFLW02.
“It was always going to be Round 1, I’ve had that in my sights the whole time,” the Cats skipper and 2017 All-Australian said.
“I’ve kind of had this blind faith it’s just going to happen. I’m still sticking to that.
“I’ve been visualising that moment, leading the girls out for that first game.
“They’re expecting 20,000, I’ll have my whole family there; it’s going to be a pretty incredible moment.”
Originally published as Geelong captain Melissa Hickey at home at Cats and ready to lead a new era of women’s football
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