‘They said they wanted me to play and I was stoked’: Territorian Janet Baird to debut for Gold Coast Suns in AFLW

GOLD Coast Suns will have their first Territorian of 2021 don the red-and-gold guernsey this weekend, with popular local Janet Baird to make her AFLW debut

The Northern Territory's Janet Baird in action for the Gold Coast Suns at training. Picture: Matt Roberts/Getty Images via AFL Photos.

GOLD Coast Suns will have their first Territorian of 2021 don the red-and-gold guernsey, with Janet Baird ready to make her AFLW against GWS at Blacktown on Saturday.

The Palmerston Magpies product will become the fifth Territorian to play for the women’s team behind current players Jordann Hickey and Sally Riley, and past players Jasmyn Hewett and Tayla Thorn.

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Baird, who has been working on the physical side of her game since joining the club, is excited to play her first game after joining the club in last year’s October draft.

“The line coach (Matthew Bedford) actually came and grabbed me and pulled me into a room with (head of women’s football) Fi McLardy and Lakey (head coach David Lake) and himself and I thought ‘it’s going to be good news or bad news’,” she said.

“They said they wanted me to play and I was stoked. I said ‘yes I want to play’, I was so excited.”

The news came as no surprise to her father Jason, who has been her biggest supporter.

“I had to call my dad straight away. I jumped on the phone, he didn’t seem surprised at all,” she said.

“I asked him ‘Guess what?’, and he said ‘you’re playing’ and I said ‘yep’.”

After training with the forwards Baird expects to be playing alongside Sarah Perkins and Kalinda Howarth, but knows what she has to do to make an impact.

“ (Lake) said bring your energy and see what you do, he drafted me for a reason, he wants me to go out there, find the ball and hunt it,” she said.

The Northern Territory's Janet Baird will be in action for the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday. Picture: Chris Hyde/AFL Photos.

“If they need my expertise anywhere else I’ll bring it though, anything can happen on game day.”

Lake said Baird had been close for a number of weeks before earning her opportunity against the Giants.

“It’s exciting that Janet gets her chance this week after all the hard work she’s put in over the last few years,” he said.

“She’s been an emergency the last couple of weeks which has seen her get a glimpse of what it’s like on game day and we’re confident she’ll be able to make an impact on Saturday.

“She brings clever skills to the table and will be able to help us create some scoring opportunities in our forward half.”

It will be a big game for the Suns sitting 0-2, after being held goalless against Brisbane in the Second AFLW QClash.

“We drew the line on Wednesday night and we’ll focus on next weekend’s game,” Baird said.

“It’s a distant memory but we know we’ve got things to work on and we’ll bring it out there on Saturday.

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“I was coached by Jess Dal Pos from GWS at the Allies in under-18s so I have a pretty close relationship there … and Alyce Parker as well, she’s pretty awesome so I’d like to play against her too.”