AFLW Finals 2023: The rise of North Melbourne star Jasmine Garner

Before being drafted, Jasmine Garner had never been into a gym before. But there came a time when she realised talent just wasn’t enough. She opens up on the pain driving her – and the Roos.

Jasmine Garner could almost feel her football clock ticking.

Exactly a year and one week ago, the Kangaroos fell agonisingly short of Melbourne in a preliminary final.

It was a familiar pain. Close, just not close enough.

From there came a determination to not just sit, but do, with North Melbourne players having a couple of weeks off before again hitting the track in their own time and on their own dime.

“We just thought, let’s just try to maintain our fitness. Let’s get fit early and once pre-season rolls around, we’ve already hit the ground running and then we can build from there,” Garner explained.

“The team – we really want to win. We’re super-competitive and we think we’re at the stage now where we can be winning the grand final. That was a massive drive.”

There was a personal element for one of the competition’s best players.

“Personally, I’m 29. I know footy’s not forever,” she said.

“I really want to make the most out of my career and just really get the best out of myself. If I can do that, that’s really going to help the team as well. All of us in the team – if we can all just get better little bit by little bit, then the team’s going to get better as well.”

Can Jasmine Garner lead the Kangaroos into the AFLW grand final? Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

Coach Darren Crocker said this season he’d often look out his Arden Street office window and see Garner running laps, or in the hallway after a weights session.

The difference in her pre-season was marked, and her performance this season has been the pudding of proof.

“This season has definitely been the fittest I’ve been and the same with a number of the other girls,” said Garner, again named AFLCA AFLW champion player of the year and a hot chance for Monday night’s AFLW league best and fairest medal.

She has averaged just shy of 30 disposals per game, booting 10 goals along the way to amplify her threat.

Before being drafted, Garner had never been in a gym before. Never followed a fitness program. Now, she loves the grind.

“When I was younger, I was always a natural footballer and had that talent,” she explains. There comes a point where you’ve really got to work hard, otherwise talent only gets you so far. You see players around you working really hard and you’ve just got to keep getting better, otherwise you will get left behind. As I’ve gotten older, you become really invested in yourself and really wanting to get the best out of yourself and to see how far you can push yourself. I want to make the most of my footy career and play for as long as I can – that means I need to work hard.”

There’s a lot about Garner that defies the odds, teammate and partner Jenna Bruton says, with the star midfielder having been drafted in the inaugural season to Collingwood with pick 86.

“She wasn’t that fit, but you can obviously work on your fitness. She was always skilful,” Bruton said.

“She’s just worked really hard – especially the pre-season just gone, she would have hit PBs in everything. She obviously wants to get better and wants to win a premiership. It’s just her wanting to win that has made her a better player.”

It’s the same no matter what they turn their hand to.

“I don’t beat her at anything,” Bruton laughs.

Garner put in the work during the off-season – and it’s showing on the field. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos

Fellow Roos midfielder Ash Riddell first met Garner in the team’s inaugural season.

“There’s not too many of us left, so we’ve got quite a tight bond. Not only are we friends at the football club but also outside of footy, we catch up all the time and share common interests. It’s been a nice relationship to have,” she said.

She’s always known Garner could be capable of greatness.

“I think the biggest thing for Jas was getting super super fit and moving into the midfield,” Riddell explained.

“I think we’ve always known she could be quite a strong forward and has that capacity to take contested marks and own the space, but where she took her game to the next level was how hard she worked over the off-season and over multiple pre-seasons. It didn’t happen overnight.

“We’ve always known she had it in her, but seeing her first hand and doing running sessions with her in the off-season, her commitment and drive to get better is second to none.

“Not only is she so committed herself but she brings others with her along for the ride, which is so important to her team.”

The odds are in North Melbourne’s favour on Sunday – just – as the Roos seek to defy Adelaide for a maiden grand final berth.

Garner as a junior.

And then getting drafted at Collingwood in 2017.

A long way from Yarraville Seddon Eagles where it all began for Garner at seven – the only girl – and with a few pushes to find a new path along the way.

“I was kicking the footy down the street with my cousin, and he got approached by the coach who just lived up the road and they asked him to come down and play at the local junior club, which was Yarraville Seddon Eagles,” Garner said.

“He asked if I could come down and play, too. I was the only girl there, so it was kind of an unknown, but they said yes. I haven’t looked back since – I’ve just loved it. Being the only girl and being that young, you just go out and enjoy it. The boys were great, so I had a good experience.

“In primary school, I just loved footy, and AFLW wasn’t around. My PE teacher actually said to me, ‘I know you love your sport, but maybe we should look to get you into another sport so you can get something out of it, like golf or basketball’.

“I tried different sports but I stuck with footy and I’m glad I did, because now I get to play at the top level and I just love it.”

Originally published as AFLW Finals 2023: The rise of North Melbourne star Jasmine Garner