Sara Howley opens up on friendship with Kaitlyn Srhoj and future success for GWS Giants ahead of Geelong homecoming
The Howley household will open its Geelong doors for daughter Sara and her GWS teammates ahead of their Cats clash, as the teen opens up on her life and friendships in the Harbour City.
Sara Howley is hopeful Geelong can live up to the hype for her GWS teammates, the first-year Giant out to spoil her childhood club’s party in Pride Round on Saturday.
A Geelong Falcon graduate and high-end pick in December’s national draft, Howley will return to her old stomping grounds for the first time after a bright start to life in the Harbour City.
Excited to show her teammates around, the Howley household will also open its doors on Friday night for a pre-game fuel up.
“Mum’s aware”,” Howley said with a laugh of the 40-plus group’s dinner invite.
“I think I talk about it (Geelong) a fair bit, with all the beaches, so hopefully it lives up to the hype.”
Bound for the Giants with pick 4 last year, Howley said she was “loving life” in Sydney after making the move in February to start at the club and UNSW, where she’s begun a double fiance and science degree.
A quick and tight friendship has been formed with fellow midfielder and housemate Kaitlyn Srhoj – last round’s rising star nominee and a WA product – with Howley revealing it had helped made Sydney feel “more like home”.
Howley’s round 1 debut announcement went so far as to reveal the pair had gotten matching tattoos, an act the teen described as a “pretty strong sign of a friendship”.
But the tiny freckle hearts on both their hips have proven the source of some doubts from both teammates and Howley’s family alike.
“You can barely see it … we got a bit of hate from our teammates saying it wasn’t real,” Howley said.
“They (family) just laughed and said it wasn’t a real tattoo. My sister and mum had a bet going on it wasn’t going to be bigger than a 10 cent coin – whoever said it was smaller got the money.
“That (tattoo’s) pretty much what you’re going to get from me.”
Both keen TikTokers, Howley and Srhoj – with the help of their shared ‘saraandkaitotok’ page – have found themselves among a growing group of Gen Z players in the AFLW using the platform to help market the game.
“We probably do it mostly for fun, but there’s also an aspect to help promote and grow the game as much as everyone else in the league has been doing,” she said.
“It’s been great to see a few of my friends also doing the same for their clubs.”
While a rocky start to the season saw the Giants go 0-4 early one, wins over Western Bulldogs and Sydney in round 5 and 6 have seen the now 2-6 Giants better last year’s 1-9-1 finish as they strive towards more sustained success with the help of young players such as Howley and Srhoj.
Having featured in every game so far in her debut season, Howley is fresh off an equal-career-high 17 disposals against the Saints and is averaging 14.8 disposals, 4.5 intercepts and 164.7 metres gained playing across the wing.
“It was nice to get a few wins on the board, especially the (Sydney) Derby, that was definitely my season high so far,” Howley said.
“I think internally we have great belief as a club that we’re heading in the right direction and the wins will follow from that.
“We’ve got a good system in place that, if not this year – we still hope to get a few more wins with four rounds to go – but if not, we put ourselves in a great position for next year and hopefully just building from there and soon enough hopefully making finals, is the goal.”
Howley, who has played at GMHBA Stadium in her time as a Falcon, said the Giants would enter Saturday’s clash against Geelong knowing the Kardinia Park has been far from a fortress for the 3-5 Cats this year, who are yet to win at home.
“At home they’re definitely beatable, we’ll definitely have to bring our best football and respect they’re a strong team and pushing for top 8 but probably need this win to get there,” she said.
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Originally published as Sara Howley opens up on friendship with Kaitlyn Srhoj and future success for GWS Giants ahead of Geelong homecoming
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