North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos’ vice-captain Nicole Bresnehan on returning from injury ahead of AFLW Grand Final

She missed almost half the season with injury so for North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos’ defender Nicole Bresnehan, this Sunday’s AFLW Grand Final is all the more special.

After missing almost half the season with injury, North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos’ defender Nicole Bresnehan understands how special this Sunday’s AFLW Grand Final is more than most.

The star Tasmanian, and co vice-captain, will play in just her fourth game back from a syndesmosis ankle injury when she lines up against the Brisbane Lions at IKON Park from 2:30pm.

Nicole Bresnehan will play in just her fourth game back from injury after going down with an ankle injury earlier in the season. (Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images)

Going down with her first major injury at the elite level back in round 4 against the Lions – which coincidently was at UTAS Stadium in Launceston – Bresnehan said it was hard to sit back and watch as the Roos continued to build momentum in the back-half of the season.

“It was really devastating,” Bresnehan said.

“You train for the majority of the year to only have a small window of opportunity to play in 10 or so home and away games, and finals if you are lucky enough, so for me it was obviously really disappointing to go down only a couple of games in.

“I remember being absolutely distraught about potentially not coming back and I think I knew at that point in the season that we were such a competitive side, with a real belief that if we played well and things went our way that we could get to where we are.

“So to think that I may not have been a part of that was tough and challenging.

“But in a short season like ours you have to switch your mindset to recovering as best as possible and focusing on what you can do for the team off the field, especially as a leader.

Bresnehan gets a kick away during last week’s preliminary final win over the Crows. The 26 year-old finished with 8 disposals, two marks and five intercept possessions. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“Obviously the girls have done all the hard work while I’ve been out, so to be able to come right at this time was really exciting and to play in a grand final feels really special.”

Now in her fifth season at Arden Street after being taken by the Roos with pick 63 in the 2018 draft, Bresnehan has worked her way into becoming one of North’s most important players.

Voted into the leadership group in 2021, the 26 year-old continued her rise this year when she was elected co vice-captain.

The defender’s personal rise has somewhat mirrored that of the Roos who have reached their first AFLW decider after continually being around the mark since entering the competition in 2019.

But despite making finals in all but one year, often North have been looked at as the lesser of the competition’s big four clubs – alongside Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne – with the Roos the only club of the four yet to taste premiership success.

It’s why Bresnehan says knocking off both the Demons and the Crows in consecutive weeks has done wonders for their confidence heading into Sunday’s game.

“It’s felt like a bit of a long time coming,” Bresnehan said.

“We’ve been around the mark for a while now so its super exciting to be where we are on Sunday. We have a lot belief this season that is underpinned by some extremely hard work. We’ve had some really strong recruitment during the off-season, adding some really valuable players onto our list, so it’s been really exciting that all of those things have gotten us to where we are now.

Bresnehan said she was hoping the Roos could claim their first AFLW premiership to join fellow big-four clubs Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne as AFLW premiers. Picture: Michael Klein

“It’s been interesting with the outside noise around us matching up against the other big four so to beat Melbourne considerably in that first final was really uplifting for the group.

“To then back that up with the win we had in the preliminary final over Adelaide I think instils a lot of belief in the group that we can perform in these big games, against the best teams, so that’s exciting to take that into the grand final against the third of those clubs.

“The Lions are a team that are incredibly skilful and will no doubt bring a lot of pressure and play a lot of contested footy.

“But I think the whole group believes we are up for the challenge.”

Bresnehan is set to be one of a potential three Tasmanians to line up for North with Launceston’s Mia King and Hobart’s Ellie Gavalas also named in the extended squad.