AFLW #25: Jasmine Garner - 3x AFLCA AFLW MVP/2x AFLPA MVP - 2x AFLW AA Captain/6x AFLW AA - BOG '24 AFLW GF - Premiership Roo - the G.O.A.T

[Mav]

I’m wearing that tshirt today! (And every day this week.)

Aus Band T Shirt day tomorrow. Rock the You am I shirt!

 

[Mav]

So humble as well.

Walk up start into any coaching group when she retires.

 

[giantroo]

 

[ferball]

Out and out superstar, as we all knew. Great caption by the NMFC Meeja crew too.

Yes. Very on point.

 

[DarwinRoo]

I get the feeling that Jas and Jenna will do a Cunners when they stop playing footy. Just go back to the farm and live out their days as a happily married couple.

 

[CURVE]

All that Jas: What makes this humble Roos superstar tick?

All that Jas: What makes this humble Roos superstar tick?​

Jas Garner is one of - if not THE - best players in the AFLW. And she has a stack of awards to prove it. What makes her so good? Sarah Black speaks to her teammates and coach to find out
By Sarah Black
2 hrs ago

Jasmine Garner is in fine form in 2023. Picture: AFL Media
JASMINE Garner may simultaneously be the best and most unassuming player in the AFLW competition.
She's already got a heaving shelf of awards – recently taking out her third AFLCA champion player count and her second AFLPA MVP, was named the All-Australian captain in season seven and has six All-Australian blazers – but still hasn't broken through for that elusive AFLW best and fairest win.

The potential reasons are numerous – strong-performing teammates like Emma Kearney, Ash Riddell and Jenna Bruton "stealing" votes, her fairly neutral appearance on the field, with a neat low hair bun and black boots.
On the field, she's an absolute weapon.
A taller midfielder for AFLW, standing at 175cm (for comparison, GWS key forward Izzy Huntington is the same height), Garner is a strong contested player with a thumping right boot.
Drafted as a young key forward by Collingwood with pick No.86 ahead of the inaugural 2017 season, then-coach Wayne Siekman had said she was the best mark in the competition, but her fitness meant she slid in the draft.

Jasmine Garner in action during the AFLW R4 match between Collingwood and Western Bulldogs at Whitten Oval on February 25, 2017. Picture: AFL Photos
At the time, it seemed like hubris, but now, her overhead skills can't be questioned, and she's got a knack of kicking crucial goals at the perfect moment.
What makes Jasmine Garner tick?
"When I started (in 2020), she was pretty quiet, but she's started to really build that leadership, in meetings and on game day. She's really come out of her shell in that way," teammate Sarah Wright said.
"But she's just so humble, she's not a big head, she doesn't try and start punch-ons or anything, she just literally gets her job done. Even when she's quiet and gets a tag, she helps her teammates out.
"She also loves to include everyone. She isn't cliquey or chooses who to hang out with, and I think that's been one of the best things. She's so welcoming and is one of the first to get over to a new player. No ego."


Taylah Gatt is currently the youngest in North Melbourne's line-up, and didn't turn 18 until the final month of her first AFLW season last year.
As a winger, she's worked relatively closely with Garner and the other inside midfielders.
"She's someone you just look up to. She's someone who just gets it done – at training, the running, she might not be the most athletic or the quickest, but she just gets it done, no complaints," Gatt said.
"Her attitude is just so incredible, she's such a good person, too. Her drive to get better and get the team better is so unselfish. The work she does, has such a domino effect. The pressure the senior players bring, it makes us younger players go with them. It's huge to us.
"I just think of caring, straight away. Last year when I was really young and was pretty shy, she was always asking how my day was, little things like that that just when you are so young, it's like 'oh my god, Jasmine Garner's talking to me'."

Jasmine Garner (C) celebrates a goal with Taylah Gatt and Isabella Eddey during the AFLW R7 match between North Melbourne and Yartapuulti at Arden St Oval on October 15, 2023. Picture: AFL Photos

Adding to her physical weapons is a sharp football mind and an insatiable desire to improve.
A Victoria v Allies exhibition match was played in September 2017, six months after the end of the first AFLW season.
Across two teams made up of the best players from around the country, it was then 23-year-old Garner who rose to the occasion, booting five goals in a match after five across the seven games of the 2017 season.
She physically looked like a different person from the one who had played earlier in the year.

Jasmine Garner celebrates a goal with Ellie Blackburn during the AFLW State of Origin match between Victoria and the Allies on September 2, 2017. Picture: AFL Photos

"Until I'd got drafted to Collingwood, I'd never really used a gym. So just learning all that, getting running programs, doing it in the off-season," Garner said after that game.
"It's mainly just running and changing my eating habits. Basically, I've just been trying to work a lot harder up the ground."
Crocker's bid for history as Roos look to leave 'unbelievable legacy'
Coach Darren Crocker said when Garner speaks up in meetings, the team listens. She's not one to dominate the chat, but her "measured" feedback comes from a wealth of football knowledge, understanding the "nuances" of the game.
"Jas makes Jas who she is. She's just uncomplicated. She's unflappable. She's unbelievably consistent, her demeanour doesn't change much, whether we lose or whether we win. Generally she plays well, but even when she wears a bit of attention, she gets on with it," he said.

Melbourne premiership defender Libby Birch joins The W Show ahead of the AFLW Grand Final to discuss Monique Conti’s win at the W Awards, the Dees’ straight-sets finals exit and the big game on Sunday
"She wants to be successful because she wants the team success. So, she tries to get better herself, because she knows the better she gets, the better the team will be.
"I didn't see her at her infancy in the first couple of seasons of AFLW. When I came into the space, all I knew was she was someone who wasn't happy with where they were, and has just worked tirelessly to get fitter, stronger and be able to cover the ground more and get to more contests."

Where Garner goes, so too does younger brother Kane.
You may not recognise him, but if you've watched a North Melbourne AFLW match, you've surely heard him, leading chants with a bellowing "KANGA, KANGA, KANGA".
The club included Kane in Garner's recent re-signing announcement video, the brother jokingly refusing to sign his waterboy contract extension till the club extended his sister's playing contract.

"We love having Kane around the place. He brings that fun element to it. You've got to understand that a lot of these players are either going to uni or working, and you want to create an environment they want to come to," Crocker said.
"I know everyone enjoys Kane's company around here. Somehow, he's just charmed his way into being our waterboy, and now he's complaining about not getting paid for it. We love having him around and I know it's great for 'Jammin' (Kane's childhood name for Jasmine) to have him around too, she really enjoys having him as part of her football journey as well.

"He's now even weaselled his way into coming into meetings and line meetings, but it's been good for him too, because it's given him a bit of a purpose and taught him some good lessons. Hopefully the program's had a bit of an impact on him, as he's had on us."
Away from football, Garner is a plumber, and has been with partner Bruton for 10 years. The pair even used to live in a tiny house out in Trentham when Bruton's mother was seriously unwell, commuting into Melbourne for footy.

At 29, Garner still has a long career ahead of her, and the AFLW is richer for it.
How will the youngster who grew up playing junior footy alongside the boys at Yarraville in Melbourne's inner west be seen when her glittering footy journey draws to a close?
"I think she'll be a generational player," Crocker said.
"I think people will be talking about the initial batch of players to come into the AFLW, and they'll be talking about Jas Garner as one of the best."

 

[giantroo]

 

[Dan]

Nothing surer

 

[Hearts to hearts]

Nothing surer

Ash wasn’t far behind - they were only two votes apart after the H&A games.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

Gun

Well done Jas, well deserved

 

[shinboner magic]

We’ve had the greatest male player and now we’re lucky to have the greatest female player.
Make sure you turn up and watch her in person if able.

 

[The Brady Bunch]

We’ve had the greatest male player and now we’re lucky to have the greatest female player.
Make sure you turn up and watch her in person if able.

Decades from now, your grandchildren will ask you if you ever saw Jas Garner play live and if not, why not?

 

[sutcliffe's hotel]

Elite.

Shinboner to the core.

Jazzy is proof we can have nice things.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

Elite.

Shinboner to the core.

Jazzy is proof we can have nice things.

You think you couldn’t love her more watching her play, then she stands up and says this footy club is the greatest place on earth. My heart.

 

[Teen Wolf]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/who-takes-out-number-one-jon-anderson-ranks-his-top-50-australian-athletes-of-2023/news-story/4e3480abdec235a10814bf1746b4e732

In what was sure to be a worthless half-arsed exercise from the outset, this was nevertheless an intriguing trio:

47 NATHAN LYON His Ashes injury overshadowed one of his finest Test years where he took 38 wickets from just eight matches at 24.63 with a strike-rate of 52.15 – seriously good for an off-spinner.

48 JASMINE GARNER Monique Conti deservedly won the AFLW best and fairest, but when players were asked to pick the best player in 2023, Garner was given the nod over Conti.

49 ASH GARDNER Has a strong claim to be recognised as the world’s best all-rounder in all forms of the game via her explosive batting and clever off-spinners.

Looks like 48 is the new 29! No comment on being beaten by a Liyon again, I'm just wondering if Jasmine is a talisman with the offbreak per her neighbours.

Even in Garner's blurb, the word Conti (which also appeared at no. 42 on the list) gets brought up more, lol. Compare that to Jenna's description, which is predictably steeped in a richer sea of admiration and understanding:



Key words and phrases: Hard work. Commitment. Work ethic. Effort.

I'll take that from the Trentham spud farmer, who would know more about those things than most.

 

[Teen Wolf]

Close friends and distant observers alike have made, and continue to make, allusions to both Carey and Lockett for various valid reasons. But her unyielding avoidance of controversy is where such nominations for "male counterpart" status fall short.

Thus the more palatable comparison is the recently legendized Jason Dunstall, who demonstrated the same unflappable temperament and prioritisation of teamwork. And while Garner gave away her full-time goal-square days long ago in exchange for the midfield, I've no doubt Dunstall would've done the same in the modern era and with no less conviction.

But there are even more similarities between the two (and I'm not just talking about how, at least on paper/statistically, they are clearly the two most ripped-off players in the past 40 years of League B&F voting). An article from last month:

Shots in the dark: The late night sessions that made Dunstall a Legend

With strong hands and an even stronger mind, Jason Dunstall dominated Hawthorn's forward line for more than a decade. But he did it on more than just pure talent

www.afl.com.au

But it was his legendary work ethic and competitiveness, rather than just pure talent, that led him to kick 1254 goals

In his first summer at the club, after lagging badly in the initial running sessions, he took it upon himself to arrange extra sessions on weekends, ostensibly the players' time off. The appetite for hard work was already plain to see.

"And again, I was a lot more wayward kick early days than I was later, after years of refining it, if you like. So, we could spend an hour, two hours out there easily.

"And we did a lot of hands work too. Marking the ball in the hands, close range, just drilling the ball at you, just making sure the hands were as good as they could be."

...wow, so being an accurate kick and having clean hands is about more than talent? Why, I never!

---

Anyway, the young Jasmine turns 30 on Monday. A little while ago in another thread I said she had played 142 "top level" games of footy to date, and Emma Kearney was on 192. I maintain my numbers are correct for the latter, though closer inspection revealed a calculating error was made for the former.

So, to clear it all up, here's what I've got Garner down for:

*St Albans (VWFL, 2012): 15 games, 11 goals
*St Kilda Sharks (VWFL/VFLW, 2013-2016): 61 games, 65 goals
*Victoria (2013-2017): 5 games, 18 goals
*Melbourne (Exhibition, 2013): 1 game, 1 goal
*Collingwood (AFLW, 2017-2018): 14 games, 10 goals
St Kilda Sharks (VFLW, 2017): 14 games, 32 goals
Williamstown (VFLW, 2018): 9 games, 10 goals
*North Melbourne (AFLW, 2019-2023): 61 games, 54 goals
Melbourne Uni (VFLW, 2019): 5 games, 10 goals

*Top-level/elite senior total: 157 games, 159 goals
All senior total: 185 games, 211 goals

 

[The Nostradamus]

Wouldn’t mind her being captain this year

Kearney to transition it over whilst still being around for 2 years

 

[Teen Wolf]

She would make a fine premiership captain. But I trust Emma Kearney's judgment and humility to identify the right time for a handover, then go through with it--hopefully that opportunity is granted, rather than forced.

Better than risking disrespect, like the ridiculous move Freo pulled last week (demoted their 28yo captain to vc, in favour of a 27yo who was already out for the season with injury!).

But you'd have to go with Garner as captain of one of the teams, whether it be Victoria or Australia or another option, for the rumoured AFLW rep game during next year's Gather Round in SA.

 

[Luke72]

She would make a fine premiership captain. But I trust Emma Kearney's judgment and humility to identify the right time for a handover, then go through with it--hopefully that opportunity is granted, rather than forced.

Better than risking disrespect, like the ridiculous move Freo pulled last week (demoted their 28yo captain to vc, in favour of a 27yo who was already out for the season with injury!).

But you'd have to go with Garner as captain of one of the teams, whether it be Victoria or Australia or another option, for the rumoured AFLW rep game during next year's Gather Round in SA.

I don’t think Jas would want to be captain. I think Ash would make a better captain despite Jas obviously being the more important player, just off their personality types.

 

[Chadwiko]

Just on the topic of Jazzy and Kearney, both women (as well as most of their AFLW team mates) were down at Williamstown yesterday watching our VFLW team, and were very very gracious when my 5 year old daughter (who was wearing an Emma Kearney guernsey) saw them and ran up for hugs haha.

 

[Teen Wolf]

I don’t think Jas would want to be captain.

Might indeed be the case, though you wouldn't be able to base that off her actions to date: when nominated vice-captain for several seasons now (and when asked to stand in as captain for one match), she has embraced the leadership role.

 

[HELLSBELLS]

Just on the topic of Jazzy and Kearney, both women (as well as most of their AFLW team mates) were down at Williamstown yesterday watching our VFLW team, and were very very gracious when my 5 year old daughter (who was wearing an Emma Kearney guernsey) saw them and ran up for hugs haha.

Emma was great at the clinic and the few times me and the boys have seen her she’s been amazing.
My eldest loves having a chat with Emma whenever he gets a chance.

 

[Liam Boy]

Strong start to the season. Maybe she'll get 1 vote from the umpires

 

[datakid]

Strong start to the season. Maybe she'll get 1 vote from the umpires

She was good, but she will lose out to Riddell who was BoG. This will always be the problem for both of them. Both had a great game though.

 

[Harris 10]

She’s a class above in just about every area of the game.