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- Sep 5, 2016
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Sydney will only lose one player for its final match, but it's a big one, with No.1 pick Montana Ham sitting out. Sofia Hurley graduated last year and Cynthia Hamilton finished up earlier this year.
Ham has been in an unusual situation this year, staying in Melbourne during the week to complete year 12 at Overnewton College, and flying up to Sydney for training when available – even sitting her practice exams at the club.
"We just sat down with Mon at the start and laid out the pre-season and looked at any opportunities when she could come up in blocks," Sydney's AFLW player development manager Lindsey Berne said.
"As soon as she was drafted, it was school holidays, so she spent three weeks up here getting to know the girls and the coaches. The school have been amazing and so understanding, they've been so happy to accommodate as much as possible.
"During pre-season, she'd come up after school on a Friday, do our main session on a Saturday and then fly back down on the Sunday morning. Essentially, she hadn't done much with the team for the whole pre-season.
"When she's in Melbourne, I do a check in with her early in the week, just go over her schedule. She has access to a physio and a strength and conditioning coach, who helped with her football stuff as well, and between us, we'd plan her week, making sure we were across any commitments with study and school.
"She's been super to deal with, she's so diligent and mature. Especially given the decisions around whether to play each week, we've left that up to her. She made the decision pretty early on not to play round 10, as she started her exams on Wednesday."
www.womens.afl
Ham has been in an unusual situation this year, staying in Melbourne during the week to complete year 12 at Overnewton College, and flying up to Sydney for training when available – even sitting her practice exams at the club.
"We just sat down with Mon at the start and laid out the pre-season and looked at any opportunities when she could come up in blocks," Sydney's AFLW player development manager Lindsey Berne said.
"As soon as she was drafted, it was school holidays, so she spent three weeks up here getting to know the girls and the coaches. The school have been amazing and so understanding, they've been so happy to accommodate as much as possible.
"During pre-season, she'd come up after school on a Friday, do our main session on a Saturday and then fly back down on the Sunday morning. Essentially, she hadn't done much with the team for the whole pre-season.
"When she's in Melbourne, I do a check in with her early in the week, just go over her schedule. She has access to a physio and a strength and conditioning coach, who helped with her football stuff as well, and between us, we'd plan her week, making sure we were across any commitments with study and school.
"She's been super to deal with, she's so diligent and mature. Especially given the decisions around whether to play each week, we've left that up to her. She made the decision pretty early on not to play round 10, as she started her exams on Wednesday."
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