WHEN Teagan Germech was invited to Alberton Oval for a second training session with Port Adelaide, she thought it was a good sign that she had impressed enough to be called back.

With a spot remaining on the club’s AFLW list, the athletic defender was optimistic about making a second trip from her home in Sydney.

After sweating it out in an intense one-on-one session with assistant coach Dan Merrett, Germech was led across the oval, expecting to join in on team training but was puzzled when she found the ground empty.

It was only when she walked into the players’ lounge and coach Lauren Arnell emerged smiling and holding a Port Adelaide guernsey for her, that she realised she was being signed as an injury replacement.

“It was pure shock,” Germech smiled as she recalled the moment to portadelaidefc.com.au. “I had no idea what was going on. I was not expecting it at all.

“I was chatting on the phone to my manager because I'd said to him, I can't read what’s happening. I have no idea if they're signing me or not.

“He was like, ‘yeah, I can't tell either but you’re just going to go over for another training session, see how you go and give it your all’.

“I thought my manager would have told me if they were getting me over to sign me, so when I walked in, it just took me a little bit to process what was happening.”

Having her new teammates in the room to congratulate her was another special touch.

Especially one familiar face, fellow defender Georgie Jaques.

“Georgie and I were part of the (GWS) Giants Academy together,” Germech said.

“Back in the day we also played against each other in Canberra. She was my biggest rival in the ruck when we were there, and I hated playing against her, so it'll be really good to be on the same side as her now.”

Germech’s second chance in the AFLW has come late, just days before players return to Alberton for the start of pre-season training, and as a replacement player after pregnancy forced Hannah Dunn onto the inactive list, alongside Lauren Young with her long-term knee injury.

“I definitely was sort of accepting that I was going to play club footy this year,” she said. “I was just planning to play really good footy there and then see how I go at the end of the year but to have this brought up now is all super exciting.”

A high-level netballer, Germech was part of the New South Wales mixed team that won the National Championship in 2023.

She was runner-up MVP of the tournament and made the All-Star seven team.

But the 21-year-old says netball has taken a backseat to football in recent years, though it has helped her game.

“I definitely see myself down back (as a defender),” Germech said. “I did a lot of rucking and a bit of midfield last year, but I was a defender in netball, so the backline is definitely just much more natural. And I just love it down there.

“I think being able to read the flight of the ball somehow in netball has helped a lot in footy. And as big interceptor in netball, I think that's definitely carried over to footy as well with the timing you need.”

And if Germech’s competitiveness and athleticism don’t immediately catch the eye, her trademark bright scrunchie certainly will.

“There were a few blondes in our team last year and sometimes they all looked the same on the TV, so I put the scrunchie in to make sure my family can tell who I am,” she explained.

“I’ll have to find a teal one somewhere now. I don't know where, but I’ll find one. I'll make it myself if I have to.”