YARTAPUULTI’s Kirsty Lamb has experienced a lot in footy but ahead of her 75th AFLW game, she admits she continues to learn.
The experienced midfielder, whose accolades include being a best and fairest, premiership player and All-Australian with the Western Bulldogs, has spent more time as a forward this season since crossing to Alberton to play for the club she grew up supporting.
Lamb has added valuable experience and footy nous to a young and inexperienced Yartapuulti lineup and is enjoying the exciting brand of football the side is playing this season.
Speaking ahead of her 75th game milestone, the 30-year-old discussed the challenge of learning a new role, how improving the way the team starts matches has contributed to the current four-game winning streak, and being hungry to beat Gold Coast on Saturday to celebrate a milestone for a much-loved teammate.
Kirsty Lamb on reaching 75 AFLW games:
“It's obviously a bit of a milestone, I guess, in my career. There probably hasn't been a lot of players to do it to date so I guess it's a bit of a time of reflection. I've obviously been in the game for a long time, and, you know, hopefully got a few more years left in me, but I think 75 is something to be proud of and yeah, hopefully I can continue to just keep playing games of football and keep playing my role within the team.
“I think it's probably something I'll look back on, maybe towards the end of my career, when my career finishes, how many games I've played. But I’m just happy to be here and playing games with football and winning.”
Kirsty Lamb on whether she thinks she could get to 100 AFLW games:
“I think why not? Why not have an aim to try and play as many games as you can? Obviously, I'm certainly in the back half of my career, but hopefully I'm still contributing, I think, and play my role where I can. Obviously, I'd love to get to 100. I think any player would love to get to 100 but it's probably a few years before I get there.”
Kirsty Lamb on playing fewer midfield minutes since arriving at Alberton:
“Obviously, my role here has changed a little bit, probably playing a little bit more forward than sort of mid and, you know, adjusting to that and understanding what it takes to be a decent small forward. It's a pretty tricky role, but I'm enjoying it because it's providing me a challenge of something different.
“As I’ve said, I'm getting a little bit older. The game's constantly getting quicker, and, you know, there's plenty of talent coming through. I guess I'm just sort of trying to enjoy whatever I have left in my career. I'll just continue to keep growing as a person and enjoying being in a new group with new players and learning off them all the time, and learning a new system, which I've thoroughly enjoyed the style of footy that we've played this year. And hopefully it's exciting for people to watch, and it's awesome to be playing part of.”
Kirsty Lamb on what she is most looking forward to this weekend:
“I haven't really thought about it too much. I guess it's just about the team more than anything, we want to win games of football. Gold Coast are coming off two really good performances. They didn't get it done against Brisbane, but they obviously got their first win on the weekend. So they're starting to put some really good football together. And we know that, so we have to come out firing and leave no stone unturned. I guess it's just a matter of putting some of our learnings from the last week's game into this week. And you know, more importantly, Hammo's (Cheyenne Hammond’s) got her 50th game, so I'd love to get a win for her, particularly against her old side. So yeah, probably not thinking about it too much from an individual perspective. I really just want the girls to keep growing, keep improving, and walk away with the four points, particularly when you get on the road.”
Kirsty Lamb on going into Saturday’s game chasing a fifth win in succession:
“You try and use momentum where you can right, and you obviously, week in week out the goal for us is just to continue to get better and take learnings out of each week and put it into the next. That's something that our group's doing. We're certainly hungry to get better week in, week out. And I guess that's a good mentality to have, particularly when you've got a young group where just because we're winning games of football doesn't mean that we're done, and we need to keep getting better, particularly if we want to go and play against some of these top sides who we have played a couple this year and have fallen short. It's taught us a few things along the way, particularly when you play some of those top end teams. I think the group's definitely got the skill, we've got the talent, we've got the hunger. It's just a matter of putting it all together for four quarters of footy at the moment.”
Kirsty Lamb on what has changed for the group in recent weeks:
“Our starts probably weren't great for that middle sort of period. And you know, we sat down as a group and had a conversation about that. We tinkered with a few things, particularly in our warm- up. We had some good conversations amongst the players around why we're not starting well because history will show if you start well in women's football, it goes a long way to winning games. That's probably been the biggest change in the group is identifying that starting games of football is really important, otherwise, you're sort of always chasing your tail for the rest of the game. That was sort of driven within the playing group, which, again, is a step of growth within our young group.
“So, starting games of football has been the change, and then consistently playing four quarters. There's been lapses here and there and again, that's something that we've spoken about, but I guess in a way, it's to be expected with a young group that's still sort of learning but at the same time, we're putting scores on the board, which provides us a little bit of breathing room at times, that if we do have a lapse, we're not getting run over. And again, that's just growth within our playing group, to be able to stick at it in that fourth quarter and have a bit of a never die attitude. And that's a bit of the Port Adelaide DNA.”
Kirsty Lamb on Cheyenne Hammond ahead of the midfielder’s 50th AFLW game:
“Hammo is just a really incredible, beautiful sort of soul. She is just one of those players that gets in each and every day and just goes about her work. She's obviously worked incredibly hard in the off season. She's one of our quicker and fitter players, and we saw glimpses of that on the weekend, particularly when she came off the bench and had a bit of a rundown tackle. I think it was at least a 100-metre effort. And that's the sort of stuff that we've known Hammo to do over her career, and certainly the few games that I've played with her this season.
“I think she's super dedicated to her football. She brings a lot of pace to our team, which we need. She obviously brings some experience, having played across a couple of clubs as well. She's just a beautiful person, and you know, she deserves a win on a 50th game so I have no doubt the girls will be hungry to do that.”
