The build-up to any player’s debut is nerve-wracking enough in of itself, but a two-week gap between receiving the news and getting to run out on game-day is more than enough to get the butterflies fluttering.
That’s been exactly the situation for first-round draftee Ella Friend, whose protracted wait to feature in Saints colours will at last come to head against West Coast on Tuesday night.
The pick No. 4 from St Kilda’s most recent draft haul was told by coach Nick Dal Santo that she’d make her debut two Mondays ago, but successive postponed games due to opponents West Coast and GWS entering AFL Health and Safety protocols has extended her time away from the action.
Friend will be the club’s fifth debutant of the season, with Leah Cutting, Lucy Burke, Ash Richards and Alana Woodward (club debut) all making their maiden appearances over the past month.
“I was preparing myself for some bad news… of course it was some of the best news I’ve ever heard in my life!” Friend told saints.com.au about her chat with Dal Santo.
“Dal didn’t really give too much away. I was thinking ‘oh I’m just getting told I’m definitely not playing again’ so I was preparing myself for that.”
Friend had been named as an emergency for two of St Kilda’s three matches this season.
“He just turned around and said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’re playing’ and I was just shocked… he’s got a good poker face,” she laughed.
“It’s pretty exciting, obviously it’s been a bit of a big wait and a big unknown as well for it to be locked in, but I’m happy it’s come around now.”
Prolonged wait times haven’t been isolated to just her debut, however. The 18-year-old was forced to miss the start of pre-season as she – like fellow draftee Ash Richards – completed her Year 12 studies at Ballarat Grammar.
Despite the interruptions and unforeseen delays, the Horsham native has remained close to unflustered. Long-drawn-out debut withstanding, it’s been a “blur” for Friend, who has settled into Melbourne life with housemate Caitlin Greiser.
The two will likely spend times at opposite ends of the ground on Tuesday night, with Friend earmarked for a role in the defensive half during her first season as a Saint.
“I suppose we’re pretty used to the whole COVID world. I wasn’t too stressed or anything (about the delay), I just never thought the date was set in stone until the day before,” Friend said.
“Definitely there’s a bit of relief and there’s a lot of excitement. I probably won’t get nervous until I run out on Tuesday and then it will all sink in.”
