Trying to catch Liv Vesely for a quick chat is harder than it seems.
The 20-year-old simply doesn’t slow down.
Before I’ve had a chance to open my mouth, Vesely has darted back and forth between the changerooms and the oval four times in the space of five minutes, grinning widely.
“You need to get some energy out of her sometimes!” a passing Kate Shierlaw says with a laugh.
When I finally manage to grab her before she dashes past for a fifth time, it’s not the way your standard footy chat goes down.
From demonstrations on how to do a Tik Tok dance, to describing how she can play two recorders at the same time through her nose, to recounting her recent, awkward karaoke experience to Macklemore’s Wings, the lively, scattergun conversation seems out of place within the walls of a footy club.
There are no footy clichés here; just pure, unbridled energy and enthusiasm, and the fact she’s still pinching herself that she’s a Saint.
“Like this, what the hell am I doing in this jumper?” Vesely laughed as she tugged at her Saints guernsey in disbelief.
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When she gets told by Poppy Kelly and Shierlaw about the upcoming action photoshoot with Michael Willson, she’s close to hysterics – she’s nervous, but beaming the whole time.
“Why are they taking photos of me, I’m the most unphotogenic person ever,” Vesely said.
“All my school photos look so shit. In my driver’s licence, I look like I’m 12.
“I’m like the worst in photos, I am, I swear, I promise you.”
In the space of a few weeks, Vesely has already started to garner a reputation as one of the club’s most radiant personalities, even though she denies it.
“No! Everyone says that, but I don’t reckon. Hopefully they think I’m energetic, but I’m sometimes a bit grumpy, but only sometimes,” Vesely said.
“I’m just trying to inject some flavour, a bit of spice into the group.”
Tik Tok is just one of those ways she’s tried to rope a few of the girls in.
“I’ve been hanging out with everyone, but a lot with Belle Shannon and Hannah Priest because she drives me around, so she has to put up with all my crap,” Vesely said.
“I’m mates with everyone here and that’s why I like it so much.”
She can’t hide the fact that she’s over the moon to be part of St Kilda’s inaugural women’s side, and everyone knows just how infectious her bubbly personality is.
Despite her exuberance and charisma, she’s still her own biggest critic.
The 20-year-old finished second in the Southern Saints’ best-and-fairest last season, before taking out the VFLW Rising Star Award and securing a place in the VFLW Team of the Year.
But even with the list of accolades at such a young age, she doubts her abilities, chalking a lot of it up to luck.
“It’s just been so fun so far, so every game I play is a bonus,” Vesely said.
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“The dream is to play Round 1, but if I don’t, it’s just to get another game.
“I’m literally going into it like I don’t reckon I’ll play because I’m one of the youngest ones.”
And with the Saints less than a week out from their landmark debut at RSEA Park, the nerves are starting to kick in.
“We’re all very nervous about it,” Vesely said.
“No one is expecting to get named, which is funny because there’s 21 spots, but we’re all just freaking out a bit.
“I think I’ll be in shock if I do.”
