WESTERN Australian draft prospect Olivia Crane begged her mum, Amy, to play football.
But there wasn't an under-10s girls team at Wanneroo, in Perth's north, meaning Crane would have to play up with the "big girls".
So Amy created an under-10 team for her daughter to play in.
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"She wanted me to grow up and play netball. But I have two older brothers, and they were footy fanatics, and so is my dad. We're a big footy family now. And I was like, 'Mum, can you please just let me try it?' And then as soon as I played my first game. I fell in love with the sport. A couple of years later, I completely dropped netball to focus on footy," Crane told AFL.com.au.
"She did all the organisation, and my older brother Jayden (five-year age gap) coached me for the first couple of years.
"I love the game and how competitive it is. In netball, I got called for contact too much, and got really annoyed. I was a defender in netball, trying to follow in my mum's footsteps, and I just probably get a few too many cautions (official warnings) for too much contact. But then when footy came, I could just do whatever I wanted – when it's legal – I just fell in love with it, because I'm very competitive person and I love the tackling."
Oldest brother Jayden played Colts and a handful of reserves games with Subiaco, while middle brother Riley played in the Lions' reserves this year.
Crane, the (very tall) baby of the family, is now on the verge of landing at an AFLW club, having overcome a torn ACL to return with Subiaco in the WAFLW.
Standing at 181cm and with excellent overhead reach, Crane captained Western Australia's under-16 side before her injury, and despite starting as a key forward, has made her name as a defender in the last few years.
The torn ACL occurred when pushed mid-air in a marking contest, not the classic 'change of direction', and she had 18 months off football.
A member of the Marsh AFLW Academy, she managed to time her comeback so she could play in one match at the highest representative level.
"Chloe Molloy did her knee around the same time as me, and she's just turned into my idol. I followed all her updates on social media to see how she was going, and just helped me keep going as well," the Sydney supporter said.
"In terms of game-wise heroes, I go back to home – (West Coast co-captain) Charlie Thomas. She's my backline coach, so I can't not say her. She's an absolute weapon on the field, and if I get somewhat close to her level, I'll be happy."
When it came to her ACL rehab, Crane had plenty of people in her corner, some of which with AFLW experience.
"I was really, really, really, really lucky with everyone, like Nick Caputi (WA under-18s physio), was huge for me. I'm very glad I went with him to do my rehab, he's like a second dad. He's just amazing," Crane said.
"(Former Docker and Eagle, current Subiaco S&C) Beatrice Devlyn, someone that's done it before, she was great for guidance around my knee and the support. And then just like the likes of, like Krystl Petrevski, like a great teammate supported me all the way.
"My family are huge supporters of me, and just the support they gave me through that time, and knowing that how tough it was, I couldn't thank them enough."
