CHANTAL Mason counts herself lucky to be part of the journey Geelong is on.

Into her third season with the Cats, Mason has played every game this season in which they're on a winning streak of 10 games, locked into the top four, and scoring at a rate never seen before in the AFLW.

"I'm just enjoying playing so much. It's honestly the best day of the week going out there with the girls. I feel like my footy is just a reflection of how much I'm enjoying it, and the fun and the footy that the team is producing," Mason told AFL.com.au.

"I get to be a part of it, staying in the team each week and getting that continuity, it's just fun to be a part of and I feel like my footy is probably a reflection of that."

It's a far cry from Mason's introduction to the AFLW. After being taken with pick No.18 in the 2023 Telstra AFLW Draft, she had a spluttering start to her career. One game in 2024 resulted in a stress fracture, a moon boot, and a stint in rehab.

The next year bore eight games – albeit with a gap in the middle after being dropped – but finally her body was starting to work in her favour.

"Probably not the best first two years, but it set me up for now. It's not easy, AFLW, but it is what you make of it," Mason said earnestly.

That mindset led Mason to putting her hand up to support in the ruck this year ("if you need a chop-out ruck, I'm your girl if it keeps me in the team!") despite barely training in the position throughout the preseason.

It has allowed her to get more involved in games, get around the footy and develop a sense of confidence. That was further fast-tracked when No.1 ruck Piper Dunlop succumbed to a knee injury and missed the Cats' round four clash with Essendon – the team Mason grew up supporting.

"The first few rounds I had a few moments chopping out 'Pipes' but it's obviously very quick around the ball, and especially against North Melbourne when you've got Ash Riddell, Jasmine Garner chaining it out. But I think the Essendon game, actually getting full time around the ball when Pipes went down, that really allowed me to get used to the speed of the game and just getting your hands on it," Mason explained.

"I feel like it takes you back to when you're younger as a footballer, you're always around the ball, and not that I lost that, but it's very different in the forward line playing a key forward role. So I definitely got a lot of confidence out of that."

Another thing that's provided Mason with her on field confidence has been a unique bonding opportunity with new coach Mick Stinear.

"I've definitely been working with Mick every week, whether it's on the bag or just one-on-one marking. Definitely try to get a lot of reps in and then hopefully that reflects on game day," Mason explained.

She laughs that she spends time every single week leaping into the back of who is essentially her boss in Stinear.

"He puts himself through a bit, that man, but if anything, you respect him more for doing it when he doesn't hand off that sort of job… genuinely you're jumping into and on your boss' back as hard as you can. It definitely does help with the rapport though. He's in here every day before training, whatever you want to work on, he's your man.

"And you should see Mick. He'll do contested marking or contested reps with you, and we're all gassed and if there's five players, you're waiting five people to go in front of you. We're gassed, and he’s just throwing us around every single rep. I'm like, respect to you Mick for doing that. You definitely do build that rapport when your boss, your head coach is doing that."

All that work and growing confidence has forced a new-look attack for the Cats this year. With experienced players Aishling Moloney and Jackie Parry walk-up starts to the forward line, so too Chloe Scheer now that she's back in action after two years managing injuries, many other clubs would be reluctant to run with a fourth key forward in Mason.

But given her form and willingness to jump in the ruck when needed, Geelong has become a four-headed beast in attack. It's working for forward line coach Elise Coventry ('Flynny'), so why change it?

"Flynny just being like, 'You're all in the team right now, don't think it's those three and you'," Mason said.

"The girls themselves just embrace me, which is really nice. But we all have different strengths and honestly, 'Scheery', Jackie, and 'Lingy' (Moloney) are absolute beasts. You want them on your team, and so getting to work with them and bring my strengths to theirs, I feel like we all complement each other really well."

And that mix between working with a host of experienced players is balanced out when she returns home to 'the frat house' which she shares with fellow young guns Emma Kilpatrick, Lexi Gregor, and Sienna Tallariti.

"We've got a few unique characters in there, but I think the team embraces us which is nice," Mason laughed.

"Good thing we (Mason and Gregor) play at different ends, because we probably get each other mixed up. Even when we're on each other at training, I'm like 'wait, I look a bit different there', but it's Lexi. We definitely bring our uniqueness, people would call it freak, but we call it our character."

All those melding personalities with the shared goal of success on the field is working for the Cats this year. Vibes are high, energy is good, and the wins keep coming.

"It just makes it such an enjoyable place to be, and then that reflects on game day when it comes out and we achieve that and celebrate that," Mason said.

"It's like euphoria."