CHRISTINE Roberts hasn’t been on a plane for almost 30 years. 

But this weekend, she’s packing her bags and heading to Sydney for the trip of a lifetime. 

Engie Stadium this weekend plays host to a double-header, featuring both the Giants and Eagles men’s and women’s programs. 

It’s the perfect opportunity for Christine to see two of her grandchildren in action: West Coast AFLW superstar Ella Roberts and Greater Western Sydney AFL young gun Joe Fonti.

Growing up in Western Australia together, the cousins were born just a week apart and it was on a little block in Margaret River where those competitive juices really started to flow. 

“We used to compete in everything whether that be King of the Pack, running races… she’s always been athletically gifted so we’d go toe-to-toe in almost anything we could find to compete in,” Joe Fonti told AFL.com.au ahead of Sunday’s clash.

“It would sort of change who won, we would go tit-for-tat… it was always a close battle. Mum would be rooting pretty hard for me and my aunty would be rooting equally as hard for Ella. It was good to get all the parents involved as well.

“That side of my family, everyone is pretty competitive. She’s got three brothers and every Christmas we catch up. It’s Christmas lunch and then we all play each other in basketball afterwards. 

“That side of the family is always competing, I don’t know, it’s sort of always just been the way it is. I don’t know if it’s something to do with the fact it’s in our blood. We’ve all got such a competitive nature.”

Roberts said her and Fonti were “like two peas in a pod” and that she often had the better of Fonti in the running races early on.

“We’ve grown up really, really close… we’re like two peas in a pod, we were always outside making a bit of a ruckus,” Roberts said.

“We used to do heaps of running races and stuff growing up to see who was faster. He’s probably got me now quite easily but growing up I’m pretty confident to say I had him.

“I guess I always had footy on him as well and then he got kind of good. He didn’t play it much and then started doing some school footy and then joined Claremont. It was just something fun for him. He was a late inclusion to the state 18s and it all kind of randomly happened.

“Footy probably wasn’t something he was always keen on, he was always athletically gifted but was more into basketball and that sort of stuff. Footy kind of just happened for him, it’s been so cool to see his journey and how far he’s come. I think he’s a really special player who has a lot of attributes that a lot of teams would love.”

Both Roberts and Fonti are making a serious splash at the top level and while they’re watching each other from opposite sides of the country, their support for each other hasn’t wavered. 

“I remember when she was first drafted, it was such an incredible thing. Our family had never experienced anything like that and watching her improve as a player, then me getting drafted, it’s been pretty cool,” Fonti said.

“It’s been good to watch her grow and improve and in some sense inspire me to want to do as well as she’s doing in her league.”

Roberts can’t wait to finally kick off her AFLW season, having worked hard all off-season in a bid to get even better. 

“I’m super excited, it’s been the longest pre-season ever and it’s kind of crazy it’s now here. It’s been such a build up, it almost doesn’t feel real. I’m so excited to continue to improve, both individually and as a team,” Roberts said.

“I’m looking forward to seeing where we can take that in games. Individually I think my best footy is still yet to come. Improving little things where I can and hopefully the results take care of themselves and I can play some consistent footy.”

Roberts has gone from the little girl in the backyard kicking the footy to one of the most recognisable players in the competition.

“I think from day dot I knew I wanted to be a footballer. It was always my first career aspiration, even when AFLW wasn’t a thing. I was pretty convinced I wanted footy to be my job, however that looked. The second I heard that AFLW was a thing I’ve been pretty locked in on making that a reality,” she said.

“It’s pretty crazy. I feel like I don’t give it enough credit and take it for granted slightly. I do have those moments where I’m like, wow, little kids do look up to me. I was once that, it’s super special and I’m someone who loves to give back and make a little kid’s day. I definitely have those moments and am starting to be more appreciative of the position I’m in.”

Already a dual All-Australian and two-time club best and fairest winner, the young Eagle is still looking to improve all aspects of her game. 

This off-season, goalkicking and defensive accountability have been two of her biggest focuses. 

“I was happy enough with my season but knew there were plenty of areas to get better in. My goalkicking is one, I’m quite inaccurate in front of the sticks. If I can start to be a player who regularly kicks goals in games and can be more impactful with my disposals, I think it’ll really help the team out,” she said.

Since arriving at the Eagles, Roberts has had the opportunity to learn from some of the competition’s best and most respected people. 

Two of the mentors who have had a significant impact on her career have been coach Daisy Pearce and veteran Emma Swanson, who was captain when Roberts was drafted.

“I really resonated with her a lot not only in how she played but as a leader as well. I’ve picked her brain a lot and have so much respect for her,” Roberts said.

“She was the best first captain I could ask for. I see a lot of myself in her and how she leads. It’s really special that I can keep playing with her and she’s still kicking.

“Hopefully we can win some more games with each other, she’s been here since the start when the days weren’t so good so it would be nice to get her some reward for effort.”

As for Pearce, Roberts considers her coach to be one of the best minds in football.

“Daisy’s growing every year and we can all see that. She’s becoming more and more confident in her coaching and abilities,” she said.

“She’s super human, her footy brain is unlike anything I’ve seen before. Each year she’s getting better and better at teaching us what she knows. We’ve really been able to go after our offence this year, so I expect you’ll see a bit of that on the weekend hopefully.”

Fonti himself has had some fantastic mentors since making the trip across the nation, notably defender Connor Idun.

“I’ve definitely gravitated a lot towards Connor Idun as sort of a mentor. He’s known for his reliability defensively and coming into the Giants that was a part of my game that was still pretty raw that I wanted to develop,” Fonti said.

“He’s helped me so much with that and off-field as well, we get along like a house on fire. It’s the best of both worlds. He’s a really close friend of mine now and we’ve continued to develop a really close friendship.”

Fonti has played 20 matches so far throughout 2026 and is pleased with his continued improvement. 

Next on the agenda is becoming more consistent, both offensively and defensively for Adam Kingsley’s side.

“I think my season has been alright for the most part. Obviously your season isn’t going to always be perfectly linear in terms of improvement, you’re still going to have inconsistencies and there’ll be ups and downs, but as a general theme I think I’m improving which is a positive,” Fonti said.

“I’ll continue to work away on my game and hopefully be a pretty impactful player in the back end of this year and carry that momentum going into next year as well.

“Consistency is the key. At the moment I’m a little bit of a two steps forward, one step backwards sort of player. Which is alright but ideally I’m reliable in all areas of my game so I’m chipping away at trying to be as consistent as possible. Defensively, working to be that sort of lockdown as best I can but then also using some run and dash for us offensively.”

But for now, both Fonti and Roberts are entirely focused on Sunday’s double header at Engie Stadium and putting on a show for their grandma Christine.

“She hasn’t been on a plane in 20-30 years, it’ll be a pretty special moment for her to see both her grandchildren play at a professional level, it’s exciting,” Fonti said.

“She’s a massive footy fan, she’s obviously Giants for the men’s and Eagles for the girls. It’ll be an experience for her, I don’t think it’ll ever happen again, the double header is probably once in a lifetime for our two teams. It’ll be a great experience for her, it’ll be a big family affair there on Sunday,” Roberts added.

“We’ve got plenty of family coming over, it’ll definitely be a special night for the family,” Fonti said.

Roberts will be keeping a close eye on Fonti as she goes through her pre-game, while Fonti will certainly hang around to watch her in action after his match. 

As for Christine? She might need to invest in one of those half and half scarfs.