IN A FUNNY old way, watching Hawthorn defender Matt Spangher win an AFL premiership with the Hawks was what led Zarlie Goldsworthy to a long-term deal with Greater Western Sydney.

It seems a long bow to draw, but the 19-year-old reigning Rising Star describes Hawthorn's 2014 flag as the start of a "butterfly effect" leading her to the Giants.

Such an influence was Spangher that Goldsworthy name-dropped him in her Rising Star acceptance speech at the 2023 W Awards.

Goldsworthy was nine years old the day the Hawks ran over the top of Sydney on the MCG. She watched from her home in Albury with her family, before an aunt took her to the Glenferrie Road Oval celebrations the following day.

"I made her take photos of me touching the ice baths," Goldworthy told AFL.com.au with a laugh.

"I had a little Tic Tac box where I put the MCG grass because they rip it up, so that's somewhere floating around at home."

But it was a stubbornness born in Goldsworthy from that Hawthorn three-peat that has spurned her outlook on footy.

Every time Goldsworthy was asked who her favourite player was, with the assumption it would be a name like Cyril Rioli, Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, or Shaun Burgoyne, instead she would single out Matt Spangher.

"I just got sick of everyone asking about the same people and one day I just thought, 'No it's not. It's Spangher'," Goldsworthy said.

"I just said it, and it's stuck … I just think that it's the people that don't get the biggest stats that are the ones that help win the premiership.

"It's such a good stepping stone for how I think about out team. Everyone's got a role, and we can't all lift a cup unless my teammate does her role, and she can't unless I do. At the end of the day, it is teamwork, as cheesy as it sounds. I guess that's just how is all started."

One player's influence on a game, that influence contributing to a flag, that spurring a young girl on to play footy.

"It's a sacrificial and unselfish role … They couldn't have won the premiership if it wasn't for the smaller guys that didn't get noticed. That's why you always give a bit of love to them, because I as a Hawthorn supporter, I probably wouldn't be where I am if they didn't win," Goldsworthy said.

"It's like a little butterfly effect of how I've got here, and it all comes back to them doing their roles and helping (Hawthorn) win."

Now she is playing an important role at Greater Western Sydney, winning the club's best and fairest medal and leading goalkicker award last year. Those achievements have been paired with a contract extension, committing to the club until the end of 2027.

Initially the Giants weren't on Goldsworthy's radar in her draft year. Based in Albury, on the border of NSW and Victoria, the feeling was that she would either land at new side Sydney or a Victorian club.

But a meeting with the Giants changed that mindset. Suddenly heading to the other NSW club was a real option, and she hasn't looked back.

"As soon as I met the Giants, I remember my dad and I looked at each other after the interview and we were like 'Oh my god'," Goldsworthy said.

"We made a pros and cons list. Since I've come (to the club) I've never once felt disappointed. Everything they promised, they've given. Last year I was to and from Albury a bit too … they were just so supportive."

And she has paid them back in spades already. Winning the Rising Star was reassurance for Goldsworthy that what she was doing was working. Her effort and preparation was getting the reward on the field.

"It solidified that what I was doing last year, routine and preparing for games, it solidifies that I was doing the right thing," Goldsworthy said.

"Everyone goes about it differently, and I feel like I'm a very laid-back person. If anything, it just made me feel like 'OK, I can do this'."

That confidence will be Goldsworthy's biggest asset heading into her third AFLW season, with some pressure on the club to show improvement this year. Her Giants will host the Western Bulldogs at Manuka Oval in Canberra on Saturday, August 31.

"This year we've relied a lot on executing the game plan, we've had two years on it," Goldsworthy said.

"This is the year we need to start executing it."