MONIQUE Conti might be the reigning AFLW best and fairest winner, but it all resets now.
Everyone starts back at zero, including the player deemed the best in the competition a mere eight months ago. But Conti isn't bothered, the pressure anyone else could put on her is nothing compared to the expectations she has for herself.
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"Every year I know that I need to be better, and I'm never content with where I'm at," Conti told AFL.com.au.
"Definitely always room for improvement, and I've been working on all parts of my game this pre-season and yeah, really excited to see what I can do this year. But I'm more excited to see what we can all do as a collective."
Conti describes winning the AFLW equivalent to the Brownlow Medal as "overwhelming and exciting at the same time", but there wasn't a whole lot of time to reflect on the achievement in the immediate aftermath.
No, she went straight into her WNBL season, playing basketball for the Melbourne Boomers.
"There wasn't really much time to think about it and sit on it and acknowledge it," Conti said.
"But the past few months, before pre-season started, it did sort of sink in a little bit. But at the end of the day, (I'm) really grateful for the award and it is really special. But it all resets now."
At 24 years of age, Conti has already ticked off some major footy milestones. There's the AFLW best and fairest award, six club best and fairests, a premiership with the Western Bulldogs, and a Grand Final best on ground medal.
There is one thing, however, that she is still desperate to achieve.
"Premiership with Richmond," Conti says bluntly.
"All those things are individual, except the premiership of course. But what makes footy more meaningful is when you're able to do something with the girls and with the team, and something special for the club."
After spending her first two seasons with the Western Bulldogs, Conti was one of Richmond's high-profile recruitments ahead of its inaugural season in 2020, and she's been Richmond through and through ever since.
"It's always been really special to me," Conti said.
"You just feel so welcomed and cared for and I feel like I'm really valued at that club, and that's not easy to find everywhere. So to walk into something and know that people care about you as a person, not just as an athlete, but purely as a person is really special."
Bouncing back from last year's 10th-placed exit is at the top of the priority list for the Tigers, and it is the return of one player in particular that Conti thinks can have the biggest impact.
"We've got Ellie McKenzie healthy at the moment, which is really exciting for us and will be a huge addition," Conti said.
"We know how good we can be. We've shown it. We didn't finish where we wanted to last year, but we did end the season showing everyone how good we can be and we already knew that, but it's just a matter of staying consistent throughout the whole season.
"Because at the end of the day, it's not how great you start, or how great you finish, it's who can play consistent good footy."
