SHE LEFT behind one sister at Gold Coast, but Giselle Davies reunited with another in Sydney, re-igniting her love for footy in the process.

After playing just six games in three seasons on Gold Coast's list, Davies has played all three matches so far in 2024 after being traded to the Swans over the off-season.

Despite initially being reluctant to leave the Suns, the move to the harbour city has opened up a world of opportunity for the eldest Davies sister.

"I genuinely loved the Suns, I don't think I would have made the decision to move if it wasn't made for me," Davies told AFL.com.au.

"It didn't take me long to realise that this is probably the biggest blessing that's happened to me, and I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be and I'm so glad that I was traded… I think it's just allowed me to feel like I can grow."

The 180cm utility was initially brought to Sydney in the hopes of bolstering the club's tall defensive stocks, but has offered her physicality in other roles to start the season.

Davies has worked through the ruck, offering support for reigning All-Australian ruck Ally Morphett, and taking over the No.1 role in her absence last week, while also presenting as a foil in attack for Bec Privitelli.

"I was originally brought in to be a defender in this team, and I made my way to the forward line," Davies said.

"I really like playing in the forward line."

A highly competitive person, Davies credits growing up as one of four sisters as shaping her attitude not only to footy, but to life.

The oldest of the siblings, Giselle is joined by sisters Fleur (Greater Western Sydney) and Darcie (Gold Coast) on AFLW lists already, with youngest sister Georja already one of the top prospects for the 2025 Telstra AFLW Draft.

"It definitely helps just growing up in a competitive household. I think when you have friends outside of footy, or sport, you realise how subconsciously competitive you can be about little things," Davies said.

"Even just who runs to the dinner table to get the biggest dinner, like those things that don't really matter, but to me and my sisters was a big deal."

That desire to improve and win didn't just come from her sisters, either. Davies' mum Simone and dad Darren were elite athletes in their own right.

Simone danced in the Royal Ballet, and Darren played rugby union for Wales, so instilled professional standards in their daughters from an early age.

"I was pretty lucky that I had parents that were pretty educated in, you know, sleep, nutrition, food, just life balance," Davies said.

"Not putting pressure (on us), and the versatility of being able to play a lot of sports growing up. It just helped in being more of a well-rounded athlete."

Becoming such a footy family wasn't on the cards when Davies was born in Wales back in 2003. Three years later the family made the move to Australia, and it took some time for them to come around to the native Australian sport.

"My parents didn't really get the Australian culture for a while, until we got into school," Davies said.

"Took us a while to pick up (footy). I think I was maybe 14 or 15 when I started, so not incredibly young. But Georja started young, she was nine or 10, so grown up playing footy which is just why everyone in her team's like that, just so skilful."

And now even Simone is playing masters footy for the Southport Sharks in Queensland, getting a thrill whenever Darcie's Gold Coast teammates watch from the stands.

"She just loves footy. She just genuinely loves footy," Davies said.

It is unsurprising, as the eldest sibling, that Davies exudes big sister energy. Driven, logical, and reasonable, but also fun-loving.

This attitude has helped her navigate a tricky start to her AFLW career, in which games were hard to come by and time was spent playing makeshift scrimmages with a rotating roster of teammates and varying team sizes.

"The way that my last three seasons have panned out, I don't really like to put selection-based goals in my head. You play games no matter what, you play VFLW, scrimmages or you play AFLW games and if I let the fact that I may or may not (get selected) influence my mindset, it can get quite dangerous," Davies said.

"So for me it's more about consistently in my performance, regardless of what team I'm in. Consistency with my preparation, diligent with my craft, my vision, my recovery, and always learning.

"I definitely want to try and push to be better than I was yesterday… Anything's possible, you never really know what's going to happen in your career, but you can control your attitude, your mindset, the type of person you are, and the type of teammate you are."