STAR Greater Western Sydney midfielder Alyce Parker says the club is fully supportive of injured rookie Brid Stack, after the recruit wrote strongly worded article for an Irish publication.

Stack, writing for the Irish Examiner, said she was 'totally disheartened' by the decision to overturn Crow Ebony Marinoff's three-match suspension for the incident.

R2 RESHUFFLE Two games postponed due to COVID restrictions

"It's been a massive week. For me, being the closest player when it happened, was incredibly confronting, with the fear I had for Brid and her safety," Parker told the Credit to the Girls podcast.

"She's very lucky to be walking away with a brace for six weeks and the poor thing with a broken neck, no one should ever have to deal with that.

"The sacrifices she's made, along with her family, to come out here and start an AFLW career, to have this happening is so disheartening. It was upsetting for her, us, the entire club."

Parker was firm in calling for a greater focus on the safety of players, and did not agree with commentary around the inexperience of Gaelic footballer Stack playing the Australian game.

"Our first focus is Brid and how she is, but her safety goes first. This week has been a huge learning for us, and I guess the AFLW as well, that the safety of the players should be first and foremost," she said.

"We completely throw our support behind Brid, and the allegations of her being new to the sport or not experienced – we don't agree with that.

"She's a very talented and experienced athlete, and it was just a terrible incident that we didn't have a lot of control in, but I think going forward, it's so imperative – particularly now after the seriousness of the incident – is that the safety of the athlete has to be put first, and that's how we're treating this with Brid.

"We'll be behind her the whole way, when she comes back and joins us on the track, it'll be a special day for all of us. But I think there's a lot of learning to come out of this week."

Episode guide

1.17 - The Moment - Sarah and Lucy look back at their favourite parts of round one including Nathan and Alice Burke's special moment

4.00 - The Agenda - Reflecting on the fallout of the Brid Stack/Ebony Marinoff incident

10.35 - Giants midfielder Alyce Parker discusses the rapidly changes her team has had to adapt to as well as paying tribute to Jacinda Barclay

30.20 - Breaking down the round one games and your cheat sheet for round two

Did you head to the footy over the weekend? Tell us your thoughts! Take the survey now