WHAT'S the best way to respond after being dropped?
Kicking three goals in a match-winning turn upon being reinstated to the team.
Greater Western Sydney key forward Bec Privitelli thrived in the wet against St Kilda at RSEA Park on Saturday, booting three from 11 disposals, taking two contested marks in the pouring rain and recording an equal-game high eight AFLCA votes.
The 26-year-old hit the ground running against the Saints, taking a big grab in the goalsquare and duly converting in the opening minutes of the game.
"Once I actually watched my Bulldogs game over, it made a lot more sense to me as to why they made that decision [to omit me]," Privitelli told womens.afl.
"You know, there's been a couple of weeks where I've probably gone into the contest and I've launched at it but haven't quite been able to hold onto the footy or my intent on the ground maybe didn't look as good as what it should.
"That first touch I think was pretty important for me just getting my hands on the ball early. It definitely set me up for the rest of the day."
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With the majority of state leagues now having moved to fall in line with the NAB AFLW season, the Giants are the only club not to have a competition where unselected players can ply their trade (the AFL Sydney competition will run later this year).
Instead, players have a tough training session on game day in an attempt to prove to their worth to coaches for selection the following week.
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"I definitely feel for the girls that do that week in, week out. We've had 'Peasy' (draftee Emily Pease) who hasn't come into the side yet, 'Halvo' and 'Toddy' (Sarah Halvorsen and Erin Todd) who have played one or two games, and they've been doing that session every weekend by themselves," Privitelli said.
"I really feel for them, because I did one session, and it was tough. But the feedback for me was last year I had so much more consistency in my game and I just felt like I needed to impact a little bit more.
"I focused on my contested marking during the week. The coaches have never put pressure on me to score goals but that was something that I really wanted to put a bit of a focus on.
"I had a good week on the track, and I think that just set me up for the game on Saturday. When you feel down and get dropped, it can be hard to get in that mindset to go back out there on Tuesday and Thursday and have a good session on the track."
After spending the entirety of January on the road due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney, the Giants have returned to some normality, and they're building on the field as well.
"I think one of the hardest things with being in the hub was the uncertainty. We didn't know what was coming next, whether it was the fixture, where we were going next, we're all stuck in a hub," she said.
"There was just so much uncertainty to the season and I think that makes it really hard to prepare and it's actually really exhausting as well, because mentally you can't actually get away from it – all you're doing is thinking about it, because you don't know what's next.
"So, it's been nice to be back home, get back into routine. Just being around my partner or my dogs, even that stuff helps, it just makes it feel normal again.
"One of the big things for me last year was I actually had an opportunity to separate myself from footy when I wasn't [at the club], and during the hub and in the first few weeks coming out of it, it was really hard to do that. So being back has definitely brought some consistency to everyday life."
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