AN IMPASSIONED mid-week plea from young Collingwood leaders Brit Bonnici and Ruby Schleicher was instrumental in getting the Pies back on the winners list.
Magpies co-captain Steph Chiocci said the duo took it upon themselves to challenge the group on their mindset ahead of their must-win match against the Western Bulldogs.
A rejuvenated Pies saluted by 25 points, but Bonnici's game ended in devastating fashion, tearing her ACL and MCL in her knee.
"Brit Bonnici has really led the charge in the last couple of weeks, I've been so impressed with her. She had those really hard conversations leading into the weekend and really got the girls back on track, ran a few sessions through the week on mindset and it's such a shame she won't be out there with us," Choicci told womens.afl.
"Brit and Ruby have been on the field while 'Breeza' (Bri Davey) and I have been on the sidelines, and they really looked the girls in the eyes and said, 'we are doing everything we can, but we need you to come with us'.
"It was raw, and it was real and quite emotional as well."
Chiocci has been suffering from severe tendinopathy in her Achilles, sidelining her for two separate stints of two matches (four in total) this year, and restricting her to cycling and running through water instead of training with the main group.
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It's an issue Chiocci has been able to manage with daily access to the club, something she has time to do after taking long-service leave from teaching for this season. She has also received cortisone injections in her Achilles and plantaris sheath, and needs to use an exercise bike during matches when “resting” on the bench.
"In the first AFLW season, when my load significantly increased, I had it in both tendons, but not as severe. This came on really acutely in round one, there was nothing in the game of note to have caused it, but I just couldn't walk or bear weight the next day," she said.
"It's now in the best shape it's been in all year. It's still painful, I can't walk properly, but we're right on top of it. I think what's happened is my body is so used to limping, my brain is preventing me from doing certain movements like calf raises. I'm in a moonboot when I'm not training or running to reduce the load, but I have a lot more functionality."
Chiocci played on the ball against the Western Bulldogs, a role the traditional winger has very rarely played at AFLW level but spent 10 years honing with VWFL side Diamond Creek.
"I've been telling Steve (Symonds, coach) that I'm an inside mid for the past three or four years. During the week and prior to Britta's injury, he came to me and said he wanted to shift me from the wing to inside, and we had a bit of a laugh because I joke I'm a contested beast, but I was really pumped," Chiocci said.
"Our wings at the moment (Amelia Velardo, Aleisha Newman and Sarah Rowe) have played their roles really well. Jaimee Lambert came up to me and said, 'are you ready, are you good to go?' and was looking at me dead in the eye, so it was already in the pipeline before Britta went down."
Chiocci said the mature Bonnici is in a good place to tackle an ACL rehabilitation, having the self-awareness to know when she needs to cry and let out emotions, and the tenacity and positivity to pick herself up again.
"She's gone through so much adversity with her concussions [in her junior footy] when she may not have played football again. She said concussion was so daunting because there's no checklist, you don't know how you're going to wake up, but with this ACL, she knows she has to have the surgery, and then there's little boxes to tick along the way," Chiocci said.
"Britta's gone through a lot of adversity through her life and has come out stronger, and she will play for another 10 years, she's an absolute freak."
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