IT'S A BIG decision to make for a season that runs only two months, but Belinda Smith is crossing the country to continue her AFL Women's footy career.
Smith was delisted by Fremantle after two seasons but didn't have to wait long until the Western Bulldogs pounced. She signed as a free agent less than a week later.
"I got a call out of the blue," Smith told AFL.com.au.
"I had received a message from my club coach [at East Fremantle] earlier in the day, just asking if it was okay to give my number out, and I was like, 'Oh yeah, sure, whatever', not expecting anything."
But Smith had been on the Bulldogs' radar for some time. The 23-year-old had been one of Fremantle's best when the two clubs played in round one in 2017, with 17 disposals running off half-back.
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"When we saw that Belinda was available, I was constantly drawn back to that performance against us in our first ever game as an indication of her talent," Dogs coach Paul Groves said.
"She has excellent speed and clean hands and can be very damaging around goal."
Smith is the second-oldest in her family, growing up with three brothers in the tiny farming town of Pingrup, four-and-a-half hours south-east of Perth.
"I started playing footy when I was eight or nine and Dad was the coach at the time," Smith said.
"I was pretty obsessed from a young age. My brothers and I were always playing.
"The four of us were born within five years, so we were able to split the teams up pretty evenly. We're all very competitive."
Smith moved to Perth when she was in year eight to board at St Mary's Anglican Girls' School, where she was thrilled to find a football team.
Smith has been spending time up forward this season for East Fremantle in the WAWFL, finishing third in the league's goalkicking with 27. Her ex-Dockers teammate Kira Phillips will win the award, having booted a whopping 78 goals in 17 matches for the Peel Thunderbirds.
East Fremantle has qualified for the Grand Final and could meet Peel next week.
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Smith loved her time at Fremantle, playing 12 of 14 matches in the first two seasons of the competition, averaging nine disposals and two rebound-50s a game.
"Being at Fremantle allowed me to become even more obsessed with football than I already was. Being surrounded by everyone with the same passion, all wanting to work hard and take in the little details was exciting.
"It was a higher standard than club football. You didn't have to do as much yourself," she said.
"Having the ability to watch the games back and having the coaches on hand allowed me to give football the time and effort I've always wanted to.
"I watch a lot of football – I need another hobby, to be honest.
"Whenever I have time on the weekends, I love watching a good game. I'm not as obsessed with the AFL as I was, I just love watching the girls play.
"I read a lot of articles about it and keep up to date."
Unfortunately, Smith's West Coast-loving family weren't quite as enthralled with her playing for the rival Dockers.
"Mum would give me little jabs, saying 'I don't like purple', or 'I don't look good in purple', just funny little things like that," she said with a laugh.
Belinda Smith has moved from purple to blue, red and white. Picture: AFL Photos
Smith is in the final year of a physiotherapy degree, working full-time hours on a work placement.
"At the moment, I'm at a hospital, but I'm also looking at getting a private practice placement, to see what that's like," she said.
"It's a lot better than studying, I much prefer to be working, I'm just not earning any money. I generally rely on AFLW over the summer."
She's in the process of working out how to finish her degree across two states.
"Because I'm on placement now, the decision I had to make before signing with the Bulldogs was, 'Do I say no, stay in Perth and potentially not get picked up again, or do I do my placement over a year and a half and finish the degree a bit later?'.
"If I keep working hard and improving, I've got five to 10 years to play football competitively at this high level," Smith said.
"I've got the rest of my life to work full-time and save money and all those boring things.
"The opportunity to go to a different club, especially one that went from sixth to premier, was too good to pass up.
"They've obviously got a good program in place, really good people involved, and chatting to [Paul], I've got an opportunity to play forward as well."
Having had a small taste, Smith's looking forward to finding out what living in Melbourne is like on a full-time basis.
"I came over about a month ago for a visit and trained with the Bulldogs' VFLW side. I met seven or eight of the AFLW girls then, as well as (the Dogs' AFLW operations manager) Debbie Lee, which was great," she said.
"They sound like they hang out a lot. 'KB' (captain Katie Brennan) said they go to brunch heaps, which suits me as well. I love a good brunch."
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