Little did she know that she would eventually find herself preparing to play in a VFLW grand final on Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium.

“It’s pretty cool,” the 22-year-old said. 

“I never thought I would get the chance to play on a ground like it. It’s going to be a very cool experience. The bigger ground will suit us and hopefully it can get us across the line.”

The Simpson resident, who supported Essendon growing up, will play a pivotal role in ensuring Geelong’s midfielders get first touch of the football in the season finale against Hawthorn on Sunday. 

The ruck-forward has had an interrupted year, with a broken finger sustained in a tackle five minutes into round two sidelining her for 12 weeks.

“I wasn’t allowed to touch a footy for 6 weeks and I did a heap of running in that time,” Stevens said.

“The first game back with North Geelong was pretty tough and I was knackered after the first little bit.

“But breaking my finger was like a second mini pre-season for me. It was good for my fitness to just keep running.”

Stevens is no stranger to grand finals, having played in North Geelong’s back-to-back premierships in 2017-18, but she still felt all the emotions that come with appearing in the last game of the season.

“It’s completely different to the other two grand finals (with North Geelong) that I have played in,” the Camp Kangaroobie Princetown activities leader said.

“It’s still pretty exciting and the whole team is buzzing and ready to give the game a good crack.

“I haven’t got nervous yet but as the game gets closer I probably will get nervous. But everyone is like that and are all a little excited too.”

The second-year player, who has managed six games and kicked one goal in her first year with Geelong, said she enjoyed one of her positions more than the other. 

“I prefer the ruck as I know what I’m doing a bit more,” Stevens said.

“But it doesn’t really matter to me as long as I get a chance to play.”

Stevens said she has relished the chance to be in an AFL-like environment at the Cat’s Kardinia Park home.

“It’s cool and we share the same facilities as the AFL boys do,” she said.

“I think everyone is pretty excited because of the AFL women’s next year and if we do well this year it’s a good stepping stone for starting the AFLW season next year.”

Stevens is not the only south-west player to be pulling on the Cats hoops for the VFLW grand final on Sunday.

Fellow Simpson resident Georgia Watson and Hamilton’s Georgia Clarke are also lining up in the grand final.

Play starts at 12.30pm at Etihad Stadium.

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