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Sydney Swans AFLW co-captain Chloe Molloy has always prided herself on her ability to make the right decision under pressure.<\/p>\n
When she\u2019s on the field, Molloy shuts out external noise and focuses completely on her job. She knows instinctively when to bring teammates into play, and when to dominate the scoreboard with goals from any angle.<\/p>\n
Ahead of Saturday\u2019s AFLW semi-final against Adelaide, Molloy reflected on a decision she made seven years ago that changed her life forever.<\/p>\n
After turning 12 in Melbourne, Molloy stopped playing organised Australian rules due to a lack of playing opportunities for teenage girls and switched seamlessly to basketball.<\/p>\n
Molloy\u2019s talent on the court eventually earned her a full scholarship to play college basketball in the United States, which she initially accepted in 2016.<\/p>\n
However, shortly after accepting the scholarship, the AFLW was announced with its inaugural season due to kick off in 2017. Molloy had two options, a guaranteed offer of free university education combined with elite sport, or a chance to join a league yet to play its first game, in a sport she hadn\u2019t played regularly in years.<\/p>\n
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Sydney Swans co-captain Chloe Molloy.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Janie Barrett<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019d go back and calculate the hours and kilometres and money my parents spent investing in me trying to get a college scholarship, then I finally get there,\u201d Molloy said. \u201cIt\u2019s like I had run a marathon, they\u2019d helped me get through it and I got to the finish. Then I was like, \u2018Oh, actually, I don\u2019t even want to cross the line\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a hard pill for your parents to swallow at that age, I was making a huge life decision. They challenged me on it, I think for Mum and I, for like a good week there was just a bit of tension between the two of us. It was all in good spirits as she had to be the devil\u2019s advocate at that time.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best thing was that it definitely added to my reassurance that I do want to do this. I was like, \u2018I\u2019m sticking to my guns here\u2019. I really want to go play footy. I guess I had that confidence in myself and knew I was going to be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n Molloy debuted for her childhood club Collingwood in the second season of AFLW in 2018, winning the club\u2019s best and fairest award in her first season.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely think a part of my football DNA comes from me as a basketballer.\u201d<\/p>\n After spending her formative teenage years as an athlete in basketball she was able to fully utilise the skills she had honed playing point guard on the hardwood and translate them to the football oval.<\/p>\n \u201dIn a position like a point guard, you\u2019re the creator,\u201d Molloy said. \u201cWhen a basket happens down one end, you\u2019ve got to have knowledge of who\u2019s on the court and who you want to score, how you want them to score and what shot you want.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a complex mindset to be a point guard because you have to think about so much, so quickly, and make split-second decisions and then if it doesn\u2019t go how you want, you\u2019ve got to be able to change and adapt. I definitely think a part of my football DNA comes from me as a basketballer.\u201d<\/p>\n Molloy was living \u201cher best life\u201d in Melbourne. She was surrounded by friends and family, playing for the club she had barracked for as a child and had few complaints.<\/p>\n Chloe Molloy can\u2019t be stopped by Fremantle\u2019s Emma O\u2019Driscoll.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n After six seasons spent at Collingwood, Molloy was suddenly faced with another unexpected decision. Sydney, a club that had gone winless in their first AFLW season, was interested in signing her on a five-year contract.<\/p>\n \u201dI think I was just ready for a new challenge and the opportunity with Sydney came in at the right time,\u201d Molloy said. \u201cI knew it was going to be a challenge and I knew I was going to be uncomfortable, but that is solely the reason why I wanted to come because I think your best growth comes from that.<\/p>\n \u201cThen there was the faith of the club showed me to offer me such a long-term deal. I was like, \u2018There you go: there\u2019s my college scholarship, but in a different form\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n She arrived in Sydney in May at a club desperate to compete after their tough opening AFLW season when the club song hadn\u2019t been sung once in victory.<\/p>\n Chloe Molloy has transformed the Swans in her first season at the club.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Janie Barrett<\/cite><\/p>\n A month into life at the Swans, Molloy, who was appointed co-captain, was impressing her teammates on the field but was struggling internally with the move to a new city. Molloy always felt a responsibility to be a positive presence in the changing room, but increasingly felt that it was time to allow space for vulnerability with her teammates. She told them she was struggling.<\/p>\n \u201cI look back then and I think being vulnerable is a really powerful thing,\u201d Molloy said. \u201cEspecially someone like myself, you might look at from an outside perspective, and I don\u2019t know, it looks like I\u2019ve got everything sorted and everything together. But that\u2019s not to say that I don\u2019t have my own struggles and I think a lot of the girls would view me as like, you know, I\u2019m always OK.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted them to see the other side of me and encourage also vulnerability. It was just a part of me opening up to the group and for them to see a different side of me which probably helped me grow a lot closer to the girls and build stronger, deeper connections which translates onto the footy field.\u201d<\/p>\n Two days before the semi-final, Molloy is greeted warmly at the Swans\u2019 training facility by staff from every department, from the medical staff to the barista. In a few short months, Sydney has truly become Molloy\u2019s home.<\/p>\n She is in career-best form, driving the Swans to a semi-final that few fans would have given them a chance of reaching at the start of the season.<\/p>\n Throughout the interview, she talks warmly about her teammates, but equally, she is aware of the crucial role she plays in growing the code in Sydney.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a responsibility on me,\u201d Molloy said. \u201cI know that there is probably a whole queue of people that would kill to be in my position. That has never left me and there\u2019s so many people who would love to be in my position and I want to leave the game better than I found it.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to play a small role in helping footy in NSW, in helping young kids believe that they can achieve their goals and dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n Swans captain Chloe Molloy in action at Henson Park.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n Last Saturday, in the elimination final victory over Gold Coast, Molloy scored three goals and produced one of the best performances of the season in her already crowded highlight reel.<\/p>\n She approached the game like a diligent student entering an exam hall knowing that all the right questions were going to come up. She arrived at the stadium fearless.<\/p>\n \u201c I think you need to enjoy what you\u2019re doing and have fun with it,\u201d Molloy said.<\/p>\n \\\u201cOne of the (Swans) players actually spoke to me before the game and she was like, \u2018I\u2019m so nervous\u2019. She asked, \u2018How are you so calm?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Well mate, I trained, I trained so hard, and I\u2019m so confident in my ability\u2019. This is what I\u2019m trying to teach the girls: you build your confidence in your own capabilities throughout pre-season and through training.\u201d<\/p>\n A big crowd in Adelaide awaits Molloy, desperate to stop the Swans\u2019 run that has shaken up the AFLW. Molloy and her teammates are not ready for football to end just yet.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing really changes in the four walls (of the Swans) except for the fact that we\u2019re going to finals and we haven\u2019t played Adelaide before,\u201d Molloy said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a really strong belief in what we\u2019re doing and the way we\u2019re performing can come up against any side but we\u2019re not getting too far ahead of ourselves.<\/p>\n \u201cI do know that this group is really special and you can see in the girls\u2019 faces that there\u2019s like a lot of belief running around that you think, \u2018Why not us?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Sports news, results and expert commentary.<\/i><\/b> Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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