As Melbourne prepares to face Essendon on Friday afternoon, follow along as we take a behind-the-scenes look at a day within our AFLW program, through the lens of Dees defender Maeve Chaplin...

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A Day in the Life of Maeve Chaplin

We spent a day with Maeve Chaplin, follow along through her day of training and media.

7am | Breakfast

On Tuesday morning, Melbourne defender Maeve Chaplin sat down to have some crushed Weet-Bix – her pre-training breakfast of choice, a recipe she learned from Tyla Hanks – and got ready to head to training.

Training wouldn’t officially start until 10am, but the 22-year-old was heading there early to get some extras in before her schedule at the club was in full swing.

These extra hours aren’t unusual for Chaplin who has become known within the four walls of the club for putting in the hard yards to become the best player she can be.

7:30am | Drive to AAMI Park

As Chaplin drove to AAMI Park to start the day, she reflected on the week prior and Melbourne’s disappointing after-the-siren loss to Fremantle.

“We were obviously pretty flat, but we have to move on because we have a game this week,” Chaplin said.

We played the way we wanted to play at the start of the game, but we just couldn’t maintain that for four quarters.

“It’s almost more disheartening because we know we’re fit enough, we know we’ve got the skills, we just haven’t had that connection across the ground just yet.

“I do think this period is actually going to be really good for our team going forward, the mental resilience, that want and drive to be strong and successful, that comes from losses and hard patches.”

8:15am | Arrive at AAMI Park

Having picked up Blaithin Mackin on the way, the two arrived at AAMI Park and headed to the change-rooms to get a pre-training snack – YoPRO of course.

8:25am | Review vision with backline coach

A number of defenders joined backline coach Matt Brewer to review vision from the Week 4 game.

Chaplin, who had already spent some time watching the footage, worked with Brewer, Tahlia Gillard and Shelley Heath to highlight key areas of improvement as they head into Week 5 against Essendon.

8:40am | Massage

10am | Game review with team

With line reviews completed, the team then gathered together with senior coach Mick Stinear going into further depth on what worked and what needed to be a focus during training.

“I was pleased with how we started the game,” Stinear said.

"If you think about it, the more time we use run and carry, the more times we take simple options and first gives, it'll give us deeper entries.

“The first quarter was good, the remaining three quarters we struggled to get that connection."

10:35am | Training prep

11:15am | Training on Gosch’s

1:00pm | Strength training

1:45pm | Lunch

3:00pm | Team meeting

Within the afternoon’s team meeting, the group took the opportunity to highlight key moments from the week prior, shouting out teammates, showcasing off-field achievements and supporting the rehab group in their respective milestones.

3:30pm | Recovery

4:00pm | Drive to Windy Hill

Chaplin finished the day at the club and was set to join former Demon and new Bomber Maddi Gay at a media opportunity.

While driving to Windy Hill, she spoke about her connection with Gay, who made the move to Essendon at the conclusion of last season.

Both defenders, the two worked closely together in the red and blue, Chaplin crediting much of her development to the experienced footballer.

“We’re pretty similar players,” Chaplin said.

When I came into the team, I latched on to her and what she did and tried to make my game similar to hers but with my own strengths.

“She really helped me as well, she was a really good role model.”

4:30pm | Media opportunity with Essendon

5:00pm | Drive home

As Chaplin drove home, she took the time to reflect on the career she’s had to date, having reached her 25-game milestone on Saturday.

While only 22 years old, she’s had many moments in her short career that could’ve deterred her from continuing the path of an AFLW athlete.

She originally joined the Dees at the start of 2022 as an injury replacement player, before being delisted a couple months later having not broken into the senior side during season six.

Chaplin was then re-drafted by Melbourne in the same year, debuting during Round 1 of season seven.

From then on, she’s gone from strength to strength, solidifying herself as one of the team’s top defenders, now a premiership player and playing, arguably, her best footy.

“To be honest, there was a point when I thought I would never even play one game of AFLW,” Chaplin said.

So, to play 25…I’m proud of myself, I don’t want to come off overly confident, but I think with the journey I had – being delisted and not drafted a couple times – I felt like it was a reward I didn’t expect.

“I feel grateful that it was celebrated, it was a wholesome moment pre-game hearing what my teammates had to say.”