ON WEDNESDAY, Melbourne visited its Heartland on the second day of its 2017 Australia Post Community Camp.

The Heartland visit was conducted in the morning and afternoon, with players visiting roughly 20 schools in areas such as Bentleigh, Bentleigh East, Camberwell, Carnegie, Caulfield South, East Malvern, Elsternwick, Glen Iris, Malvern, Murrumbeena, Ormond, Toorak and Windsor.

The day then went into Melbourne’s 2017 season launch at Crown. 

One group, featuring Angus Brayshaw, Jayden Hunt, Josh Wagner, plus AFLW players Harriet Cordner and Alyssa Mifsud visited Bentleigh West Primary School in the morning. Nathan Jones, Mitch King, Tim Smith and vice-captain for the AFLW team, Mel Hickey, also visited Bentleigh West.

Brayshaw, Hunt, Wagner, Cordner and Mifsud conducted a question and answer session, focusing on leadership, for students in grade five and six.

In the afternoon, Jones, Brayshaw and Hunt visited St Paul’s Bentleigh, with the three players holding a clinic on the astro turf tennis court for the students. Jones led the way with the youngsters, who had a ball.

It was another top day for all involved, with the club enjoying the opportunity to get among its Heartland.

Here are the players’ thoughts on the second day …

Nathan Jones

“It helps having two little rascals of your own, but it was good fun. It’s been a pretty successful couple of days. The boys have given their all getting out among the community – yesterday (Tuesday) in Casey and today (Wednesday) in the Heartland. It’s been good and we had a good turnout in the Heartland. It’s great seeing so many Melbourne supporters, who recognise your faces. I’ve had a very good time.”

Angus Brayshaw

“It was interesting talking to the students from year five – their leadership experience is probably different to ours. They’re in a classroom and a lot younger than us and we’re in a full-time environment with active leaders. A lot of the lessons we do on a day-to-day basis transfer really well into some of the lessons of being a role model, which means caring and communicating. We hope they can take a little bit out of it and translate it into their life. Coming out to schools is unreal and it’s great having the AFLW players with us. All of the young girls have now got role models to look up to. It’s been great getting out to Casey and now our Heartland – it’s a real privilege and a lot of fun.”

Jayden Hunt

“It was great visiting Bentleigh West Primary School and having a talk to them about leadership. We had a Q&A session, with Angus Brayshaw taking control a little bit and he was really good. We spoke to the students about how everyone can be a leader – and what they think a leader should be. We learned a bit about them – and ourselves, so it was good fun.”

Josh Wagner

“It was good morning. The grade five kids were switched on and a bit older, so it was good fun. We gave away some prizes and they really got a kick out of it. I love talking to the kids – I used to coach under 14s footy back in Queensland, so I really enjoy that side of the game.”

Harriet Cordner

“It was really good to speak to the kids and get some great questions. We spoke about everything from leadership to our favourite food and signed a few autographs. We had one kid in the crowd ask what we did in our spare time and I said I went to Deakin Uni and he started chanting ‘Deakin, Deakin, Deakin …’ so that was an interesting one – he was a fan of Deakin! But it’s really cool to see a different perspective – seeing girls and boys that support footy and giving back to them. You see their faces light up when you walk into a room, so that’s exciting. The girls now have their role models to look up to as well – they can now see that they can play footy one day too.”

Alyssa Mifsud

“This was my first school visit and I found it really good. The kids loved it and it was really exciting to know that the kids are aware of what’s happening around the AFLW. To see so many look up to you and for guidance – it’s really cool.”