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Speaker 1: Tell you what, I've been having the best couple of

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Speaker 1: days because I've gotten to talk more about.

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Speaker 2: Sport than what I do most weeks.

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Speaker 1: Ever, and joining me in the studio, well, first off,

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Speaker 1: we know Saint Mary's is set to take on the

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Speaker 1: Nightcliff Tigers. Obviously we caught up with a couple of

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Speaker 1: Tigers players just before eleven o'clock in the Women's Premier

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Speaker 1: League Grand Final. It's happening Saturday afternoon and St Mary's

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Speaker 1: really just four quarters away from, you know, from from

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Speaker 1: taking the flag. It's it's been a massive year. And

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Speaker 1: joining me in the studio is the Saint Mary's coach

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Speaker 1: Ryan Smith. Good morning to you, mate, good to see you.

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Speaker 1: We've also got Nakita Long, the captain. Good morning to you, Nikita.

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Speaker 1: It is lovely to have you both in the studio.

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Speaker 1: How are you feeling ahead of the big game tomorrow.

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Speaker 3: I'm definitely very nervous, but definitely very excited, I.

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Speaker 1: Think, pumped and ready to go. Yeah yeah, yeah, what

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Speaker 1: about you, Ryan.

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Speaker 4: I've been exposed to a few Grand finals. Love the feeling. Yeah,

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Speaker 4: you can't win if you're not in them, so yeah,

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Speaker 4: just enjoy the moment. It's the day. You want to

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Speaker 4: be a part of win we lose, so yeah, just

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Speaker 4: love a grand final feeling.

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Speaker 3: Yep.

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Speaker 1: Hey you obviously last weekend, you head off after that

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Speaker 1: really strong win over pint the weekend prior.

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Speaker 2: I was there.

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Speaker 1: I'll watched that game. It was a fantastic game. I mean, Nikiti,

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Speaker 1: you girls looked so strong and you looked like so

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Speaker 1: consistent as well.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, the girls worked really hard I think to get

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Speaker 3: to the stage of the season, and I'm very proud

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Speaker 3: of the hard work they put on. I think we're

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Speaker 3: very deserving of that break.

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Speaker 2: What's it like having a weekend off?

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Speaker 1: I mean, is it a good thing or does you know,

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Speaker 1: does Ryan let you have a bit of a rest.

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Speaker 3: I don't think it's much different to when we had

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Speaker 3: if we have a game or not. Bryan trained us

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Speaker 3: pretty hard and.

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Speaker 2: He told me off that he like, probably trained your harder,

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Speaker 2: did he?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? I think so.

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Speaker 2: With the week off it might not have been a

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Speaker 2: good thing.

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Speaker 3: It was definitely really good and it was a great

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Speaker 3: training session Saturday morning. We worked really hard, done them

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Speaker 3: things that we need to improve on. So I think

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Speaker 3: it was a good session.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and Ryan, like I amc the Nichols Medal of

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Speaker 1: course on Sunday night, And I noticed when you know,

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Speaker 1: when announcing the you know the young players. So when

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Speaker 1: going through the rising stars and seeing that with your team,

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Speaker 1: You've obviously got Sequela Gardner Dunn who was named the

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Speaker 1: Rising Star at the Nichols Medal, but then you also

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Speaker 1: had Bonnie who was a finalist as well. Does that

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Speaker 1: sort of show people, you know, the depth of the

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Speaker 1: club really and what is coming up through the ranks

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Speaker 1: when you've got young players like that playing in your

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Speaker 1: PREMS team.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it really showcases what our future looks like.

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Speaker 4: And with the amount of young talent, I think there

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Speaker 4: was one game this year we can and we had

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Speaker 4: a significant amount of players all under the age of

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Speaker 4: twenty one, and we still were able to have a

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Speaker 4: strong win. So it's all about the future for our club,

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Speaker 4: and the last two years has been about putting our

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Speaker 4: women's program back on track and all from our tens

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Speaker 4: through to our underratings program. There's multiple teams in Grand

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Speaker 4: Finals and finals. So this year has just been a

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Speaker 4: showcase of what our young talent looks like and I've

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Speaker 4: just been blessed to see so many of them come

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Speaker 4: through the ranks and play a handful of games or

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Speaker 4: similar to Bonnie and Shack, pretty much every game. So

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Speaker 4: to see two of them in the Rising Star, we

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Speaker 4: probably could have had a handful more. I think we

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Speaker 4: ended up with maybe six nominations for the season, so

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Speaker 4: it was fantastic. But credit to both of them because

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Speaker 4: both of them probably were one of two of our

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Speaker 4: top preseason trainers. Sh Kla definitely led the way and

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Speaker 4: Bonnie is very consistent with her preparation and her training.

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Speaker 4: So I think it's just a credit to our program

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Speaker 4: and the girls just turning up regularly and putting in

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Speaker 4: the work with minimal excuses or if they've got some,

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Speaker 4: we definitely talked them out of them. But yeah, it's

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Speaker 4: just a big credit to them, and from where I

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Speaker 4: was down, has just been blessing and it's just been

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Speaker 4: what we need for our women's program at Saint Mary's.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and Nikita, then for you, like, you know, as

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Speaker 1: one of the as obviously one of the more experienced players,

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Speaker 1: what's it like, you know, playing with those younger girls

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Speaker 1: and having that real mix of talent and mix of

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Speaker 1: age groups as well within your squad.

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Speaker 3: I think it's really great, Like, I'm loving seeing these

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Speaker 3: young younger women come up and play like they have

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Speaker 3: shown that they deserve to be in their site, and

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Speaker 3: I'm very proud of their hard work and efforts so

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Speaker 3: they put in.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I reckon, it's awesome. Like I love going to

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Speaker 1: watch the women's games. I mean, you know, watching them

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Speaker 1: meta great as well, but I love going to watch

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Speaker 1: the women's games and seeing the physicality of the ladies

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Speaker 1: like yourself, Nikita out there on the field, and then

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Speaker 1: you know, the closer I look sometimes I'm like, hang

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Speaker 1: on a sec, that's a mom from school, you know,

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Speaker 1: and you're like you're looking at these players and just going,

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Speaker 1: how awesome to see the talent that we've got from

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Speaker 1: our females in the Northern Territory. And you know, then

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Speaker 1: as you go into the finals tomorrow, it must be like,

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Speaker 1: you know, you'd be pumped, but you'd be really proud

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Speaker 1: to be part of that squad with those girls too, I'd.

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Speaker 3: Imagine, Yeah, our squatted rangers from moms to to young

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Speaker 3: girls are still in school like everything. Like, so it's

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Speaker 3: really I'm really proud of all the girls in the

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Speaker 3: efforts they put in.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, what's been the focus this week at training. You know,

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Speaker 1: what kind of discussions are you having. I don't expect

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Speaker 1: you to reveal any secrets, but you know what's been

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Speaker 1: the focus for the girls this week.

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Speaker 4: The focus has been trying to keep it simple, keep

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Speaker 4: it consistent. But we have identified what some of ncle's

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Speaker 4: strengths are that we believe, so we put some of

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Speaker 4: those systems in place, but the rest of it is

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Speaker 4: pretty much settled. We only had one change to the team,

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Speaker 4: which was forced through injury, which was very unlucky, but

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Speaker 4: the rest is pretty much consistent. We're not looking to

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Speaker 4: reinvent the will in such a small period of time.

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Speaker 4: We just need to put things into action and execution

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Speaker 4: will deliver the job.

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Speaker 1: Where do you reckon that game is going to be

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Speaker 1: one or lost? I mean, we're talking to both the

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Speaker 1: men's teams yesterday. They said very much in the midfield,

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Speaker 1: you know, and talked about the dominance of a few

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Speaker 1: of the players on both sides in the middle. What

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Speaker 1: are you thinking for your game tomorrow?

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Speaker 4: I actually think both teams have strong defense, so it'll

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Speaker 4: be who can put it through the middle of the most.

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Speaker 1: Yep, oh, well, Nikita, any any like superstitions or anything

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Speaker 1: you like to do as you're heading into the Grand

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Speaker 1: Final on the weekend.

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Speaker 3: I'm always a breakfast person. I go out to breakfast

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Speaker 3: on Saturday mornings before a game. That's always my thing.

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Speaker 3: And my approached eggs. Yeah, but we've got one for Ryan.

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Speaker 4: Before the season started, I bought a fresh new pair

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Speaker 4: of shoes and was really proud of myself. And then

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Speaker 4: we love the first two games. So since that second loss,

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Speaker 4: I haven't worn them shoes. And yeah, since then, we're

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Speaker 4: on a roll. So I have not gone near them shoes.

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Speaker 3: Since we've said no more wearing those shoes. They're out, They're.

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Speaker 2: Gone, chuck them out, burn them, Nikita, burn them.

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Speaker 3: You're never wearing them again.

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Speaker 1: Oh it's so funny, you know, thinking about the different things.

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Speaker 1: But you know, in reality, I know you guys are

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Speaker 1: prepared and you've done so much hard work, I'm sure

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Speaker 1: ahead of the final tomorrow, So look all the very best.

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Speaker 1: I hope you have a cracking game. I know it's

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Speaker 1: going to be a cracking game. I'll be there to

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Speaker 1: watch and and yeah, I hope you have a fantastic game.

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Speaker 1: Thank you very much, thank you, Thank you both so much.

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Speaker 1: For joining me in the studio,