Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Georgie Prespakis is never satisfied.
It seems a ridiculous statement, given the superstar Cats midfielder has arguably had the best season of her career, averaging a career-high 30.8 disposals per game, along with having a goal of the year nomination to her name, and a key role in Saturday’s do-or-die semi-final clash.
The 23 year-old has already picked up another All-Australian nomination and is in contention for the league’s highest honour – a maiden best-and-fairest medal at AFLW’s upcoming awards night.
But Prespakis still wants more.
“I think I’m always looking to get better at the football side of things,” she said with a grin.
“I think, as you get a little bit older, your running patterns start to get a little bit better, and you understand whether you’re able to get to certain contests, and you’re not kind of caught in that in-between [space].”
After an agonising four-point loss to Melbourne in the qualifying final last week, the Cats now have the perfect chance for redemption – facing the Swans at GMHBA Stadium.
Geelong entered the Melbourne match-up as the favourites but coughed up a 28-point lead after a slew of Demon goals, including a brilliant snap from veteran star Paxy Paxman.
Prespakis agreed with Cats coach Mick Stinear’s assessment that the group had collapsed under the pressure of the contest and panicked.
“Finals is obviously very different footy,” she said.
“The pressure kind of goes through the roof and momentum swings, and I think at times you can probably try to then start to overreach and try and do a little bit too much.
“Melbourne were able to just hold shape and then kickstart some handball chains.
“So [it’s] just [about] being a little bit more disciplined with those things, and just trusting that it’ll get from inside to out, and that our running game style will just stack up once we get it on the outside.”
Earlier in the season, Prespakis sat down with Stinear to work out how she could be a better player.
The duo spoke about mindset and how the midfielder could focus on staying more present, to be “the best teammate I can be”.
“I think the biggest thing for me… because I do have such high standards of myself, [it’s about] being able to stay present with the team, and when things are kind of going against me, how can I kind of not let that derail my whole game or my week?
“It’s like getting back to getting around my teammates and just enjoying it, [and] taking a bit of pressure off.”
Geelong assistant coach Ryan Pendlebury said Prespakis’ competitiveness and eagerness to always improve is what made her such a brilliant player.
“She’s not satisfied with being one of the best, and she already is,” he told this masthead.
“Her competitiveness, her willingness to get better … I feel like there is so much that she needs to improve on, and she’s already so good.
“So it’s pretty scary to think maybe in three or four years what she will actually be.”
Prespakis spent time in the off-season training with her sister, fellow AFLW star Maddy, who plays for Essendon.
Pendlebury said Georgie was in a rich vein of form and that Geelong’s coaching panel had worked closely with the gun onballer on playing to her strengths, and to “learn when to slow down”.
Cats captain Nina Morrison admits she sometimes “stands back in awe” at what Prespakis does on the field.
“She’s put in a body of work off-field to get herself in the right mindset coming into games, to be able to perform well. She’s obviously a star of the competition,” Morrison said.
“She’s an amazing player, but her ability to bring her teammates into games has always been a strength. She’s riding the ebbs and flows a bit better this season.
“To be someone who can do such incredible things, but also be such a good teammate, has been her real growth this year.”
This Saturday, Swans star Tanya Kennedy looms as a potential match-up for Prespakis and is widely expected to tag and try to shut the ball-winner down.
The Irishwoman was sensational last week, significantly curbing the influence of Bulldogs co-captain Isabelle Pritchard.
Prespakis said Geelong were excited to face Sydney and learn from their mistakes last week and, more importantly, soak up the finals atmosphere that they’be been longing for since 2023.
“You can certainly feel how much you miss it [finals] for the past couple of seasons, and I think that’s testament to the girls,” she said.
“We’ve put in a mountain of work, and we want to be in this position that we can play really big games, and we think that we’re more than capable to obviously play in them, but also win them.”
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