Collingwood defender Iilish Ross is preparing to come face-to-face with her housemate, Emma King, in the Pies’ round six clash against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
“We haven’t spoken too much about it, but I’m sure closer to the game there will be a little bit more banter,” Ross told collingwoodfc.com.au.
“We like to keep it as friends rather than rivals.”
King was the Pies’ leading ruckman throughout the club’s first two seasons in AFLW, before departing for the Roos at the end of the 2018 season along with Jasmine Garner, Moana Hope and Jessica Duffin.
Ross, better known by her teammates as ‘Snoop’, says King was a great support to her last year and the pair still remain good friends even though they are now opponents.
“As my training buddy when I first got drafted to Collingwood, I grew with her a lot and then to watch her transition over to North Melbourne, where she is now growing, is great to see,” she said.
This season marks Ross’ second year at the Holden Centre, having been selected with pick 13 in the 2018 draft.
A former motorcycle racing prodigy who claimed multiple Australian titles, Ross picked up a Sherrin when looking for something to keep her busy.
The strong left-footer went on to star for the Wodonga Raiders before joining the Murray Bushrangers for the 2017 TAC Cup season.
She notes having already been exposed to an elite sporting environment helped her transition into life as an AFLW player at an early age.
“Things like nutrition and work ethic are definitely things that translate over in terms of being an elite athlete, so I think it helped me being an 18-year-old and entering AFLW.”
With such experience, Ross has been able to provide support towards to those first-year players who have joined the club this season.
“Obviously we have a young list this year. But it’s been great for me to step up and develop my leadership skills.”
The Pies remain winless as they head into this weekend’s match but they are still determined to make an impact in the final two rounds.
The Kangaroos, meanwhile, are sure to bring their all given they are coming off a 35-point loss to the Crows last weekend.
As a half-back, Ross is likely to line up against Moana Hope for some periods of the game.
“Mo taught me a lot in my first year, so it’ll be interesting as we both know how each other like to play.”
“It will be tough, as always, but I’ll learn something as I do each game.”
After last weekend’s narrow loss to the Blues, Ross notes the main focus for the Pies heading into this next match is to be consistent from the start and to ensure a full four-quarter game is executed.
“We’ve been starting a little bit slow, so that’s one of the issues for us,” Ross admitted.
“Once we put solid quarters together we actually show that we can play really good footy.”
With just two games left before finals, it’s all or nothing for the Pies.
“We don’t have much to lose, I guess, but we just really want to get a win for our club,” she said.
“As always, we’ll drive high standards going into the game.”
