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During the AFLW off-season, Melbourne premiership player Tahlia Gillard trekked through mud and across rickety bridges in the heat and humidity while completing the Kokoda Track.
Following in the footsteps of Australian soldiers, who waged war against invading Japanese forces in Papua New Guinea in 1942, was an experience which the Demons defender credits in helping to build her mental resilience, which she can translate back to footy.
AFLW Melbourne player Tahlia Gillard and friend Xavier completed the Kokoda Trail in April 2023.
“I lost about four kilograms over the span of Kokoda because we just don’t eat as much, and you’re walking so much and the heat, you just sweat. I’ve never sweated like that in my life,” said Gillard.
The 19-year-old and her friend Xavier completed the treacherous 96-kilometre single-file route — 60 kilometres in a straight line — through the Owen Stanley Range over 10 days, finishing on Anzac Day.
After waking up at 4.30am to walk 12 hours each day, with very few stops and with 17 kilograms on her back, Gillard said the experience taught her about “the mental resilience to keep going, especially when it gets hard”.
“I’m a huge confidence player so if I’m confident, I’m feeling good, I’ll play good. But if I’m lacking that, I might be doubting a little bit [and won’t play as well],” she said.
Melbourne AFLW footballer Tahlia Gillard.Credit: The Age
“But obviously with Kokoda, it’s just such a mental [effort] to keep going, even when I had chafing and I had really bad tinea, just keep going and get there in the end. It’s just that resilience and mental toughness to keep pushing through, and I feel it similarly with footy; if it’s not going my way, just keep pushing through.”
She said the meals at the end of the day tasted better than the beers post-premiership win last season.
After being picked as an emergency during season six, Gillard got her opportunity at senior level when the Demons lost their key defender Gabby Colvin to an ACL injury during the pre-season for season seven.
While she had a solid home-and-away performance, many in the wider AFLW community took note when she kept the league’s leading goalkicker Jesse Wardlaw quiet in the grand final.
“I like that that showed my growth from the season. If you looked at my last game against Brisbane and my first game, my debut, it was very different,” said Gillard, who admitted she was excited by the challenge posed by Wardlaw.
“Mick [Stinear, Melbourne coach] said ‘This is the best match-up, go on her’ and I think she did really motivate me because I was there for the awards where she was saying ‘I can’t wait to kick some goals’ and stuff and I thought ‘OK, game on, let me stop this’.”
The variety of players in Melbourne’s forward set-up means Gillard has a range of players to train on and be tested against.
There’s Alyssa Bannan, quick and agile, Megan Fitzsimon, who’s crafty and loves a snap, Eden Zanker, who’s likes to get out the back, Tayla Harris, who’s a run-and-jump marking player, and captain Kate Hore, who she says is an all-rounder.
“I don’t think there’s many other girls that are as good as them in the competition. The best thing about our forwards is how do you match up on them? Learning off them is really helpful to implement on other girls.”
It’s a good question Gillard poses.
Melbourne, the flag favourites, have started 3-0 this season and are one of three teams that remain undefeated along with North Melbourne and Adelaide. They are also on a healthy percentage of 271.3 and go in as heavy favourites against Hawthorn on Friday night at Kinetic Stadium.
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