It was a week full of emotion for outside midfielder Jaide Britton, getting the call up to make her debut against the Greater Western Sydney Giants this weekend.
The Peel Thunder star was left wondering when senior coach Michael Prior didn’t tell her the news, she’d be hearing for weeks that she’d be on the emergency list on the weekend.
However coming into the mid-week meeting Britton was surprised with the news that she’d get her opportunity at Giants Stadium this Saturday.
“I kind of just assumed I wasn’t playing but Mick put the team up and it had me playing on the wing,” Britton said.
“It meant everything to me at the start of this year I put my heart and soul into club footy to get here but I knew that was only half the job.
“My focus is now to do my role for the team and making sure my debut is worthwhile.”
The 19-year-old had a breakout year in the WAFL this season netting a massive 231 disposals for Peel which caught the eye of Eagles’ selectors.
After being picked up in the 2022 draft, Britton worked tirelessly through the pre-season into the start of season seven to earn her place, now she says it’s about helping her teammates towards a win.
“It feels really rewarding, it gives me that confidence going into the game to know all the prep I’ve done up to now has been the best it can be,” she said.
“I’ve been working really hard to make sure when this opportunity came I was ready for it and there’s nothing left on the table I need to do last minute.”
During her time within the Eagles’ program Britton has emerged as a young leader, a role she says comes comfortably to her.
“I think I’ve found myself naturally falling into that role through the state academy and being a part of the leadership team at Peel,” she explained.
“In the future it’s definitely something I aspire to be and I like to lead by example so hopefully that’s the type of leader I can be one day.
“It’s invaluable having leaders around me like Swanny (Emma Swanson) and Sedge (Jessica Sedunary) they are some of the best role models in the game and it’s great to be able to model what I do after the way they conduct themselves on and off the field.”
