She’s played her football up in Cairns for the majority of her life, but on the weekend Winter Series leader Luana Healey will play in front of possibly her biggest crowd yet.
Healey is the captain-coach of North Cairns Tigers and is a leader up north, but will be out of her natural element when the SUNS take on the Lions in Round 3 of the Winter Series at Metricon Stadium tomorrow.
The match which will be a curtain-raiser for the AFL clash against Essendon later that night and will draw both Brisbane and Gold Coast fans alike.
“I think everyone’s excited, I would say nervous but I think excitement overtakes that,” Healey said.
“We just want to perform and make the SUNS name proud and do ourselves justice.”
Healey already has some history to her name, being the first female to coach a male representative side in Queensland.
“I was able to coach the Under 14 Cape York Crusaders,” she said.
“Coaching is a learning experience, no one knows everything.
“Coming from coaching the North Cairns Women’s team and then Youth Girls teams, we had to just simplify the language a bit.”
Her natural flair for leadership and direction made her a natural candidate for a Winter Series leadership group position to drive the standards up north.
“It’s humbling being in the leadership group coming from North Cairns,” she said.
“You’ve just got to be up and about and get amongst everyone and take it in your stride to be that person.”
It’s fitting that Healey will play on Saturday at Metricon Stadium.
She will be one of four indigenous players to take to the field for the SUNS in NAIDOC week, a celebration of the history, culture
“Obviously the theme this year is ‘because of her, we can’,” Healey said.
“It’s acknowledging all the important female figures in your life and sporting life in general.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity.”
Healey said facing the Lions will be no easy task, boldened by the fact they have selected 19 AFLW-listed players to line up in the starting 21
“The Lions have been dominant in their first two games."
"I think we just need to be able to shut down their runners and play in front of our players.
“There’s no better place to showcase our talent than the home of the SUNS at Metricon.”
