Carlton defender Annie Lee discusses south-west connections, 2022 AFL Women's season

For Carlton defender Annie Lee, an AFL Women's training session was an opportunity to pull on a purple woollen jumper, its emblazoned yellow V signifying the Port Fairy Seagulls of the early 1990s.

Not yet born when the jumper glided across Gardens Oval, its significance centres around Annie's father Laurie and his brother Chris or 'Cheetah' as he's affectionately known, both of whom lined up for the Hampden league club some three decades ago.

"I asked dad what he had and he picked out the Port Fairy guernsey," Annie, 19, said of the Blues' retro-themed training session. "He mentioned how much he loved playing at Port Fairy and the strong community culture that they had.

"It was really cool to put it on. The players loved it and especially the staff because they might not have seen quite a retro jumper in a while."

With Laurie one of 12 siblings raised in Warrnambool, and Annie and her older brother Angus also born in the seaside city, the family's connection to the south-west remains strong.

"(Dad's) family are all from Warrnambool and the majority still live there now," she said. "It's a big family and it's a fairly well-known name I guess. There is always someone who knows one of the Lee brothers or sisters."

The Lee name also endures at the Seagulls, with Annie's cousin Paddy taking on the reserves coaching role in 2023.

With Warrnambool home for the first two-to-three years of Annie's life, it was more than 16,000km away in mum Bryony's Scottish homeland where she spent the next five.

"It was a pretty big move," Annie said of relocating to Edinburgh. "We had my little sister (Evie) over there. My mum's got quite a small family so we got to spend a few years over there with the family.

"I had no recollection of what footy was but I remember dad would turn off my cartoons and switch it to anything AFL. I'd get very annoyed."

Returning to Australia at eight, Annie and her family eventually settled in Geelong where the start of her footy journey began.

"I'd kick the footy with dad out in the backyard," she said. "I was lucky enough to start just at the right time, there was a girls team that popped up when I wanted to get playing.

"It was literally just a couple girls meeting up at an oval and separating us into two teams and kicking the footy. From there I just kept involving myself in footy and joined up with a local team."

Annie and Laurie's shared interest in the code soon fostered an unique bond between the two.

"I'd say, from when I started kicking the footy and then later getting into the more professional settings, about 90 per cent of our conversations was footy talk," she said. "I'd always look to him and try and learn as much as I could from him. When I was starting to get noticed... I would always look at footage of my game and we'd go over what I could work on and what I did well. He helped me out so much."

The pair play different positions, with Annie in defence and Laurie a more midfield-forward-type.

"I'm sure if I asked him, he'd probably say he played everywhere considering he's an amazing player," she said with a laugh.

But when it comes to their style, it may be the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

"There has got to be some familiar traits I think I've picked up on, the way I kick the ball is apparently the same as his," she said.

Hitting her teenage years as the inaugural AFL Women's season started, Annie's dream of playing elite football began to bubble to the surface.

"I was seeing all these women play professional footy out on the MCG when all I'd ever seen was male players," she said. "I thought that was something I wanted to do."

She knew the hard work required to get to the highest level and as it clicked that she was playing a good brand of footy each week, she began to push herself further to get to that next level.

"I thought 'this is where I want to be, I want to make it to the AFLW'," she said.

Joining the Geelong Falcons program when she was 15, Annie made her under-18 NAB League debut the following season. But it was the next two years which ultimately proved important in determining her future prospects.

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly threw a spanner in the works, cutting Annie's bottom-age season short.

"It was pretty difficult I guess because one year we only played two games," she said. "It was hard because it was an important part of my life in hopes of getting drafted."

She remembers feeling devastated to miss games but grasped onto hope she could play throughout her draft year.

"I just tried to stay motivated," she said. "I would do handballs and little 10 metre kicks in the backyard with dad. I was lucky enough that COVID was settling down in my draft year. I was able to play well enough to get looked at."

Taken by Carlton with pick 10 of the 2021 draft - equating to the sixth Victorian pick in a state-based draft - Annie couldn't believe she was joining the same club she and her dad spent their lives supporting.

"I wish everyone could feel what I felt," she said. "Me being a big Blues fan it was incredible."

Playing three games in her rookie AFLW season, which ran from January to April this year, Annie eventually cemented herself in Carlton's best 21 in season seven. She played all but one game since August's season-opener, missing round seven due to illness.

"For me the first year in my AFLW experience was more of a learning stage," she said. "I got a little taste of what it was like but I think I needed more time just to get used to what AFLW life is like and what's expected of me.

"I knew for me coming into my second season it would be pretty challenging. I knew I had to push myself if I wanted to get more games under my belt."

Dedicating herself to improving her fitness in the winter off-season was the key to her individual performance but it remained a tough campaign for the Daniel Hartford-coached Blues after multiple players departed in the sign and trade period. The Blues finished 14th with a 2-6-2 record however Annie remains optimistic about the future at Ikon Park.

"I think for us it's more of a marathon than a sprint," she said. "We've seen glimpses of what we can play like and it's just exciting what we're going to be like next year."

Left to watch on as a final series plays out, Annie and her teammates are committed to returning the club to finals for the first time in four seasons next year.

"Finals is something everyone wants to be a part of but not everyone can make it," she said. "For teams such as Melbourne or Adelaide or Brisbane, those key teams that look like they're one step ahead, we look at that and say, that's where we need to get to. We've seen glimpses but it's more about consistency."

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