AFLW 2024: Paxy Paxman answers Melbourne’s leadership call after tough season
Melbourne wants to bring the fun back into its AFLW program this season. Enter Paxy Paxman.
Just a quick glance across the football landscape this winter will tell you how heavily a premiership defence can weigh on a club.
Melbourne last year looked perfectly poised to back up its breakthrough AFLW flag triumph.
Retired champion Daisy Pearce was the only premiership player to depart as the Demons entered 2023 with what was almost unanimously considered the best list in the competition.
Scoring records were toppled in the first five rounds as the Dees ran rampant, but spates of injuries and illness struck, and then wheels fell off – and fell off hard – in a straight-sets finals exit.
Senior figures at Melbourne will not make excuses for the botched finals campaign – the internal consensus was that at times last season, “things got too serious”, and players struggled to cope with their own lofty expectations.
Camera IconMelbourne AFLW star Paxy Paxman (second from left) has rejoined the Demons’ leadership group ahead of 2024 alongside Sarah Lampard (left), captain Kate Hore and Tyla Hanks (right). David Caird Credit: News Corp Australia
And so a decision was made to persuade Paxman to re-join the Dees’ leadership group.
Leadership groups are a fickle thing in football – the Brisbane men’s side appointed no fewer than 11 players to its group last season – but the Melbourne women run a streamlined operation, and Paxman wanted to let their new leaders grow freely when she stepped away from the vice-captaincy in 2022.
Close friend and teammate Rhi Watt says the calm, fun-loving veteran needed to be assured her own style perfectly complements second-year skipper Kate Hore and her deputy Tyla Hanks.
“It’s classic Pax that when she stepped away from the leadership, that’s exactly what she did,” Watt says.
“She wanted to let others have a go at the role, but it’s great that she has the ability to know it was time to come back in.
“The mood has been very energetic over the last four or five weeks of pre-season. Her presence just makes us a better team.
Camera IconRhi Watt says Paxman is a ‘natural leader’ who just needed reassurance her voice was still crucial to the Demons side. Michael Klein Credit: News Corp Australia
“Pax doesn’t change, she’s just such a natural leader, and if anything I just hope this has given her a little bit more confidence to know how loved she is, because she’s so humble but absolutely adored by everyone.”
Paxman, 35, has seen it all in footy. She starred for St Albans and Darebin in the VWFL before the Demons were able to land both her and Falcons teammate Pearce by snaring Paxman as their “priority pick” ahead of the inaugural season.
The Dees’ games record holder says she had been content to “cruise” in the background for a while, but was excited this season to have an influence on a far younger group with nine new players joining the list.
After three seasons with an almost identical list, Melbourne had to hit the draft hard following the loss of flag quartet Libby Birch (North Melbourne), Maddi Gay (Essendon), Casey Sherriff and Eliza West (Hawthorn) in the off-season.
“Historically I probably haven’t seen myself as a leader … not in the traditional sense anyway, so I’ve battled with that over the years a bit,” Paxman says.
“We’ve had an influx of new players this season which has been really enjoyable, new dynamics, and a few of the players asked me if I was interested in putting my hand up and coming back into that leadership space.
“I guess it got me thinking, and over the last couple of years, I probably did grow a bit in terms of my belief in my own leadership – I do have stuff to offer in that space, and it might not be in the traditional sense, but I know I’ve got experience and a different viewpoint to offer.”
Camera IconPaxman enters the ninth AFLW season as Melbourne’s games record holder, and has been named in the All-Australian team five times. David Caird Credit: News Corp Australia
Paxman says helping steer a fresh wave of Dees through their first pre-season has been “hugely rewarding”.
“We’ve kept our main group together for a lot of seasons now, and that’s what you want to do, but this new group, the energy they bring has been really refreshing actually,” she says.
“Melbourne’s always had such strong leaders, right from the very start with Daisy (Pearce) as captain and Mel Hickey … I think I’ve been able to develop my own sense of leadership here.
“I guess what I bring is experience, but I also bring balance off the field as well. I love to have fun and make sure everyone’s having a good time, and I think when I’m having fun, I play good footy.”
Paxman is toying with the idea of an eventual move into coaching – “not a senior job though, too hectic” – but says the finish line is not yet in sight when it comes to her playing days.
While other great mates have drawn the curtain on their AFLW careers, Paxman and Watt have formed a special bond since the latter arrived at her third club ahead of season seven.
The pair had not properly met before Watt arrived at the Demons. Last year, Paxman was in Watt’s wedding party.
Camera IconPaxy Paxman (right) struck up a friendship with new teammate Rhi Watt (left) so quickly that she was part of her wedding party last year. Supplied Credit: Supplied
“Having only known her what, two or three years, she was actually my maid of honour,” Watt says.
“So we have a bit of a chuckle, we get to footy training and say, ‘we should probably tone it down a bit’.
“Pax just works brilliantly with the other leaders we’ve got. There’s that natural level of calmness ¬– she’s been through all the highs and the lows of the game, she’s got such a breadth of experience that nothing really tips her.
“You just have to pinch yourself sometimes that the club is lucky enough to have someone like her.”
Paxman famously used to watch no football outside of her own games, but she’s changed her habits to incorporate the Melbourne men’s side into her weekend routine.
Watt is eager to tackle some misconceptions about the fierce, mulleted on-baller.
“Paxy is surprisingly an amazing singer,” Watt says.
“You’re completely thrown by the stuff she loves – she’s a huge Ed Sheeran fan, she also really loves Ben Platt? You’ll catch her singing along to Wicked in the car.
Other players expressed doubt over her singing ability, but spirits are high with Paxman firmly back in the fray at the Demons.
Melbourne will open its AFLW season with a semi-final rematch against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on August 31.
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