WHEN the Bathurst Lady Bushrangers squared off with the Bathurst Giants for the first time last season, they were the undisputed heavyweights of the Central West AFL women's competition.
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Twelve months on things have changed.
After three premiership flags in three seasons and just one defeat, in 2018 the Lady Bushrangers' remarkable run of success came to an end. It was the Giants who halted their bid for another crown with a 4-2-26 to 3-1-19 preliminary final upset.
Though it was a tough loss to take for the Lady Bushrangers, foundation member Abbey Hardie said she and her team-mates knew their rivals - and not just the Giants - had improved markedly.
"Look I think we were on a good streak for awhile, but it was going to happen eventually. Whether it was the Giants, Dubbo, Orange - all those girls are fantastic," she said.
"Honestly it's so good to see another Bathurst team coming along and there are so many new girls at the Giants this year as well."
Hardie, who has been playing the sport since 2011 when introduced to the Sherrin at school, is excited to face the Giants again in this Saturday's season opener at George Park 1.
She will play in the back-pocket of a very different looking Lady Bushrangers side.
"We've got a whole new team this year. I think there are only two original girls from 2015, myself and Elise Hull, but it's so good see so many new players come and join us," she said.
"So what we are doing this year is having a development team. We'll see how we go, but it should be a good year."
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One of the Giants who will be lining up against Hardie this Saturday from 12.30pm is Chelsea Gibbs.
Like many of those who donned the orange and charcoal in 2018, Gibbs came from a non-Australian rules sporting background to form part of the inaugural Giants women's outfit. However, the hand-eye co-ordination skills she honed from playing representative basketball and netball have served her well.
"A lot of us come from different sporting backgrounds, but I think we had a lot of aggression in those sports, so it was good to tap into that. We all just wanted to get out there and play some footy," she said.
"It's a different sport, it's something new, and a different culture. We had no expectations riding on us last year ... [but] halfway through the season I think we'd established we were a bit of a threat and we're going to come into this season a bit like that as well, we are not the underdogs anymore."
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Since going down to Dubbo by seven points in last year's grand final, the Giants have undergone a number of personnel changes, especially in their midfield.
But Gibbs has faith in her team-mates and is confident that they can build on their impressive debut season.
"We did lose key players, but we still have a lot of key players and have got a lot of young guns coming through from the youth side. We do have a lot of girls who haven't played before though, so I think we'll be on par with the Bushrangers," she said.
"We are fitter than what we used to be which helps, I'm confident we'll try our best and it will be a bonus if we come away with the win."