The daughter of Maltese migrants, Amanda Farrugia was born and bred in western Sydney.
She says she's proud of Greater Western Sydney's connection to the community, going into the AFL national women's league.
"Obviously growing up in Sydney makes it more special to know that I'm representing a team that has a lot of community involvement as well I know GWS do lots of work with schools and different ethnic backgrounds and Indigenous communities so you know I feel really humbled and it's important to know that GWS are being able to give back to community to because I obviously hold that in really high steam and that's important."
Farrugia only started playing the sport in 2011.
Last year, she was selected with the 64th pick in the women's draft by the Giants.
It was a nervous wait for the teacher at Our Lady of Mercy College, a private girls' school in Parramatta.
"So as soon as GWS picks were coming up we'd stop our work and I'd bring the draft back up on the screen and everybody was waiting with baited breath and when my name got called at pick 64 the scream was very loud it caused a few teachers to come out of the staff room and check on us because they thought something really bad had happened."
The 32-year-old has been selected by her teammates as the inaugural captain.
Coach Tim Schmidt wasn't surprised by their choice.
"To see the number of votes she received that Amanda received from her peers it was extraordinary I think every sort of player voted for her so they saw exactly what we saw she's a natural leader they really respect on what she says and really want to listen to what she says as well."
But like other fellow players, Farrugia won't be leaving her job to compete in the women's league.
"None of the players are thinking well we want full professionalism of this sport we want to give up our day jobs and that's the end of it in its infancy it's got to start from somewhere and right now we're all managing the balance of working well most of us who do work and play footy are managing it quite well."
The Giants begin their campaign against the Adelaide Crows on Saturday afternoon.
