The making of Liv Purcell, AFLW young gun earns Daisy Pearce’s admiration at Melbourne

“I do have a bit of white line fever as soon as I get on the footy field,” admits the super-competitive Melbourne AFLW midfielder. “But then off it I’m not really like that at all — I’m the complete opposite, to be honest.

“I feel like I’m pretty laid back and just go with the flow. I live around the beach so I feel like that probably helps the flow into that lifestyle. But I find it pretty amusing and I’m sure my teammates do: just the difference between me on and off the field.

“They think it’s really funny and bizarre and I agree. They’re like ‘you’re like a different person’. I’m like ‘I know. I don’t know what happens’. I do think it helps me in terms of trying to get the best out of myself, but it’s very funny.”

It has also been Purcell’s way for as long as she can remember. The fourth of Robin and former Geelong footy legend Kane Purcell’s five daughters was brought up in a sporty family: basketball, netball, nippers, surfing, anything.

Every board game was a contest, and dancing and music also part of what the Barwon Heads family did for fun.

Now 22, Purcell was drafted by Geelong at No.14 in the 2018 AFLW draft after standout seasons for both its successful VFLW side and the title-winning under-18 Geelong Falcons. She was runner-up in the Cats’ 2019 best and fairest, first the next year after recovering from shoulder surgery and also earned All-Australian honours before wrecking her right knee in 2021.

Having moved, a little contentiously, to the Demons 18 months ago, she resumed from the ACL rupture in time for the 2022 finals series (1), and was part of the losing grand final side against Adelaide in April before a full and outstanding season that will culminate with Sunday’s decider (2) against the Lions in Brisbane.

“That edge that she’s brought to our team I’ve loved,” says Melbourne captain Daisy Pearce, praising her young teammate’s determination and a competitiveness she admired from afar during Purcell’s time at Geelong.

“Just competes really hard, goes so hard at the football, inspires her teammates to do the same and she’s quite commanding as well, which I love about her — drawing it out of the rest of us.

“She’s a ripper, smart footy brain, so she’s been a great addition to our team.”

Another Demon, star forward Kate Hore, also hails the contribution of the inside mid known as “Percy” to her teammates.

“She’s just a competitor, she’s a beast in our midfield, and her contested ball-winning ability is incredible,” says Hore.

“And just her pressure around the ball and her ability to take it forward and hit the scoreboard as well has been huge for us this year.”

Purcell is often told where that hard, tough competitor comes from.

It’s in the genes.

“My dad played a lot of footy, he played a lot of VFL and WAFL, and I think he was pretty similar on the football field, and I get told that I’m my father’s daughter, so that kind of makes sense.’’

*****

Kane Purcell’s old online biography at Geelong Football Netball League club St Mary’s, one of his many homes in a career that stretched west to East Perth and north to Maroochydore and included time on the lists of both Collingwood — as the No.30 pick in the 1991 national draft — and Hawthorn is an entertaining read.

Gave the great Peter Daicos a “bath’’ in one intra-club practice game at Victoria Park, so the story goes (his, presumably), and made three night series appearances for the Pies when the long-gone Escort Cup was a thing.

A self-proclaimed finals specialist, too. “I played in over 30 finals …. not a bad one!’’

Nicknames apparently included “Mr September”, “Mr K-Park”, “Mr Perth”, “Mr Subiaco” or “Mr Subi” when playing for East Perth from 1997-99, with Purcell senior “to this day holding the record of 55 touches in a game at Subiaco Oval, WA, according to sources close to him!”.

Suspect you’re getting the gist. Purcell, well known as a player, coach and character in the strong GFNL, is also happy to be described as “one of the very few Australian rules players to whack his own teammate in a game”.

Liv, the family’s current elite footballer, speaks thoughtfully, almost gently, in a grand final week sit-down with CODE Sports on a wintry Monday at Dees HQ, where it’s hard to imagine her belting one of her own, no matter how white-hot the fever she’s learnt to channel in a more constructive, controlled way.

“I feel like I probably understand myself better as I get older, obviously, but I try to keep it pretty relaxed during the week, and even on game day, and then I know probably just before we get on the ground it’s like ‘ok, I can probably zone into that and channel into it’,” Purcell says.

“So I feel like that’s been really helpful, understanding when to best zone into it and channel my competitiveness, to have that white-line fever but use it in the best way possible. So that’s probably where I’ve evolved from juniors to now.”

The stats back up the praise, with a team-high average of 23.3 disposals (fifth in the league), 10 of them contested (21st in AFLW overall), plus almost four clearances and tackles per game.

“I loved that she was nominated as one of the most improved players this year,” says Pearce. “She’s always been pretty handy, but to see her have a full pre-season this year and just build her confidence, we’re getting heaps out of her now.

“It always seems to take time with people coming back from an ACL, but I couldn’t believe it when she got nominated in … the (best) 22 under 22.

“It sorta shocked me that she was still not even 22 years old yet. She’s such a competitor and an experienced footballer and wise head. She’s been a beauty to have around.’’

*****

It was while at the end of her contract, forced to take a break from footy after her knee reconstruction, with Victoria in various states of lockdown and plenty of personal think time, that the Surf Coast native decided it was time to move up the Geelong road.

“The injury was a little bit unexpected and a little bit traumatic,” Purcell reflects.

“So being away from football for a year I’m like ‘oh, I can just explore a different side to myself’, because I felt like during school and after school it was just mainly football, and probably a lot of girls in the AFLW felt like that.

“And then this opportunity came up with Melbourne and I felt like it was just good timing for me to try that transition and it’s been really good for me, because you do get out of Geelong, and you do get used to being at home, so it’s been a really good experience to meet new people, and there’s a lot more going on than just your home town.’’

Purcell acknowledges with a “you can’t please everyone” philosophy the reaction to the decision, certain that what she felt at the time was best for her career.

“I was sort of reflecting where I was at with my football and where I wanted to go, and obviously Melbourne were a really good club and they’ve always been successful,” she says.

“But I think it was more in terms of ‘where am I gonna get my best development’, and what they were saying, how they could get the best out of me, I felt like it was the right fit.

“We have a really strong team and such amazing players, I feel like I’m always getting challenged on the field. In training, I feel like I already am playing against some of the best players in the league, so I feel like that’s been a real advantage.

“It’s like ‘ok, well you have to be always sharp and on at training, you’re not gonna just be given a spot on the team, you really have to earn it. And just the investment as well … they’re so invested in getting the best out of you as an athlete.”

Not least one who was just coming back from a major knee trauma, who was understandably thrilled when it was announced that AFLW season seven was following on with barely a pause for breath from the sixth.

“When I heard the news that we were having another season I was like ‘oh, that’s great’, because I felt like I was only getting started, to be honest.”

*****

One grand final played. Another coming this weekend. Barely seven months in between.

“It’s pretty bizarre. It’s never gonna happen again: having two grand finals in one year, so that’s a pretty cool achievement in itself,” Purcell smiles.

“Even to play in a grand final, I didn’t really expect to be playing last season at all, because I tried to not have any expectations with my knee. I sort of just wanted to embrace being at a new club, and I knew it was more of a long term thing with me.

“I didn’t feel like Melbourne wanted me to rush back. I never felt pressure; just the timing of it all worked out, and I feel it was such an advantage to be able to play the second half (of 2022), and play with a new team and get that gel and connection.

“And to play in a grand final I think it’s really helped for this season to be like ‘oh, ok, I’ve experienced that finals feeling, and I’ve also experienced a loss’, and you sit with that feeling a little bit.

“I sort of try and remind myself how I felt in that grand final and try and use it as motivation, so I think it’s been a really great lesson and experience.”

The chance for atonement, and potentially a glorious send-off for the much-loved Pearce, comes on Sunday, when the ever-consistent Demons play for their first flag, in the second grand final of 2022, away on the virgin Springfield turf.

Liv Purcell will be the one wearing No.2 in the red and blue, with a slightly feverish touch of white.

“I don’t see much changing in the way that I play and what I do,’’ she says. “We’ve just got to give it one more crack.”