Just days after winning a record seventh AFLW club best-and-fairest, Monique Conti is returning to the basketball court.
The dual-athlete superstar, who turns 25 later this month, will play for the WNBL's newest outfit, Geelong United, in Round 6, just four weeks after her last game of football.
United have two crucial fixtures in four days, with games against Adelaide Lightning (home) on Sunday afternoon, then a trip to Melbourne next Wednesday night to face reigning champs Southside Flyers in ESPN's Game of the Round.
The midfielder's latest accolade is another addition to a bulging trophy collection.
A premiership player and best-and-fairest winner as a teenager at the Western Bulldogs, Conti has claimed the Tigers' top honour in all of its six seasons of existence and in 2023 was crowned the AFLW's best and fairest.
"I was trying to say in my speech, every single time (I win) I'm just as grateful as the first time. This stuff doesn't come easy, it comes from head down bum up. I don't do anything for the individual accolades, it's for team success and anything else is a bonus and a reward for the effort," Conti says.
"I don't think I'm at my best, or my peak, I've got so much more to work on but when you get rewarded with something like that it makes you feel good, but you also think 'what's next?'
Conti made her WNBL debut with the Melbourne Boomers as a high school student, before AFLW was even established.
She took some time away from the basketball court before returning to the league with Southside for the 2020 hub season, where she was part of a championship alongside Olympians Jenna O'Hea, Sara Blicavs, and Liz Cambage.
Following another breather, Conti played for Southside again in 2022-23 before returning to the Boomers last season. She followed coach Chris Lucas to Geelong when United took on the Boomers' licence ahead of season 2024-25.
So, what is it that draws Conti back to basketball after a gruelling football season?
"I can't sit still," she laughs. "I love basketball so much and it would be like losing a part of me if I didn't play, a missing piece.
"Thanks to Chris, I found enjoyment playing again. No expectation or pressure, just having fun. I couldn't finish on last season and that be it. I feel like I've got so much more to give, and I made some sort of an impact on the team which I feel like I was kind of stripped of the past few years."
Conti took a short break following the Tigers' last game on November 10 before turning focus to a different shaped ball.
"I had about two weeks where I didn't really do anything and in the back end of that I was getting some shots up and as the weeks went on, I started progressing my basketball training, so I've done enough to be ready to go and my body feels good," she says.
"I took it easy this year, I didn't go straight from footy into basketball like I did last season."
Having played her professional WNBL and AFLW careers for teams in Melbourne until now, Conti has lived at home with her tight-knit family, but this week moved in with United teammates Keely Froling and Hannah Hank in Geelong.
She's already organised for mum Simone to stock up the freezer with her famous schnitzels, lasagne and pasta sauce.
"With Geelong, I love that it's history, a new club and I wanted to be part of that. It's a new experience and something different," Conti explains.
"It's great to have some familiar faces in Chris and Keely, Jaz Shelley and I were Gems team mates at the Under-17 World Cup in 2016, Taylor Mole was part of that program.
"Plus, summer in Geelong? Can't say no to that."
With Geelong's two wins coming against their upcoming opponents, there's the chance to establish some momentum over the next week.
"Sunday's a big game, if we can win that's a big tick for us. The Flyers just beat Canberra and we lost to Sydney by 35 last week but we know on our day we can beat them.
"The league is so tight and anything can happen on any given day."