For nine seasons Nicola Barr wore orange and charcoal. This weekend will feel different.
She'll run out in red, black and white for St Kilda to face Greater Western Sydney -- the club where it all began.
And not just at any ground. She returns to Henson Park, a place stitched into her story. It's where she ran out and waved to the famous "Main Barr" banner on the hill, and even where she broke a record she once begrudgingly held -- the longest goalless streak to start an AFLW career
To write about the significance of the inaugural Giant, you need to go back to 2016. GWS held the very first pick in the AFLW draft. Barr, who had grown up on soccer pitches rather than footy ovals, struggled to grasp the weight of what was happening.
"I didn't grow up with footy, I played a lot of soccer," Barr told ESPN.
"I think I just got really lucky with the Giants having the number one pick. I'd only just started playing myself... it all felt like a bit of a whirlwind."
That whirlwind swept her into Greater Western Sydney, a club almost as new to the AFL system as she was to the game. The Giants, still carving out an identity in the men's competition, suddenly had to find their feet in a women's league that barely existed.
"We called ourselves the 'Misfits' for a few years," Barr said with a laugh.
The team was stitched together from all corners of the country. Some squeezed into a share house in Western Sydney, mattresses laid in hallways, living off $6,000 pay packets. Their first footy trip to Byron has since gone down in folklore.
"It was chaos, but it was so much fun," she says.
"We weren't there for the money, we were there because we loved the game. Some of those memories, they'll never leave me."
Nearly a decade later, Barr can still close her eyes and picture those early days, but the league she first entered now feels like another world.
"The way it is now is just miles apart from where it was," she said.
"When I first started, I think I was in my fourth official game of footy. Now you've got players who've been kicking a Sherrin since they were kids. The facilities, the professionalism, the resources... it's just so different. I always knew it would improve, but it feels like I blinked and here we are."
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Season 10 is a milestone for the competition, but also for Barr. She's grown into a leader, using her platform for climate advocacy.
"I grew up hiking and cycling outdoors with my family, so climate action has always been close to me," she said.
When the Black Summer bushfires choked Sydney in 2019, Barr found herself training in smoky, apocalyptic skies. It was a turning point.
"I'd completed a medical science degree and then I went overseas for a bit. I was really interested in climate but didn't know how to work in it," she explained.
"Footy was ramping up and I didn't have the education in that area. But I was like, 'oh, how can I do something about this?'"
That "something" became Footy for Climate, an AFL player-driven initiative uniting athletes around climate action, and Front Runners, which develops athletes as advocates and community leaders. Barr has emerged as one of the most influential voices in that space.
"It gives me a sense of purpose beyond the game," she said.
"Football is amazing, but it doesn't last forever. If I can use this platform for something bigger, that's what really matters to me."
Still, footy remains at the heart of it all. Barr made the leap this year, moving to Melbourne and pulling on the St Kilda colours. It was a decision that shocked some, but one she knew she needed.
"I absolutely loved my time at the Giants... my teammates are going to be friends for life," Barr said.
"But I didn't want to look back and think, what if I'd done something different? I was ready for a new challenge, ready to get out of my comfort zone."
The move also carried family ties.
"My uncle actually played at the Saints for a year or two. So coming to the Saints really felt quite special."
Already in her first season, Barr has been elevated into the leadership group, proof of the immediate impact she has made.
"The culture has been amazing," she said.
"We're not hiding from the fact we want to make finals, and everything we're doing is about that goal."
For Barr, this weekend is a reminder of where it all began, the jumper she wore when AFLW was still just an idea on paper. For the Saints it's a must-win game. And for the league, watching its first ever number one draft pick running around in its 10th season is a reminder of how far AFLW has already grown -- and how much further it will go.