AFLW star Jas Garner says it’s true friendships that have helped her through the good and bad times.

“You make friendships everywhere you go – school, footy, work, friends are always there when you need them,” Garner said, in an interview on the True North Portal. 

“Whenever I need someone, or I’m bored, or I want to do something, I kind of always fall to my friends.

“When I’m driving somewhere stuck in traffic I’ll be like ‘oh which one of my friends can I call?', so friendships are important.”

Garner reflected on one of her dearest friends and the impact she’s had on her life.  

“A friend Emily; we met back in 2010 I think, playing football ... we have a different job and we might not see each other for three months or so, but she’s someone I can call all the time and we’re always there for each other.

“We try to hang out as much as possible,” she said.

“If I’m having a bad day or I need to get something off my chest, or even an opinion or I need to wear something, I can ask her anything. She’s there for everything.

“I guess we don’t know what’s going to happen, because we always talk about when we’re older and when we’ve got kids and how we’re going to buy boats and be down the river every summer holidays.

“We always think and talk about that, even though we have no idea what’s going to happen, but she’s someone that I can definitely see us hanging out with when we’re 50-60 years old.”

Having developed lifelong friends through sport, Garner said its not about how often you see your friends, rather the respect you have for each other.

“From our footy team there’s always been a group of us from the West that have always hung out together,” she said.

“I guess as we’ve gotten older, we’ve separated a bit, but we know we’re always there for each other. We can always lean back on each other.”

Garner highlighted the balance between having family support, and a network of close friends. 

“Friends and family are different,” she said. 

“You know my family, we’re all going through the same thing, whereas I can speak to my friends and we can talk about something completely different.

“Last year actually my dad was sick and I had to take time off work, this was when I actually started my job here [at North].

“He was sick in Adelaide in the hospital up there and just every day I knew I could call them [friends]. I had family up there too but it’s kind of nice to speak to your friends sometimes and you can take your mind off things.”

Since COVID-19 restrictions have been enforced The Huddle cannot continue to deliver programs to young people in person, effecting sports and recreation programs, education programs and career programs. The Huddle has responded quickly to move support networks online, but we need your help to continue our response to local families and young people.

If you are in a position to help, we appreciate your support - click here to donate

02:06