Benalla's Webster packs a midfield punch

Becky Webster couldn’t have had a worse start to her 2020 campaign.The 19-year-old injured herself just days out from the official start of pre-season in unusual circumstances.“I went to put the rubbish out and I whacked my toe on the car coming back,” Webster said.“I thought I’d just stubbed it, but when I came in to do a (skills) session with ‘Hoody’ (senior AFLW coach Paul Hood), I was running and I was like ‘this actually is pretty painful'. “So I got a scan on it and it turned out I had a broken toe.”Webster’s broken toe kept her out of main training until the Christmas break.Returning in the new year, Webster picked up where she had left off in the VFLW season, dominating her new role in the midfield.Following the 2019 AFLW season Geelong’s coaches Natalie Wood and Paul Hood decided to move Webster from the backline into the midfield during the winter.“Nat and Hoody said, ‘We’re going to put you through the midfield in the VFLW and develop you and your strengths to be able to burst through packs’,” she said.“I think they were expecting me to probably have spurts throughout the season in the midfield, but I just ended up staying there.”Webster proved to be a natural.In what was meant to be a development season, the youngster from Benalla came away winning the club’s best-and-fairest.“It was good to have a solid VFLW season and get a lot of midfield experience under my belt coming into the AFLW, I felt a lot more confident.”This year, in her second season, Webster noticed an increase in intensity from the VFLW to the AFLW.“The level just stepped up in AFLW, the communication around the ball and obviously the structures,” she said.“The main focuses were pretty similar, but yeah it was more of a step up.”Webster found playing alongside experienced teammate Aasta O’Connor particularly helpful.O’Connor missed last year’s VFLW season through injury, meaning this AFLW season was the first opportunity the two had to play together in the midfield.“She (O’Connor) was like another coach out there,” Webster said.“Just around the ball having her communication there and making sure we were all accountable was awesome.“Like I said she was just like having another coach out on the field, which was great.”This year Webster played every game in the Cats’ midfield averaging 13 disposals.Her best game came in Round 1 against Fremantle where she had 21 touches and a game-high seven marks.Though Webster has found quick success in her new role, she knows there is still plenty to learn.“Obviously playing a bit more in the midfield I’ll be able to develop those skills to read the ball a lot more,” she said.“Also if I’m not impacting the contest, I need to learn where I am meant to be and where should I be heading.“So just practicing those running patterns and those sort of things as well as keeping up my fitness coming into the pre-season.”Webster has achieved a lot with her limited midfield experience. Who knows what she can achieve with another 12 months under her belt.