Anderson has been sidelined all season, but she's not left the team behind

Now just three weeks from her due date, the 2023 football captain has helped lead Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong in a new way this season.

Stepping up alongside coach Luke Walsh, she's taken on an assistant coach role, one she had never pictured herself in.

An experienced netball coach, football was a whole new ballgame.

Though she believes it never crosses Walsh's mind that she wouldn't step into the role.

"I announced that I was pregnant at presentation at the end of the netball season last year, and then I think in Luke's mind he was ticking over with football player injuries and pregnancies and things like that who would play," Anderson said.

"I just said I want to stay involved I couldn't not be involved.

"There was a bit of movement with the other boys that had been assistant coaches before, so I think it was just a bit of an opportunity there to step into that role and I was happy to do that."

Despite not stepping on the field this season, Anderson said she still feels as much part of the team as she ever has.

Watching from the sidelines comes with its own challenges, but as her due date approaches and the side progresses through finals, stress is on the rise.

"We'll see how the stress levels sit over the next two weeks, it could be a very telling time, but the girls are very mindful," Anderson said.

"After a stressful quarter they do come and say 'are you going okay, hope we haven't impacted you and baby too much,' they're very thoughtful."

Hoping to return to the field for the 2025 season, Anderson said she won't turn her back on football coaching opportunities in the future.

She's enjoyed bringing a new dynamic to the coaching group as an ex-player.

"I think it's been nice to have an ex-player, dormant player, sort of involved in the ranks, I think that's been nice," she said.

"I still see them as my players and my teammates, when talking to the leadership group I feel like I've still got quite a bit of a connection to those girls.

" I think it's been a nice transition and definitely something I never considered not doing.

"I think I would have just missed it too much."

With just one game now standing between her team and the grand final, Anderson is optimistic they will return to the big stage this year.

A scare from Turvey Park in last week's semi-final, she believes, will serve the team well as they prepare to play Brookdale this week for the first time.

It's a game that football fans have been eagerly waiting for this season.

"I honestly think we will fare better because of the pressure Turvey put on us," she said.

"There's been a few games this season that I think have put it to us more than seasons before and I don't think it's a bad thing at all that we've had to endure that and cop it.

"Hopefully that puts us in good stead going into Brookdale, an unknown competition, and hopefully we can take the intensity from that fourth quarter and how everyone felt in that quarter, knowing they had to just put in absolutely everything to win the footy.

"If we start quarter one like that with Brookdale, we've got our best foot forward."

Ganmain play Brookdale in the Southern NSW Women's League preliminary final double header on Friday, April 5 at McPherson Oval.

Charles Sturt University play Coolamon in the first game of the night, with first bounce schedueld for 6:15pm.