AFLW: Fremantle‘s Gabby Newton excited to celebrate 50th game alongside Dockers teammate Kiara Bowers

She might be about to celebrate her 50th AFLW game, but Gabby Newton is more excited to play with fellow milestone woman Kiara Bowers than her own half-century. Former Bulldog-turned-Docker Newton is set to clock her 50th match on Sunday when she runs out alongside Bowers and their Fremantle teammates in their season opener against Port Adelaide. The clash will also be Bowers’ 50th game, but mark the first time Newton has played with the Fremantle star due to the former missing all of last season due to pregnancy, coupled with 2024 being the latter’s first year in a purple jersey. And for Newton, sharing the 50-game milestone with an athlete who has inspired her throughout her career — even from afar — was more special than her own achievement. “The most exciting part of the day is to be pulling on the jumper alongside ‘Turbo’, who’s also playing her 50th,” Newton said. “Genuinely, that is a really big honor, and she’ll hate that I’m saying this, but I’m going to — I’ve always looked up to Turbo as one of the pioneers of the game, and the way that she goes about it. “Watching from afar, her work-rate and her ferocious tackling was a big part of why I wanted to be her teammate.” Newton, the no.1 pick in the 2019 draft who made a quick impression in her first year as a Docker, said part of the excitement over her move to Fremantle last year was the chance to play alongside Bowers. “I could see it from a mile away when I was at the Bulldogs playing against her, but to see it in real time and to actually physically have her shoving me and tackling me in the pre-season has just been something else,” she said. “That’s something I’ve always sought out in teammates, and she’s one of those who just makes everybody around her so much better. “Probably something I didn’t expect but just didn’t realise, is the person that Turbo is — not only is she this incredible player, but her resilience and willingness to push and win our time-trials and do all this insane stuff, it’s just incredible.” Newton’s talent was evident from her early days in Footscray, but injuries have limited her impact somewhat and made her appreciate the road she taken to reach the 50-game mark. “It’s a big honour. I was playing it down this week, but then I got a phone call from my mum just to remind me that I’ve been through a lot on the footy journey,” she said. “It’s really significant to me to make 50, because there were times, particularly when I was injured, where I couldn’t really see the light at the end of the tunnel. “My belief in myself has changed a lot from my first year to now and probably having that pressure of being a high draft pick early days and then getting injured, I had a lot of self-doubt; now being here, I feel so empowered by everybody in our program. “Because of those setbacks I’ve had, I’m a very different person to who I was in year one but to be honest, I’m looking forward to playing and having fun, because I bloody love footy.” Injury interrupted Newton’s start to life with Fremantle last year in her first pre-season, and having a free run in the lead-up to the forthcoming campaign has put her in a positive frame of mind. “I’m definitely someone who needs to feel like I’ve ticked everything off — I’ll get to games really early and do my whole routine — so to have had a full off-season and pre-season of doing that every session is definitely something I’ve always wanted,” she said. “To feel really good in my body and know that nothing else is holding me back, I can control the way I’m going in, has been really great and I’m just really grateful that that’s been the way this pre-season.”