Get to Know Hannah Stuart

12/04/2022

A hard worker both on and off the footy field. Get to know Southern Saints Vice-Captain Hannah Stuart.

She continues to improve every game she plays on the footy field. However off the field she helps save lives as a nurse at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.

“I work in the cardiac cath lab, which is where we do procedures for patients like angiograms, looking at their coronary vessels, pacemakers, we do heart valve procedures and we look after patients from elective patients through to emergency patients that are having heart attacks,” Stuart said.

“I’ve always been pretty keen on helping others and doing things for other people.

“I’ve never really thought of myself as having a career of sitting down in an office job and doing that, that’s not really being me, I'm a bit more active."

Whilst working in a cardiac cath lab it does have its challenges, Stuart enjoys being a part of the team there.

“It can be quite challenging, it can be pretty stressful especially when it’s an emergency situation, but we’ve got a great team there and we all work really well together [plus we have] lots of training [and] lots of experience.”

Teamwork is one of many areas she enjoys about being a nurse.

“One of my favourite things is good outcomes for patients, helping contribute to a positive quality of life for them."

Teamwork is also one of the key factors behind Stuart playing footy. However there were other factors in her playing Aussie Rules.

“Most of my (junior) career has been in the soccer world and then I got to the age of 21, I’d been playing soccer my entire life and (thought) I was ready for a bit of a break.

“It only lasted a couple of years and then I was pretty keen to start something up again, wasn’t really wanting to go back to soccer, wanted to try something new and footy was finally starting to get a bit of motion for females and (I thought) ‘why not’, everyone else was starting to do it around me and I jumped on the bandwagon.”

And she hasn’t looked back since, having spent four years with the Southern Saints. She’s also thoroughly enjoyed her time with us since joining the side.

“It’s gotten better every year to be honest. This has been my most enjoyable year and I said that last year as well so it’s only getting better for me.

“I’m loving it, it’s a great team environment, the culture at the Club is amazing which starts with the Head Coach, Dale, and filters down. I can’t name anything I’d change about the Club at this point in time, I love it.”

And whilst she’d take any opportunities that came to her at a higher level, Stuart is happy playing at this level.

“At the moment I’m loving the footy that I’m playing, I’m loving who I’m playing with and I’m very content at this level, but if the opportunity arose I’d take it with two hands.”

She’s also excited about how much the women’s game has grown and will continue to grow in years to come.

“I’ve been watching AFLW since its inaugural season and the quality growth is amazing, every season it gets better and better. You look around when you’re driving around on the weekend and the amount of women playing footy out in the local suburbs is incredible, it’s great."

“I think it’s really exciting and I think the quality progression that we’re seeing in the AFLW is directly linked to how many girls are playing and how much we’re investing into women starting early as well. All the NAB (League) Girls coming through, it’s exciting to see the future."

Whilst she enjoys her footy career and nursing career, Stuart also has plenty of hobbies outside of her job and the footy arena.

“I love the outdoors…anything adrenaline filled basically. Love mountain biking, love trail running, bowling, going to the movies, anything that gets me out of the house really.”

And she also has plenty of other favourite things, including movies, snacks, AFL/AFLW teams and AFL/AFLW players.

“My favourite movie is Wonder Woman 1984. I love it, I just watch it over and over. It’s my guilty pleasure.”

“[Favourite snack] I’m a sweet tooth, I love chocolate. At the moment Hot Cross Buns, that’s a very seasonal one.”

“I go for Hawthorn in the AFL and in the AFLW I got for the Saints of course.”

“[My] favourite AFL player is Sam Mitchell and my favourite AFLW player is probably Ellie Blackburn.

Written by Joshua Ward - Sandringham Football Club Media