But don’t expect to hear any of it coming from Bella Ayre.

The 19-year-old former Bendigo Thunder star, who is originally from Kerang, is simply loving life in Queensland and with the AFLW’s Brisbane Lions.

A bold and perhaps - at the time – in some ways daunting decision to agree to a trade from her original club Carlton last May could have a fairytale ending this Saturday, when Ayre lines up for the Lions against Western Bulldogs in the 2018 AFLW Grand Final.

The Lions earned their passage through to the premiership decider with a huge win over Greater Western Sydney Giants last Friday night.

They then had to survive a tense wait and hope other results fell their way.

After the Bulldogs defeated Melbourne on Saturday, Brisbane needed Collingwood to down reigning premiers Adelaide on Sunday to advance to the grand final.

Ayre admitted it was a tense few days and even more anxious Sunday as the Lions fate remained firmly in the balance until the final few minutes of the clash at Olympic Park Oval.

But as the Magpies surged clear late in the game to win by 22 points, after adding 23 points to nothing in the final term, Ayre and her Lions team-mates could eventually afford to look ahead to the unique opportunity that awaits them this Saturday at Ikon Park.

The teenager, who was the first Thunder player to be drafted to the AFLW with pick 51 in the 2016 national draft and is the first to play in a grand final, said the Lions would go into the decider cautiously confident.

“We are always going to be confident, but we are always going to respect our opponent – we know what the Bulldogs are capable of,” Ayre said.

“We’ll need to bring our best brand of footy to the table; when we do that we can win.

“If everyone plays their role, we’ll be hard to beat.”

Ayre insisted the Lions would be ready for the Bulldogs, with or without their star skipper Katie Brennan, who is challenging a two-week suspension for rough conduct.

Her fate will be known after 3pm today when the AFL Appeals Board makes its decision.

“She’s a great player and a game changer for the Bulldogs, for them to lose their captain, who has such a presence on the field – it’s a big loss,” Ayre said.

“I have sympathy for her, but we are not focusing on that, we are focusing on our game preparations and what we can do to go into the game and get a win.”

The Bulldogs head into the match as favourites after topping the ladder with a 5-2 record.

Their last encounter against the Lions (4-3) in round two ended with a nine-point win to the Bulldogs.

Ayre did not play in that match as she continued to recover from minor knee surgery, but returned the following week against her former side and has played every game since.

The key forward, whose earliest football was played with junior teams at Koondrook-Barham, Kerang, Mallee Eagles, Wandella and later at Woorineen, before graduating to the Thunder and Bendigo Pioneers, will have plenty of support in the stands at Ikon Park.

Five Lions jumpers with her number 2 on the back were delivered this week to mum Georgina, dad Scott, brothers Liam and Samuel and little sister Trinity.

Among her most vocal supporters will be her best friends from Kerang Lauren Adams and Amy Steel.

Ayre hoped to be able to reward the support she received from family and friends during her tough transition to Brisbane with a premiership win.

“Early on there was a lot of time spent thinking about moving to Brisbane, being so young and moving away from my family, especially being so family-oriented,” she said.

“At the start it was really hard, there was some homesickness, but I have learned to love it up here and I love playing football with the girls I get to play with every weekend.

“Grand final or not, I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”