The football field is where we have come to expect to see Rheanne Lugg, but when she isn’t playing footy she’s involved in another field, the Army one.

As fans will see in the latest BHP Down to Earth video, 2018 Crows debutant Lugg is a member of the Australian Army as a technician electrical.

Her role is to service, maintain and repair electrical equipment.

“From big generators, small generators, getting things ready to go out to field and when they come back from field, checking it and servicing it again and auto elec on military vehicles,” Lugg said.

“You’re always working on something different for the day, learning new things.”

Drafted by the Crows with pick No.42 in the 2017 NAB AFLW Draft, Lugg has a big fitness schedule in the Army, which held her in good stead for her first AFLW preseason.

“Day to day, we have a 7.30 wake up for personal training, which goes for about an hour, and then straight into work for the day,” she said.

“What I love about working in the Australian Army is that it is a great work life balance, plus you get your fitness in in the morning and you get paid for it which is a bonus.”

That hard training has paid off for Lugg, with her playing both AFLW games so far this season, after being selected to make her debut in Round One.

She demonstrated it from the start, winning the women’s two-kilometre time trial in pre-season.

Lugg is living a very different life to the one she lived 12 months ago, only seeing a few games of the inaugural AFLW season while she was put through a rigorous three-month Army training program.

Her only contact through the outside world was through handwritten letters.

Originally from Western Australia, the 27-year-old said that the Army is very supportive of her football career.

They transferred her for six months to the Adelaide base so she can come straight to training after work.  

“Balancing the two is actually quite easy because the Army is so accommodating,” Lugg said.

The BHP Down to Earth videos will be released during the 2018 AFLW season on the AFC website, social channels and app, to give fans greater insight into the lives of Crows AFLW players. 

BHP – through its South Australian Olympic Dam operation – is a co-major partner for the Crows AFLW team for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 AFLW seasons.