Ep1. Skin in the Game - Anneli Maley, Perth Lynx | WNBL26 transcript

[music] My first tattoo I got um on my 18th birthday. It's so funny [music] cuz a lot like my dad has no tattoos and he's kind of like no you know you don't need one and my mom was like here I'll design it and pay for it for your birthday. So, um yeah, I got a lioness um on the side of my ribs coming out of some ferns. That was my first one. [music] The lioness is represented really heavily. So, I've got her on um my shoulder, on my back, and again on my side.

So, for me, that's just all about like strong female role models and um like being like the leader of my pack and protecting my family. So, it's a lot about community and like strength in women and things like that, which I think has kind of bled into the way that I go about my life. Um, I also have a quote on my back that says, "The devil whispers, you can't withstand the storm." And the warrior replied, "I am the storm." That's one my dad used to send to me like throughout college and stuff.

My Olympic rings. That would be what the one that means the most to me. Um, I actually got it here. Um, so I could see it like all the time, especially like during basketball or like during like cuz you know like sport and stuff is really hard and especially when sometimes you get down on yourself. So for me, I got it there. So if I was, you know, having a rough game or starting to doubt myself, I could look down and see that that is something that I have achieved.

[music] I've got this koiish I got with um Marina Whittle in Japan after we qualified for the Olympics. [music] I want to represent myself as like a strong, powerful, passionate um competitive beast, I guess. And um I think my tattoos kind of represent that, especially because every time I step on the court, I feel like I am going into battle. >> [music] >> The one that took the most courage to get was actually my Olympic rings.

I think that as athletes we do struggle like recognizing our achievements. So there was a part of me that was like oh do I deserve to get the Olympic rings because I didn't medal and that is just such a backwards way of thinking like I went to the Olympics. I am an Olympian therefore I deserve the Olympic rings. [music] The wing is the one that I get the most questions about just because it does start on my back and people always ask the meaning behind it.

A lot of them I have drawn and designed myself. My whole arm was kind of like done in collaboration with my tattoo artist. And then I have a lot of pieces on my back that I drew myself. So I [music] graduated with a degree of graphic design and I paint and I draw. So, um I just went in with [music] um pictures of what I wanted and then they just kind of popped it on. >> It's definitely artwork. Like my body is the canvas that I choose to put my work on, but it's also like a representation of all these things that I've been through.

All of it has meaning. And um every time I have been through something good or bad, I tend to want to brand it on my body in a way that um cuz it formed me, you know, like I don't want to hate any of the experiences that formed me um because it made me who I am. So good or bad. I um try and add it to the story that is my body. I guess [music] I have a piece designed which you guys will see when I get it for my forearm.

And then I also have um I've got these really cool kind of chest um pieces here and I'd love to extend onto here. It's kind of the similar patterns that I have on my hands and it's going to be recognized from Russ. That's what it's going to be.