They barely knew each other, now this unlikely trio are 'lifetime friends'

From strangers to 'lifetime friends', this is how three Gold Coast Suns players are helping to bring the men's and women's programs together

Bailey Humphrey, Maddy Brancatisano and Meara Girvan. Pictures: Supplied

WHEN Bailey Humphrey wants his housemate to do "extras", that means any place, any time.

So, when he's woken up by the tap-tap-tap of a soft football coming from Meara Girvan's bedroom as he tries to nod off to sleep, he's not bothered. In fact, he's pleased.

"I said to him the other night, 'do you hear me?'," Girvan tells AFL.com.au.

"He said, 'actually, I did. I was half asleep and then I heard the kicking, and I thought, 'what'? Then I realised what you were doing and I smiled and thought, 'she's doing her extras'."

Humphrey helping Girvan, who is a crucial backline cog in Gold Coast's AFLW team, has been just one benefit of the household crossover between the Suns' men's and women's programs.

Their three-bedroom apartment at Burleigh Waters, which also has a study, doesn't stop at that pair though, with Girvan's teammate Maddy Brancatisano also part of the mix.

It is an unlikely trio, who initially had outsiders asking who was dating who, to one that now feels like a family, one they hope will encourage others to follow their lead.

Bailey Humphrey, Maddy Brancatisano and Meara Girvan. Picture: Instagram

It started in late 2023, Humphrey's first season at the Suns, when he needed somewhere to live.

To that point, he had been staying with teammate Wil Powell, but with the young defender and his partner about to have their first child, he needed somewhere else.

"I was homeless," he says. "We were going into the off-season and I had nowhere to live.

"Kingy (star forward Ben King) has a nine-bedroom house, but couldn't house me," he chuckles before quickly adding "just kidding".

Gold Coast's player development managers Ben Mabon, Brad Reid and Bianca Lenarcic told Humphrey there happened to be a household looking for a fourth member. Girvan, Brancatisano and Jac Dupuy, all on the women's team and all older than him, were looking for someone to join them in their place at Palm Beach, on the Gold Coast's southern end.

They took the leap.

"I was nervous,' Humphrey remembers. "I had a little relationship with Mads. I had never met Meara, never met Dupes. I was a bit unsure of what it was going to be like."

The male/female dynamic was also new, at least for some of them. With an older brother, Jock, Girvan had grown up with a boy in the house and was excited to do so again. Even though Humphrey is seven years her junior, she knew enough to think he'd be a good addition.

Bailey Humphrey, Maddy Brancatisano and Meara Girvan. Picture: Instagram

But Humphrey, just 12 months removed from leaving his hometown of Moe in regional Victoria, had never lived with a girl before. Likewise, Brancatisano, then 23 and four years older than him, had three older sisters and had never lived with a boy.

"It was probably the best thing that ever happened to us, especially me," Brancatisano says, sitting alongside Humphrey in the Courtside Café that adjoins Gold Coast's training facility.

"We're both from Melbourne and you need a group away from home.

"We're pretty much family. It feels like home."

Having now lived together for 18 months, the first 12 with Dupuy before she moved out, it's easy to see how tight they are.

AFL.com.au spoke to Girvan separately from Humphrey and Brancatisano – the timing didn't quite work out to get all three together – and the laughing, joking and comfort around each other was clear.

"It took a while to feel comfortable," Humphrey says.

"But once you get that family vibe when you're away from home ... they became big sisters, and it felt right to be able to talk to them.

"Last year was a struggle for myself, and the club didn't get to where it wanted to go for the boys and the girls, and we all helped each other in different ways."

Bailey Humphrey and Maddy Brancatisano. Picture: Instagram

Although it didn't take long to settle around each other, a few questions came from the outside looking in.

"Everyone thought we were dating," Girvan laughs. "Either me and Bailey or Mads and Bailey.

"Because we're hanging out all the time, even my friends back home (in Adelaide) would say, 'is that your new boyfriend?'. I'm like, 'no, no, it's just my housemate'. It's so unheard of, I guess.

"Now I think people understand we're all just good friends and live together. We've normalised that."

They try to not overdo football chat at home, but inevitably find themselves there at different times.

Humphrey is a deep thinker and a sensitive soul, but Girvan says she's also learnt from the simplicity of his approach to life. She would come home and dissect a 'life' problem with the girls, only for him to make light of it and give simple, concise advice that she often acts upon.

"I like to think he can be himself around us at home," Girvan says.

Bailey Humphrey, Maddy Brancatisano and Meara Girvan. Picture: Supplied

"We want the house to be a safe place where you come home and if you don't want to talk, you don't have to.

"Sometimes it's just a hug and we don't speak about it.

"Mads and I are safe people. He's pretty open about mental health and making sure you speak about it, and I'd like to think we've been a big support for him in that way because he feels comfortable with us.

"He feels like a brother and Maddy feels like a sister."

The same goes for Humphrey; he’s learnt plenty, particularly around the girls' ability to time manage and juggle multiple aspects of their lives, more than he has to.

Both girls not only play for the Suns, but also work part-time jobs; Girvan in admin at Nobby's Beach Surf Club and Brancatisano for an engineering company.

Brancatisano is also halfway through a business degree, while Girvan already has a qualification in digital marketing, something she's educated Humphrey on in a previous job while she worked from home.

Maddy Brancatisano and Meara Girvan ahead of the match between Gold Coast and Brisbane on October 12, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

"That's the thing a lot of people don't understand," Humphrey says. "The girls might do a half day (at the club) and have to come in at eight in the morning to do touch (work), go to some meetings and then go straight to work afterwards.

"They put in a lot of work to get their footy to a level. I'm at the club all the time - I should be getting better."

The domestic duties at home are shared. Brancatisano is the cleanest, according to all three, with Humphrey getting a tick from the girls on his willingness to keep the place tidy.

They don't watch a ton of television together, although they did bunker down for some Bridgerton last year (yes, all of them). In return, Humphrey introduced them to Ted Lasso.

The reconfigured house since Dupuy's departure doesn’t stop at just three. Brancatisano's boyfriend, Ryan, has recently moved in while there is also Daisy, the three-year-old black labrador that belongs to Girvan, and Hank, the two-year-old lab that belongs to Brancatisano.

"We've got floorboards, but it's pretty much like having carpet," Humphrey laughs. "We have to vacuum every day.

"They're the best, though. It's always good to get home to dogs because they're always just so happy."

Humphrey with labradors Hank and Daisy. Picture: Supplied

Beneath the fun of a 20-year-old who is in the latter stages of a breakout third AFL season, Humphrey is a textbook of football knowledge for his housemates.

He loves watching the Suns' women play and even got to their recent intraclub match, while he's always happy to offer feedback when they ask for it.

"He is young, but he knows so much about the game," Brancatisano beams. "He's one of the best playing at the moment, so of course I'm going to pick his brain."

Girvan, meanwhile, was a netballer before switching sports just three years ago, so Humphrey has been pivotal to her crash course in the sport.

The trio will often go on walks together, with the dogs, and a football to kick around or basketball to shoot.

"He keeps me accountable," she says. "I told him I need to improve my kick, so he said I needed to do extras, which is hard because I have work.

Labradors Hank and Daisy. Picture: Instagram

"He told me I just needed to do it. He was pretty stern about that. It's true; it's easy for me to make excuses like I'm tired or I've got this or that to do.

"He said I needed to have the footy in my hands at all times. When he was younger, he used to do 100 kicks a day, with just a soft footy.

"So, I've been doing my 100 kicks at home. I put all the days on the chalkboard and tick them off.

"He's the best coach ever.

"He's so silly at home but when we're talking footy and out at the park and kicking, he locks into coach mode. His voice changes and everything.

"He supports us a lot and he's very passionate about helping us get better because he believes in us and he's pretty passionate about the women's program in general.

"He'd go and tell the boys, 'Can you imagine going to work all day and then going to training? That's what the girls do'.

"Even saying that is so nice. That's the emotional intelligence he has that I've seen."

Although the sport has brought them together, it is only a part of what bonds them.

Bailey Humphrey celebrates a goal during Gold Coast's clash against Melbourne in round 16, 2025. Picture: Getty Images

For Humphrey, the support the girls offered him last year when he concedes he was struggling with his football was invaluable.

For Brancatisano, she's learnt to not take life so seriously around her 'little brother' and to remember to be present.

And for Girvan, she hopes the trio can be a blueprint for others to follow.

"I feel like I've lived a life before I was drafted and that perspective is good. He understands there's way more to life than footy," she says.

"We're really close. We see each other through good times and bad times.

"Hopefully what we've found can encourage the men's and women's programs to cross over elsewhere because I think you can get a lot out of the differences.

"They're lifetime friends ... those two are two of my closest friends, for sure."

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