GWS Giants sign WNBL star Jess Bibby and footballer Ellie Brush

On a huge day for GWS, which announced the re-signing of in-demand ruckman Rory Lobb, the Giants revealed they'd also secured the services of Canberra United women's captain Ellie Brush, who will swap the round ball for the Sherrin in February for the new competition.

But it's Bibby's story capturing the imagination of women's basketball and football fans.

After 20 years and 394 games in the WNBL for Dandenong Rangers and the Canberra Capitals, the 37-year-old now gets to pursue a childhood dream of playing Australian football and says her body has never been in better shape.

"My body's actually in better condition now than what it was when I was in my early 20s," Bibby said.

"We'll be milking this for all it's worth for as long as it can.

"I've just been really really obsessive with my recovery and my fitness and making sure that I'm really strong, try and turn myself into a machine really just so I wouldn't have any more flare ups."

The flare ups Bibby refers to stem from a back injury sustained in her early 20s, an ailment so severe she was told by doctors that she'd never play sport again.

She had three herniated discs in her lower back, which required conventional surgery, and was facing a spinal fusion, which would have destroyed her sporting career and left her spending a lengthy stint in a wheelchair.

"I had doctors that wanted to put me in an institution to deal with pain management," Bibby said.

"I had an incredible physio that I was working with at the time, Amanda Bernsten.

"She hunted high and low for alternative treatments and just doctors and people that may have had some experience dealing with a back injury like this.

"We were able to find someone who operated. I had to learn to walk again, I was in a brace for six months just to stabilise everything after the first surgery.

"It cost me every cent that I had. I was back playing within that 12-month period."

Bibby required a second surgery after two years, but recovered and established herself as one of the all-time greats of the WNBL.

She retired at the start of this year and immediately turned her attention to swapping her basketball shoes for a pair of football boots.

In August she impressed at a Giants' talent search day and was invited back to a state combine match last Sunday, her first official game of Australian football.

Bibby was one of the best on ground.

"I played on a wing, their explanation to me was it's a really good spot when you're first starting out to see the game a little bit," Bibby said.

"Then they threw me on ball in the last quarter and just said chase the ball. I can certainly follow instructions.

"In the AFL guys' league there's a lot of basketballers that have come across and adapted really really well, there's a lot of similarities."

Bibby has signed a one-year rookie deal with the club, but says she hopes to play beyond 2017.