West Adelaide’s Zoe Venning is the SANFLW Player of the Week for round two

Zoe Venning needed a bit of encouragement to start playing footy but now she’s one of the rising stars of the state league. Check out her story.

Zoe Venning grew up kicking a footy with her dad Damien and older brother Zac but playing competitively never really crossed her mind.

That was until her Dad’s mate, who was president at Mitcham Hawks, decided to get a girls side established at the club.

Despite feeling a bit apprehensive, the youngster gave footy a go and it was not long before she joined Blackwood’s girls team.

Now the 17-year-old is starring for West Adelaide in the SANFLW and is the round two Player of the Week, following a standout performance against Woodville-West Torrens at Richmond Oval.

She amassed 25 disposals, five tackles and kicked a goal in the Bloods’ 26-point victory over the Eagles.

“I started footy because my brother played at Mitcham Hawks and my Dad was in the coaching staff there,” Venning, of Coromandel Valley, said.

“His friend was the president of the club and was starting a girls program there.

“I really didn’t want to go play footy at first, but Dad pushed me to.

“Then the year after that my Dad started a girls program at my local club Blackwood and I’ve been playing there ever since.

“I’ve always grown up with footy – I’ve been around it since I was born – watching my dad and the A grade at Blackwood.

“I just love it now, having the whole family come watch me and we can all have something to talk about now.”

West Adelaide SANFLW star Zoe Venning in action against Woodville-West Torrens in round two. Picture: Raymond Hutchinson

The winger/midfielder, who has been part of the Bloods’ women’s team for the past three seasons, was also touted as one to watch this year in The Messenger’s next crop of women’s footy stars.

And she has not missed a beat after two rounds, sitting second on the competition’s leading disposals list with 38, behind teammate and fellow rising star Lauren Young (41).

Venning, who is in Year 12 at Mercedes College, says working hard on her deficiencies over the off-season is behind her strong form so far,

“I have been really listening to my coaches’ feedback and they wanted me to become a more attacking and scoring midfielder,” Venning said.

“I have been really working on my set shots and playing on around goal so that’s really helped.”

Venning enjoyed success at Blackwood, winning the past four flags with the club, but was keen to taste a premiership with West Adelaide.

The Bloods are sitting top on percentage with two wins over Sturt and the Eagles, respectively.

“We’ve got a really good balance of strong, young players and more experienced players,” Venning said.

“Winning a premiership with West is definitely a goal because I've felt that feeling before and getting it at a higher level would just mean so much.”