AFLW 2021: Richmond star Sabrina Frederick opens up on SAS Australia experience

Tiger Sabrina Frederick has sparred with Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins and says she’d gladly do it again if it meant avoiding a fight with Tayla Harris.

Sabrina Frederick knows who she would choose to fight out of Tayla Harris and Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins.

The shock on the faces of Sabrina Frederick’s fellow competitors was palpable.

Frederick had just been asked to pick her “enemy” for a boxing showdown during Channel 7’s hit reality show SAS Australia last year, a series which put her through a series of physical and psychological tests from an elite team of ex-Special Forces soldiers.

Kayo is your ticket to the best sport streaming Live & On-Demand. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Sabrina Frederick knows who she would choose to fight out of Tayla Harris and Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins.

She had a line-up of 15 possible opponents to select from – seven men and eight women – and chose to go toe-to-toe with the biggest male competitor.

That was Nick Cummins, a former rugby union star who found renewed fame on fellow reality show The Bachelor with the nickname ‘The Honey Badger’.

The selection might have shocked the Richmond AFLW player’s fellow competitors and television viewers around the country – but it was not out of character.

Frederick has never been one to shy away from a challenge.

In fact, she has long sought them out.

SAS Australia viewers were shocked after Sabrina Frederick chose to jump into the ring with Nick 'Honey Badger' Cummins.

“The whole world was shocked, apart from the people who know me,” Frederick said.

“All the people that know me very well weren’t shocked. I think that’s just because that’s the way I go about life. If I want to get better at something I always put myself in the deep end to try and swim on my own. I saw an opportunity for growth and I saw an opportunity to challenge myself and that was what I was there to do.”

Frederick was no stranger to boxing gloves.

She has sparred with fellow AFLW star and professional boxer Tayla Harris in the past, and does not hesitate when asked if she would rather fight Cummins or Harris in the ring.

“To be honest I’d probably pick the Honey Badger because Tayla can actually box and knows what she’s doing,” Frederick said.

“I don’t think he (Cummins) knows exactly what he’s doing.”

In the last five years Frederick, has gone from little-known WAWFL player to Richmond AFLW Star. Picture: Michael Klein.

Born in England, Frederick grew up in Pinjarra, Western Australia and attended the same school as Richmond AFL premiership player Kamdyn McIntosh.

In 2016, she was still a little-known 19-year-old playing for South Fremantle in the WAWFL.

There were dreams of one day moving to Melbourne, but Frederick didn’t expect to be one of the AFLW’s most recognisable names and a star of the small screen within five years.

“I wanted to be living in Melbourne, so that’s one thing I maybe thought I would end up doing,” Frederick said.

“When I first started out in AFLW (with Brisbane Lions) I was 19 years old, just figuring things out. I’d just left home and I was still trying to figure out how to live on my own let alone perform at the highest level. Now I’m 24 and I think that I’ve learnt so much about myself and what it means to live a life of purpose. I think I’m in a really good place, which is great.”

Frederick has finally realised her dream to settle in Melbourne, with her partner Lili Cadee-Matthews with their dogs Arlo (left) and Jezi (right). Picture: Tony Gough.

Frederick has firmly set her roots down in Melbourne since crossing from the Lions to the Tigers ahead of Richmond’s inaugural AFLW season last year.

She is working as an apprentice carpenter, has recently bought her first home and is due to marry her partner of more than three years – Lili Cadee-Matthews – in December.

Perhaps the only thing that has not gone right since the move south has been on the field, with Richmond failing to win a game in the AFLW last season.

However, with the same steely resolve she showed to finish the gruelling two-week SAS Australia course, Frederick is fiercely determined to help turn that around.

And the lessons learnt during filming in the Snowy Mountains last year are firmly front of mind entering the new AFLW season.

“Footy is tough, but that (SAS Australia) was honestly the toughest thing I’ve ever done and it might be the toughest thing I ever do,” Frederick said.

“But I felt like I learnt a lot about myself in that process and how much mental and physical strength I actually have. So it gave me a bit of confidence. It’s changed me for the better.

“If you give it your best effort, that’s all that matters.

“You can only control what you bring to the group. Although it was only two weeks, it just showed me that I just need to give my best and that’s all I can do.

“So it definitely will impact my football, I’m sure.”

Originally published as AFLW 2021: Richmond star Sabrina Frederick opens up on SAS Australia experience