Crows AFLW forward Danielle Ponter talks how transformation both on and off the field and the word to define her 2020 season
As the relative of football royalty, Danielle Ponter was always expected to do great things. But the Crows goalsneak is looking to build on her debut 2019 with more goals and more confidence.
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Danielle Ponter finished her first season in the AFLW on a high: kicking three goals in the Crows’ thumping 45-point grand final win over Carlton on March 31, 2019.
The niece of AFL legend Michael Long, she debuted for Adelaide in round two on February 10, earnt a rising star nomination by round five and at the end of her eight games had a remarkable 81 per cent disposal efficiency with 13 goals to her name.
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Still, she wasn’t satisfied. So, similar to other teammates including Anne Hatchard who have been working tirelessly to transform themselves from part-time footballers to elite sportswomen, Ponter is a brand new player coming into 2020.
“I think at the start of 2019 I wasn’t in the right mindset, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into,” the Darwin-based goalsneak says.
“As the season went on, I got more used to the pace and the skills, but during this off-season I knew I wanted to come back better. I wanted to be a better version of myself for my teammates.”
In order to do that, Ponter spent winter hitting the gym mixing up boxing and cardio classes and playing with the NT Thunder in the VFLW.
She also transformed her diet and is one of many Crows AFLW players to turn plant-based and she’s now on the training track looking leaner (she’s lost 5kg), fitter and stronger. “I feel better doing drills, I’m not puffed anymore,” she explains. “Last year I would normally be very tired and I wouldn’t be able to get as much as I wanted to out of drills. I’ve also learnt that there’s more than just the football game – there’s the gym, nutrition, all that side.”
But Ponter’s real transformation has come off-field, from shy new girl, to confident joke-maker and emerging leader among the stacked forward line.
Talk to any of her teammates and they all rattle off similar stories of how much she has come out of her shell.
She explains it like this: “The first season, I was the quiet, shy girl and you get that with a lot of indigenous girls coming into a big club like this. This season the girls have said to me they’ve heard me talk more this pre-season than they did for the whole of last year.”
And it doesn’t matter a jot that she’s the only “fly-in, fly-out” player left in the squad – a remnant of the partnership Adelaide had with the AFLNT meaning they were able to pick players from the NT league.
Ponter will stay in Darwin again in 2020, flying in for trainings on Thursday and staying with Stevie-Lee Thompson until game day.
Ponter describes her relationship with Thompson – 2019’s AFLW leading goal-kicker – as like that between a mother and daughter, although Thompson doesn’t nag her to tidy up her bedroom because she’s a natural neat-freak. Their strong connection is evident on the field too.
“We know each other and know how each other plays so well, it’s crazy,” Ponter says.
“We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and that’s why we work so well together.”
Thompson, 27, is loving watching Ponter evolve both on and off the field.
“She’s already an amazing player, but the amount of knowledge she’s taken in this pre-season she’s improved again,” Thompson says.
In 2019, Crows coach Matthew Clarke trialled Ponter in the backlines, thanks to what he described as her “beautiful kick”, but after two games moved her forward and that’s where she found her groove.
As she heads to Perth for an official trial against Fremantle on Saturday night, Ponter can’t see herself heading back down to defence any time soon.
“I think I’ve earnt my spot in the forward line and I think I’ll stay there,” she says.
But don’t be surprised if a stint in the midfield is on the cards in 2020.
“I would love to play in the midfield and I had that experience in the trial match (against GWS on January 18).
“I was lucky enough to have a crack and hopefully I did all right and I’ll get a few spills in and out of there. We’ll see.”
Either way, she wants her 2020, which gets underway on February 8, to be defined by one thing: goals. Then she’ll have more of a chance to show off her goal celebrations which last year evolved from somewhat reserved to outright contagious.
Her signature finger point followed up with a hug of the nearest teammate is now Ponter all over.
* Trial game: Fremantle v Adelaide, David Greys Arena, Mandurah, WA, 6.30pm ACDT. The match will be live streamed on Fremantle’s website, fremantlefc.com.au
Crows squad for trial game: 1. C. Gould, 2. E. Jones, 3. A. Foley, 5. C. Gum, 7. N. Gore, 8. N. Allen, 9. D. Varnhagen, 10. E. Marinoff, 12. C. Biddell, 15. D. Ponter, 16. A. Considine, 17. M. Newman, 19. S. Li, 20. N. Campbell, 21. M. McKinnon, 22. C. Cramey, 23. J. Mules, 24. J. Foley, 27. R. Forth, 28. J. Tabb, 31. D. Cox, 32. M. Rajcic, 33. A. Hatchard, 39. S. Allan
