SA’s best young footballers await draft day to see whether they will get to play in the third season of the AFLW
ABOUT 30 South Australians have nominated this year’s AFLW draft. On Tuesday, they will learn whether or not their hopes and dreams are one step closer to coming true. Meet some of our top draft hopefuls.
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NIKKI Gore knows all about sacrifice and hard work. And it’s all in the name of pursuing her dream to become a professional footballer.
She even gave up mainstream school at the end of Year 9 to study online, giving her more flexibility to train.
The South Adelaide midfielder, 17, who was crowned this year’s SANFLW rising star, said she was excited about Tuesday’s AFLW draft to see whether she would be picked up by the Adelaide Crows with one of their six picks.
“Everything I’ve worked for is at the end now where I can’t really control anything and it’s out of my hands, and I’ll just have to wait to see what happens,” the Year 12 student said.
“Obviously I’ve put a lot towards my football; it’s been my dream ever since I was a little kid, even before there was a women’s AFL, I had a dream of being an AFL player and when the AFLW happened I thought: ‘This dream could actually become a reality’.
“I’ve just put my best foot forward, training hard and I’ve sacrificed a lot, like school, and now it’s just coming close.”
Gore, who has been playing footy for seven years — and captained the Christies Beach boys’ side for two seasons before joining the women’s competition — is widely touted as the Crows’ likely choice with their only first-round pick.
AFLW talent manager Aasta O’Connor said Gore stood out as the strongest underage performer from SA for the last couple of years.
“She’s a hardworking footballer on and off the field,” O’Connor said.
“And it shouldn’t be lost that she’s not just a footballer, she’s a really caring, inclusive teammate who looks after the people around her.”
But while O’Connor praised Gore’s strong work ethic, she admitted that the 164cm AFLW Academy member had learnt some hard lessons on her way to draft day.
“She actually picked up a little injury from overtraining, which is a healthy lesson for her to learn this year before she ends up in the AFLW comp, because the balance is everything,” she said.
“But she ticks every single box and gets every little bit of ability out of herself, so I’m excited to see what she can do.”
Gore joined her friend — but North Adelaide rival — Katelyn Rosenzweig (known as Rosie), at the AFLW’s Draft Combine held in Melbourne earlier this month.
Rosenzweig, 18, made the move from defence to the forward lines earlier this year and has cemented her place as a smart forward with explosive pace on the lead, proven when she became the SANFLW’s 2018 leading goalkicker.
O’Connor described Rosenzweig as a quiet girl, who instead did her talking with the football.
“She’d fit in nicely at the Crows; there’s a strong culture there with leaders like (Chelsea) Randall and (Erin) Phillips and (Angela) Foley,” she said.
“Her set-shot ability and goalkicking efficiency is so high. And her ability to lead up at the footy — she comes at the footy so strong — is an attribute that you can’t teach forwards; they’re born with it and she’s got it.”
O’Connor said “Rosie”, at 173cm, could prove important to the Crows who had lost a tall in ruck Jess Allan, who was taking this season away from football to concentrate on her career in the Army.
“Maybe Rosie could hold that tall spot down back as well,” she said.
But O’Connor singles out 18-year-old Darwin-born Danielle Ponter, who has also nominated for SA, as a name to watch come draft day.
The niece of Essendon great Michael Long and first cousin of four-time premiership Hawthorn forward Cyril Rioli, Ponter — on the list with NT’s St Mary’s — is loaded with natural ability and an X-factor that is rarely seen.
“We call her ‘DP’ and off-field DP’s pretty cool, calm and collected and doesn’t let too much faze her,” O’Connor said.
“On field, her natural ability is like nothing you may have ever seen before.
“Her X-factor and goalkicking around the corner … I really hope we get to see that on the bigger stage, because crowds will love it.
“Danielle is sublimely talented and came to Melbourne this year to play some VFL footy with Essendon.
“It was good exposure for her to see what it’s like.
“She’s another player who we have challenged along her journey just to make sure she’s ticking every box.”
SANFL’s female programs talent manager, Robbie Neill, said this year in excess of 30 SA players had registered for the draft.
Aside from Gore and Rosenzweig, Neill said that West Adelaide’s Hannah Martin — who was this year’s SANFLW Best and Fairest winner — was a classy player, who would attract interest from the Crows.
“All those girls wouldn’t be out of place on an AFLW list and it’s always good to be part of their pathway and hopefully I’ll be able to sit back and watch them play and entertain everyone,” he said.
Martin said she hadn’t nominated for a draft before, and wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I”m trying not to focus on it too much,” the 21-year-old said. “Instead, I’ve been trying to get to the gym and work on my conditioning, so it’s not too much of a shock when it comes to pre-season.”
O’Connor predicted the Crows would also use one of their six picks to look at mature-age players at the NT Thunder, which had been playing in the VFL this year.
“I’m sure they’d be looking at some of the stronger performers from that group,” she said. “A good example of that for them has been Jasmyn Hewett, who they picked up last year and she’s come into the side and gone from strength to strength, so I’m sure they’d be looking for another player-type like.
“With a new coach in Matthew Clarke, I’m sure things will be that little bit different, and I’m sure all the girls are excited to get started in SA.”
As for who will go to Geelong in the prestigious No. 1 spot on Tuesday?
O’Connor predicts that the Cats — unable to select a player who has nominated for the Vic Metro pool — will use their unique position of having the first two picks, to complement the team they’ve already put together.
“They’ve filled their key position posts pretty well, and I think they’d be looking for outside run, so a Nina Robinson (Geelong Falcons), who performed strongly at the Combine … or an Olivia Purcell (Geelong Falcons) might go.
“But they’d also be looking at Rebecca Webster (Murray Bushrangers) or Sophie Van De Heuvel (GWV Rebels) who have nominated All-Victoria.”