Former Cairns Saints skipper takes another step in chasing the AFLW dream

A former AFL Cairns premiership captain has revealed how she played through a deadly illness to claim the vital point which ended with her place in a tie for VFLW best and fairest.

A former Saints AFL Cairns premiership captain has revealed how she played through a deadly illness to claim the vital point which ended with her place in a three-way tie for VFLW best and fairest award.

Peterson won the Lambert-Pearce Medal for the best and fairest in the VFLW alongside fellow Box Hill Hawk Jordan Mifsud and Geelong’s Charlotte Simpson.

In an incredible count, Peterson polled seven votes in the last four rounds, including one in the final game against Southern Saints while suffering from a deadly sickness.

Peterson played through the pain to jag that vital point against Saints, the namesake fo her former club in Cairns, and wound up in hospital the next day.

(L-R) Charlotte Simpson of the Geelong Cats, Akayla Peterson of the Hawks and Jordan Mifsud of the Hawks pose after winning the 2023 Lambert-Pearce Medal during the 2023 VFL and VFLW Awards at Crown Palladium on September 18, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“I played with appendicitis in the final game of the year, at that stage though I didn’t know it was appendicitis,” Peterson said.

“I played through it, and then on Sunday ended up in hospital and found out I had it.

“It was pretty scary, but I was also extremely surprised that it was appendicitis.”

It is an amazing effort from the former Saint who had not picked up a football until 2019.

Peterson said it was completely unexpected to win.

“I didn’t think I had a good season, I missed a few games early on in the year as well which didn’t help,” she said.

“My fitness wasn’t up to the standard of where it should have been and I didn’t start the season well either.

“I remember at round 10, I was sitting on about seven votes and the leader was on 12.

“I stepped away, and as I came back they said Peterson three votes and thought okay I am actually pretty close here.

“Then I polled another three votes and then one vote to take me to 14 and the other two drew even which made for a memorable night.”

The former Saints premiership captain Akayla Peterson won the best on ground in the 2020 Cairns AFLW grand final. Picture: Emily Barker.

The 28-year-old won two premierships two different sporting codes in a span of just four days in 2020 when she captained both Phoenix Fierce and Saints to Cairns Netball and AFL Cairns Women’s grand final wins.

Peterson made the double triumph even greater by claiming best on court then best on ground in the finals.

Peterson then took her next step forward in chasing the AFLW dream by playing for Carlton in the VFLW where she had a dominant year, claiming the club’s best and fairest honour.

A tough year followed in 2022, where Peterson had some off field issues while playing at Port Melbourne.

“I had some things going on in the background during the year and a lot of pressure put on me as well,” Peterson said.

“So 2022 was a really tough year, I had spoken to a couple of the AFLW clubs about looking to play AFLW.

“And I think that just added more pressure to me as well, but we are own biggest critic as well.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself, and I think that is why I definitely didn’t see myself winning this award this year.”

The Box Hill Hawk gun has relocated back to Cairns in the past few weeks as she looks to take some time off from footy.

She has been looking into potentially starting up an off-season program to help junior footballers develop their skills, but Peterson said she will likely have one more crack at making the AFLW in 2024.

“Coming from someone who never had played football before, I want to be able to help the kids get a better opportunity to develop their skills from an early age,” Peterson said.

“I actually looked at hanging the boots up before the award count on Monday night.

“And thinking about speaking to AFL Cairns about the potential program.

“But now I think I will have one more crack at what I can achieve next season and see where things can take me.”

Originally published as Former Cairns Saints skipper takes another step in chasing the AFLW dream