Mackay AFLW draftee reveals Carlton’s hot start to the 2023 season was the catalyst for her rapid ascension

If not for one AFL club’s hot start to the 2023 season, this AFLW draftee wouldn’t have even been playing the sport. Discover the story behind the smokey.

It’s round four of the AFL season, and Carlton have just downed North Melbourne by 23 points at Marvel Stadium.

Some 2000 kilometres away, Ryleigh Wotherspoon watches on in the sunshine state.

A lifelong Blues supporter, she feels feverish.

Her feet start to itch.

It’s a sport she hasn’t played since she was 11, but a desire washes over her. She has to get out there.

“I was on the sidelines with an injury so there wasn’t much I could really do,” Wotherspoon recalls.

“I just really wanted to be out there.”

One thing led to another and the Mackay product had joined her mate at QFAW Division 1 club Sherwood for training and games - but she was still months away from playing.

“I really like giving back to the community so being able to run water or attend their games really made me happy, it was awesome,” she said, a sense of joy washing over her words.

“I became really interested and asked lots of questions and just got involved and learnt a few things.

“I realised what a great bunch of girls it was.”

Her first game since she was 11 years of age would eventually come in late July, and within the space of a week she’d had a Lions list manager watch her train, trained with the Lions AFLW side, and had head coach Craig Starcevich watch her play in Sherwood’s next game.

“It happened super quickly, but that was probably good, not having time to process it I was able to jump in and just involve myself in this opportunity,” she said.

“If I had time to think and process it I think that would’ve made me a little more nervous, but I think I just really grabbed at the opportunity to learn some things from the girls.

“It was super exciting.”

Wotherspoon recalls the surreal moment she walked into the Lions changeroom.

“I had my name on one of the change room doors,” she said.

“Going into my locker and putting on a jersey, that was insane. I was like h-o-l-y.”

Despite the heavy interest from Brisbane, Wotherspoon shot up draft calculations to land at Melbourne, taken with pick 12.

“It definitely caught me off guard, I did not think I would go at 12 and had no expectations to go so high, I would’ve been happy with anything.” Wotherspoon reflected.

“It’s good that they gave me that confidence going so high, I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in and giving it a good crack.

“(Getting drafted) was really surreal, I had a couple of tears in my eyes, just the excitement.”

The prospect of moving to a “footy state” in Melbourne also excited Wotherspoon, and she felt it would be the best environment to develop her game.

And it’s a game she certainly has room to develop, given she spent almost the entirety of her teenage years excelling in a plethora of sports aside from Aussie rules.

She was a member of the title-winning Queensland Country side at this month’s Australian Country Cricket Championships - but missed the finals as a precaution to rest some pre-existing tendinopathy - and has frequented for Western Suburbs in women’s first-grade premier cricket in Brisbane.

She also scored a century as an Australian U15 representative at the U18 national championships, has represented her state in soccer and softball, and was twice crowned Mackay District School Sport’s Junior Sportsperson of the Year.

Ryleigh Wotherspoon is also a tremendously talented cricketer. Picture: Supplied.

But how did she go from having not played Aussie rules since she was 11, to first-round AFLW draft pick in just a handful of QFAW games and some scratch matches?

“From when I was young, just being out in the backyard with my siblings,” Wotherspoon said.

“Getting that co-ordination early and doing things I love, I was always giving sports a go.

“My success in AFL has come a lot from my cricket, my soccer, and all that, all those little activities add up.

“You see it in AFL with catching the ball, and kicking the ball, it’s easily transferred from all those other sports.

“A lot of practice of all those different skills have contributed to the success currently.”

Despite her multifaceted skill set, Wotherspoon doesn’t have dreams of emulating the likes of Monique Conti and many others as a cross-code athlete - for now at least.

“Just while I’m new into (Aussie rules) I want to stay fresh, look after my body and not overload it.”

“It’s never off the cards, I love my sport and I’m always open to it.

“Just for now I think it’s best to focus on my AFL.”

Originally published as Mackay AFLW draftee reveals Carlton’s hot start to the 2023 season was the catalyst for her rapid ascension