Ebony O’Dea comes from unicycling to AFLW

There are plenty of crosscoders in AFLW, but unicycling? Giants recruit Ebony O’Dea uses her unique background to get a leg up in footy.

AFLW has its fair share of cross coders. Netballers, cricketers, basketballers, former rugby players.

But unicycling?

New GWS Giants recruit Ebony O’Dea takes multi-talented athletes to a new level.

The South Australian is a world record holder in extreme street unicycling for the ‘platform long jump’ and an Australian women’s record holder for ‘platform high jump’ and ‘platform long jump’.

So comfortable is she on a one-wheeler she says she’s more stable there than her own two feet.

Giants player Ebony O'Dea is a unique crosscoder. Picture. Phil Hillyard

O’Dea has been on a unicycle since she was 11, but only playing football the past four, so reckons the knocks she’s taken from her bike have her well prepared for the on-field hits.

“I can ride along a tightrope but I can’t walk along a tightrope,” O’Dea said.

“I bend and bounce pretty much, hitting concrete doesn’t really matter, it’s all part of the fun.

“It’s nice to go from where everything is concrete, to a field where it’s all bodies and grass.

“The footy felt pretty soft when I first came out, obviously AFLW is a bit harder, but feels good to have a solid background in contact I guess.”

O’Dea thinks her unicycling background will serve her well on the footy field. Picture. Phil Hillyard

As well as persistently getting back on her unicycle after taking a fall, O’Dea has done so with her football too.

She started playing in 2015 while in year 11 at school in the Barossa Valley and went on to join Adelaide Uni’s team and by her second season there she was playing in the first edition of the women’s comp in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).

O’Dea nominated for the Giants in the 2017 draft after being told by the Adelaide Crows she wouldn’t make their program. But missing out that season didn’t stop her and in 2018 she was the 68th pick, by GWS, for season 2019.

“I actually go for the Giants outside playing for them. They were new when I was new to footy a couple of years back,” O’Dea said.

Giants have their sights set on a finals berth in 2019. Pic: Getty Images

“I didn’t really have a chance with the Crows, they pretty much told me that they weren’t going to draft me ever, not in those words, but it was what they were implying. So it was where would I go? Obviously the team that I go for.

“ … Having the background in unicycling, it was always one more thing, one more trick, one more record, one more jump to make. (I’m) goal driven and once I have a goal in mind, I really have to work hard to get there.”

The goal for the team this season is to push further than they did last year, when the Giants fell just short of qualifying for the AFLW grand final.

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Things appear on track after they defeated Brisbane Lions by 47 points in a trial match last weekend, reward for the effort being put in through pre-season.

It was a good indicator for the newcomers too, who have been working to bridge the fitness gap between themselves and the established players.

“Every training is just new and all so hard, but so awesome,” O’Dea said.

“You just don’t care that you’re nearly dying. You’re enjoying it so much I think a lot of us are on a similar page there.”

Originally published as Ebony O’Dea comes from unicycling to AFLW