Emma King models game on ruck stars Nic Naitanui and Aaron Sandilands

OPPONENTS of Emma King are in for a hard day at the office, especially when you consider she models her game on Nic Naitanui and Aaron Sandilands.

OPPONENTS of Emma King are in for a hard day at the office.

The Collingwood women’s ruck has modelled her game on two of the west’s best tap specialists and can’t wait to show her wares.

“I’m a combination of both (Nic Naitanui and Aaron Sandilands),” King said.

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“I take aspects of Sandi with his tapwork and Nic Nat with his athleticism. A bit of both.”

As one of the most dominant rucks in the women’s game, the Western Australian was snapped up quickly by the Magpies as a marquee player, making the shift across the Nullabor late last year.

And she has wasted no time in becoming a “true” Melburnian.

(From left) Alicia Eva, Nicola Stevens, Emma King, Helen Roden and Meg Hutchins. Picture: Sarah Matray

“I wasn’t a coffee drinker before but now (teammate and housemate) Ruby (Schleicher) and I are,” King laughed.

“We’ve fitted in really well. It’s a totally different lifestyle to Perth. It’s nice and busy. It’s a good change and we’re pretty excited to be here for a couple of months.”

Friday night’s historic league-opening clash with Carlton was moved from Olympic Park to Carlton’s Ikon Park to accommodate a crowd that has been estimated to be as high as 20,000.

King played in the last year’s stand-alone exhibition game at Whitten Oval, which attracted 6500 fans, so it will be uncharted territory in more ways than one.

“(The club has) just said try to stick to your usual weekly routines. For me, that is definitely not thinking about the game,” she said.

“That’ll come right before game time. You don’t want to go in tired, so I might just think about aspects of my game and focus on the team during the week. There’s definitely nerves.”

Teammate and Collingwood football operations manager Meg Hutchins spent her childhood emulating Magpies stars.

She quit her job to pursue all things women’s football and hopes Friday night is the first step towards girls emulating a different kind of hero.

“We don’t have to countdown any more,” Hutchins said.

“I’m glad I took that risk and put myself out there. It’s been a pretty amazing journey thus far and I’m really looking forward to what’s to come.

“I haven’t modelled myself (as a player) on a particular individual, but hopefully in five years’ time, there’s a little girl that models herself on me.”

Originally published as Emma King models game on ruck stars Nic Naitanui and Aaron Sandilands