Even when I was playing soccer for the Matildas, footy was always my first love.

I’d played Aussie Rules until the age of 12, but soon discovered there was no avenue for me to keep playing. I was absolutely shattered.

Years later, I found myself mucking around at the St Kilda Sharks in the VFLW for a bit of fun between W-League seasons. Pretty quickly I was reminded of why I loved the sport so much as a kid.

Then I heard some whispers that an AFL Women’s competition might be coming.

‘Surely not,’ I thought.

When the AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan came out and confirmed it, my eyes lit up at the thought. All of a sudden, I knew I had a really difficult decision to make.

I was playing for the national team in soccer, but this new competition was something I wanted to be a part of. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to juggle both.

Many of my friends and family couldn’t understand why I was considering switching to footy. It would have meant leaving a sport I was playing at the highest level to take up something that may never work. They thought I was throwing away too much. 

When Carlton came knocking at my door offering a marquee spot, my heart was screaming at me to accept it. I couldn’t ignore that feeling deep down. So, I rolled the dice and signed the contract.


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