Women's Footy AFLW Crows player profiles

[cmndstab]

After some recent posts about our AFLW team, it dawned on me that I know nearly nothing about the story of most of our current squad. For our men's team the story is almost always the same, they're star juniors who played for X/Y/Z clubs and then they got drafted, or in rare cases, they're cross-coders that got headhunted.

But for the women, it's often more interesting. Many of them had their formative years at a time when AFLW wasn't a thing yet. For some of them, they played footy all their life and dominated their leagues. For others, it's a very new pursuit.

I thought in the week leading up to our second grand final appearance, it would be fascinating to take a look at the 21 players that seem locked in to play next Sunday, and learn a bit about their backgrounds and their entry into footy. I'm planning to do 3-4 players per day. If you're fascinated (or if you have something to add) I've love to hear your thoughts. And if nobody is interested except me, well... we'll see how keen I am to keep doing research for the rest of the week if nobody else cares

I'm going in jumper order. First few profiles to come shortly. They won't be super long, but that's okay. Nobody has time to read 21 long profiles anyway!

 

[cmndstab]

#2 - Eloise Jones

Age: 19
Drafted in: 2017

Eloise is one of the new breed of players in our squad who are the product of a genuine female footy juniors system. She claims that she started playing football at age 3 and always dreamed of being a full-time football player. She continued to play until she turned 13, and was named in the AA squad in 2012.

However, when Eloise turned 13 she recognised that there was no elite women's football system in place, and so she gave the game away. Instead, she turned her attention to basketball, where there was a pathway for elite sportswomen. She was quite successful as a basketball junior, and was eventually offered a college scholarship in the United States in 2017.

Meanwhile, in 2016, Eloise saw that AFLW was becoming a reality, and decided to return to playing football. She didn't miss a beat, earning AA selection again in 2016, and in 2017 she captained the Allies U18 side and was named the team's MVP. Ultimately, she had a decision to make. The college scholarship was obviously a massive opportunity, the chance to travel and earn a degree while being paid to play basketball. On the other hand, returning to football in 2016 had reignited her passion for the game, which she found she loved playing more than basketball. To make the decision even more difficult, the deadline for accepting the scholarship was before the 2017 AFLW draft, so if she turned the scholarship down and then went undrafted, she would be left with neither option.

Ultimately, Eloise decided to roll the dice and turn the scholarship down, and the rest is history. She was drafted in the 2017 draft, was a rising star nominee in round 5, 2018, and is now an important member of our squad. She still lists her ideal job as a full-time elite athlete.

 

[cmndstab]

#3 - Angela Foley

Age: 30
Drafted in: 2016

Angela was originally raised in country Victoria. I can't find any record of her playing football in her juniors but presumably she played some, because in 2011, at the age of 22, she joined the Bendigo Thunder. It was their first season in the VWFL, and Angela won their inaugural best and fairest award.

From 2012, Angela began a streak of five premierships in a row. First, she played in a premiership with Bendigo Thunder in 2012. Then, she moved to Darwin
in 2013 and played in three consecutive premierships for the Waratah Football Club. First, the 2013/14 season in which she was awarded the medal for best on
ground in the grand final. Then, the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, where in addition to being a premiership player she was back-to-back league MVP. And of course, premiership number five came at the start of 2017 wearing the tri-colours.

Angela was chosen to represent NT in 2015 and 2016, and her strong performances in those matches led to her being selected to play in the exhibition and all-stars matches throughout 2016. In the former, she was named in the best players, and soon afterwards, she was signed up as a priority player for the Adelaide Crows, making her one of the first players signed to the club (along with Cramey, and behind our original marquees in Randall and Gibson).

Football is not the only athletic pursuit for Angela. She also participated in soccer and athletics, and while in Darwin she played in the premier Netball league in 2014 and 2015, but gave it away in 2016 to focus on footy when it became obvious that AFLW was going to become a thing. Due to her leadership experience, she was named inaugural co-vice captain for the Crows (sharing the role with Sally Riley in 2017 and 2018), and continues to hold that role to this day.

 

[cmndstab]

#4 - Chloe Scheer

Age: 19
Drafted in: 2018

Chloe is probably one of the players whose story us fans have heard the most about, as she was famously going to be drafted in 2017 after having trained with the initial group in 2016, before unfortunately doing an ACL midway through the 2017 season.

Growing up in Gawler, Chloe played both football and cricket. At the age of 15, Chloe represented SA in cricket as a top order batswoman and part time leggy, but football was where she really excelled. From the age of 15, she won three consecutive Rell Smith medals (2015, 2016, 2017), which is the U18 best and fairest award in the SAWFL, named after Narelle Smith who played over 100 games and is currently an assistant coach at the Crows. Not only is Chloe the only multiple time winner of the award, but each season was more impressive than the last. Her 2016 season is also notable because in addition to the Rell Smith medal, she also won the Dutschke Medal, which is the SAWFL's equivalent of the Magarey. And the 2017 award is particularly impressive because she missed half the season due to the ACL injury. In fact, Chloe only played eight (out of fifteen) games, but she scored a maximum score of three votes in every single one of those eight games.

Such was her impressiveness in 2017 that she was selected in the Allies team, and despite doing her ACL and missing the tournament, she was still named in the AA squad.

Of course, us Crows fans know the rest of the story. Chloe spent a year recovering from her ACL injury, was unable to play a single match in 2018, but was nonetheless selected by the Crows in the 2018 draft, and hit the ground running in 2019. She was nominated for the rising star in round 5, 2019.

 

[cmndstab]

#5 - Jenna McCormick

Age: 24
Drafted in: 2016

Originally from Mount Gambier, Jenna was always a standout junior sportswoman. She first represented SA in cricket at the age of 10, and continued to do so until the age of 15 where she started to lose interest in the game. It seems the main reason for her losing interest in cricket was her focus on soccer, which she played at the state level from the age of 13. Jenna also enjoyed playing footy, and in 2011 she represented SA in footy. However, soccer was her main game, and in 2011 she moved to Adelaide to pursue her soccer career. In 2012 she debuted in the W-League for Adelaide United, and was named their player of the year in the 2013-14 season.

Soccer then took Jenna to Canberra from 2015 to 2017, as well as a stint in Iceland in 2016 (where she won a premiership) and Norway in 2017. However, in the interim, the AFLW was announced, and Jenna found her interest piqued. Incredibly, she never played a full season of footy prior to being drafted, just a few odd games here and there. However, she was obviously impressive, since she was selected to play a game for Queensland, an exhibition match for the Brisbane Lions, and of course represented her state as a junior. Somehow, in all of this, she was contacted by the Crows who were aware of her from her days with Adelaide United, and who ultimately drafted her with the understanding that she would be a dual athlete. To help facilitate this, Jenna returned to Adelaide United for the 2017-18 season, but then joined Brisbane for the 2018-19 season.

There has been some awkwardness with the overlapping seasons in the two sports she plays. In all three AFLW seasons so far, Jenna has missed round 1 so that she can play finals in the W-league, and it has also meant that she has missed two preseasons. Incredibly, she only joined her teammates for the first time four days before her AFLW debut. This also meant she only had four days of footy training before debuting, despite never having played in a footy league before. In the one preseason she did get to participate in, she was also playing W-League at the same time, so she spent three months with almost no days off, completing both weekly training and playing for soccer and a complete AFLW preseason simultaneously.

Jenna is upfront about the fact that, as demands and expectations grow for women's sports, she will eventually need to choose soccer or footy. But for now, she's planning to continue doing both for as long as she is able to.

 

[NikkiNoo]

Eloise also played volleyball, which shows up in her vertical leap ability (one day she will take an absolute screamer of a mark) and her upper body strength. She wasn't in the top volleyball team, but it's another sport that has helped her in her football.

 

[jenny61_99]

This is great, thanks Stabby!

 

[Coopers]

Very good thread!

 

[jaytex]

great initiative mate, keep it going

 

[manureid]

Eloise also played volleyball, which shows up in her vertical leap ability (one day she will take an absolute screamer of a mark) and her upper body strength. She wasn't in the top volleyball team, but it's another sport that has helped her in her football.

Eloise was unlucky to be in a Volleyball program (Brighton) that had a very very good Open girls team which was tough to break in to. A very valuable member of her volleyball teams (in her 2 Open years) that won gold at national competition in Melbourne. Very athletic, good vertical and threw herself around in a somewhat reckless manner to get any ball. Always covered in bruises. And always punting volleyballs around the gym at training! Drop kicks her specialty. Was a tough call for her to pick footy over the basketball opportunity, but I also think staying at home played a big part.

Edit: Also on the hangar, she will. Saw her take one at Adelaide Oval when she was in year 10 and Brighton were playing in the State GF.

 

[NikkiNoo]

Eloise was unlucky to be in a Volleyball program (Brighton) that had a very very good Open girls team which was tough to break in to. A very valuable member of her volleyball teams (in her 2 Open years) that won gold at national competition in Melbourne. Very athletic, good vertical and threw herself around in a somewhat reckless manner to get any ball. Always covered in bruises. And always punting volleyballs around the gym at training! Drop kicks her specialty. Was a tough call for her to pick footy over the basketball opportunity, but I also think staying at home played a big part.

Edit: Also on the hangar, she will. Saw her take one at Adelaide Oval when she was in year 10 and Brighton were playing in the State GF.

I play with a teammate of Eloise's from her school days - co-captains together I believe in footy, and they played other sports together too. Pity Amos is a bit of a lazy bugger (hates running unless there is a goal scoring opportunity there!) otherwise I think she definitely would have been a chance to play AFLW as well.

 

[manureid]

I play with a teammate of Eloise's from her school days - co-captains together I believe in footy, and they played other sports together too. Pity Amos is a bit of a lazy bugger (hates running unless there is a goal scoring opportunity there!) otherwise I think she definitely would have been a chance to play AFLW as well.

If 'Amos' is Amy then I probably know who you mean. And I think I know as 'running' was not her favourite thing, but she had skills alright when she had the footy on her hands.

 

[NikkiNoo]

If 'Amos' is Amy then I probably know who you mean. And I think I know as 'running' was not her favourite thing, but she had skills alright when she had the footy on her hands.

Indeed, she's been our captain for a couple of years. Love her, but I'm with her on the running totally not being our thing. We've almost fixed up her hook kick too. Got a great coach this year who is also a development coach at Westies for their men's program.

 

[manureid]

Indeed, she's been our captain for a couple of years. Love her, but I'm with her on the running totally not being our thing. We've almost fixed up her hook kick too. Got a great coach this year who is also a development coach at Westies for their men's program.

If it is the same 'Amy' who played Vball at Brighton then I know her pretty well. Was still playing some Vball for Flinders last year.

 

[arrowman]

Excellent work stabby. Kudos.

This will save me from having to shout "Go, number 5!!" On Sunday.

 

[Coopers]

Hey Stabby, it's been like 4 hours and now I've checked in I want an update.

So quit your job and entertain me.

 

[Caputo]

Maybe employment should be included as that is as much part of the players. Teachers, servicewomen, doctor, nurse, police, students etc.

 

[chazwazza]

Excellent work stabby. Kudos.

This will save me from having to shout "Go, number 5!!" On Sunday.

They’re all available on the club website and app.

 

[cmndstab]

Appreciate the interest I'm really enjoying learning about each player's story. Another three profiles for tonight!

#6 - Hannah Martin

Age: 22
Drafted in: 2018

Unlike the other players I've discussed so far, Hannah is a latecomer to footy. Originally from the Yorke Peninsula, she grew up playing as many sports as she could, including netball, basketball, soccer and tennis. However, beyond kicking a footy in the backyard, football was not one of the sports she played. It was only in 2017 when she, along with her younger sister Rachelle, moved to Adelaide to pursue University degrees (teaching for Hannah, commerce for Rachelle) that the two of them decided to take up football. Rachelle, it should be noted, won the Dustchke medal (the SAWFL equivalent of the Magarey medal) in her first season of football (2017) as an 18 year old, as well as the rising star award. She has been occasionally mentioned as potential future target for the Crows, but height may be an issue - she's more than half a foot shorter than Hannah at only 5 feet tall.

After one season in the SAWFL, both Hannah and Rachelle earned spots in the SANFL women's competition, playing for West Adelaide, with Hannah winning the best and fairest (2018) for the club and being nominated for the breakthrough player award (for the best player under 21, which was ultimately won by Nikki Gore). She was also named in the team of the year on the wing. Obviously this caught the eye of the Crows, since this was only her second season of football and she was still quite young. They invited her to train with them in the off-season and she impressed them with her work ethic, and they eventually took her with their final selection in the draft, a selection they only had because Ruth Wallace and Jess Allan took the season off and the Crows were awarded a fifth round compensation pick (they only received one compensation pick because they also secured Sophie Li from Carlton).

Other than missing round 3 due to a minor injury, Martin has played every match in her debut AFLW season.

 

[cmndstab]

#9 - Deni Varnhagen

Age: 26
Drafted in: 2016

An Adelaide local, Deni started playing football at the age of nine, inspired by her older brother. She excelled as a junior playing for Happy Valley and Plympton, and was initially the only girl playing in the boys U11 side, before being joined by childhood friend and eventual Crows teammate Dayna Cox. Before long, Deni was captaining the side, winning the best and fairest for her team, and finishing third in the best and fairest for the league. As coincidences would have it, her coach at the time was Phil Harper. Deni tells a story about an incident where she retaliated after a boy pulled her out of a pack by her ponytail, and she ended up having to face the tribunal. Justice prevailed as the case was thrown out and a new rule was introduced preventing anyone from pulling ponytails.

As a teenager, Deni moved away from football, and represented SA in both soccer and softball. However, at the age of 16, she returned to football and played for Morphettville Park, where she eventually won three premierships in a row (2014/15/16). She was impressive enough that she was selected to represent SA in various matches in 2016, including an exhibition match. She was one of the first players selected by the Crows in the inaugural AFLW draft, and has since gone on to play every single match for the Crows - one of only three players (along with Marinoff and SLT) to do so.

When she's not playing football, Deni is a registered nurse, having completed her study just prior to the start of AFLW.

 

[cmndstab]

#10 - Ebony Marinoff

Age: 21
Drafted in: 2016

Ebony is another example of an Adelaide girl who worked her way through the juniors system, standing out every step of the way. She started playing footy at the age of five for the boys team in Lockleys, and continued to play there until she turned twelve when she was in the U14s. Unlike most other girls in the juniors system, she didn't stop playing footy when she became a teenager. Instead, she moved to the Morphetville Park Football Club women's team, where she began an incredible record of winning premierships. Ebony won four premierships at Morphettville Park, including three in a row. During that time, she represented SA in the U16s, the U18s, and eventually the open team. She was also selected in the youth girls All Australian team in 2015 as a 17 year old. In 2016, she was routinely chosen to take part in exhibition matches, and performed strongly in them. She kicked the winning goal against NSW/ACT, was best on ground in a South Australia intra-club match, and then played for Melbourne in the highly publicised Whitten Oval exhibition match shortly before the AFLW draft. Melbourne were so impressed with her that they set about trying to convince her to nominate Victoria as her draft state, and then after the 2017 season they tried again to convince her to move, an approach which Marinoff ultimately turned down.

It was no surprise that Ebony was selected by the Crows in the draft. They took her with their first live selection, and she immediately impressed, being nominated for the rising star in the first round of 2017 and ultimately winning the award that year, and even earning selection in the 2017 AFLW All Australian team. And, as we all know, she added to her premiership tally by winning the first AFLW season with the Crows. She then played for the Darebin Falcons in the VFL Women's comp, a super team packed with AFLW stars the likes of Elise O'Dea, Karen Paxman, Daisy Pearce and Darcy Vescio, and won yet another premiership there. Incredibly, it was Ebony's sixth premiership, and her fifth in the space of four years. She was then selected to represent the Allies in the AFL Women's State of Origin match.

Famously, when she's not on the football field, Ebony works as a deli specialist at a Drakes supermarket, who are quite happy to offer her the flexible hours needed for her to work around her footy training schedule. In addition to football, Ebony also participated as a surf-lifesaver until 2015, when she suffered a minor shoulder injury and decided to focus solely on footy instead. Her goal is to be a full-time elite athlete, and football seems to be the vehicle for her to do exactly that.

 

[NikkiNoo]

Psst cmndstab it's Morphettville Park football club, not Morphettville. Great work on these profiles.

 

[John Who]

Appreciate the interest I'm really enjoying learning about each player's story. Another three profiles for tonight!

#6 - Hannah Martin

Age: 22
Drafted in: 2018

Unlike the other players I've discussed so far, Hannah is a latecomer to footy. Originally from the Yorke Peninsula, she grew up playing as many sports as she could, including netball, basketball, soccer and tennis. However, beyond kicking a footy in the backyard, football was not one of the sports she played. It was only in 2017 when she, along with her younger sister Rachelle, moved to Adelaide to pursue University degrees (teaching for Hannah, commerce for Rachelle) that the two of them decided to take up football. Rachelle, it should be noted, won the Dustchke medal (the SAWFL equivalent of the Magarey medal) in her first season of football (2017) as an 18 year old, as well as the rising star award. She has been occasionally mentioned as potential future target for the Crows, but height may be an issue - she's more than half a foot shorter than Hannah at only 5 feet tall.

After one season in the SAWFL, both Hannah and Rachelle earned spots in the SANFL women's competition, playing for West Adelaide, with Hannah winning the best and fairest (2018) for the club and being nominated for the breakthrough player award (for the best player under 21, which was ultimately won by Nikki Gore). She was also named in the team of the year on the wing. Obviously this caught the eye of the Crows, since this was only her second season of football and she was still quite young. They invited her to train with them in the off-season and she impressed them with her work ethic, and they eventually took her with their final selection in the draft, a selection they only had because Ruth Wallace and Jess Allan took the season off and the Crows were awarded a fifth round compensation pick (they only received one compensation pick because they also secured Sophie Li from Carlton).

Other than missing round 3 due to a minor injury, Martin has played every match in her debut AFLW season.

Have enjoyed the read so far on this thread. Keep up the good work!

This quoted post has got me excited somewhat. Wallace and Jess Allan to hopefully come back would be something to look forward to! I also want to add my say on Martin - love this girl’s tenacity! She sometimes can be fumbly with the ball, but always seem to want to hunt desperately at the ball or a tackle at the opposition. Really enjoyed watching her up our defensive game!

 

[cmndstab]

Psst cmndstab it's Morphettville Park football club, not Morphettville. Great work on these profiles.

Cheers, I'll edit it and get it right

I feel like I should be turning my work into you for proofreading before posting it, hahaha. As you can probably tell, until I started this two days ago I knew basically nothing about the women's footy system here in SA.

 

[NikkiNoo]

Cheers, I'll edit it and get it right

I feel like I should be turning my work into you for proofreading before posting it, hahaha. As you can probably tell, until I started this two days ago I knew basically nothing about the women's footy system here in SA.

I've only been involved in it for 4 years, and still have a lot to learn myself, but the Morphie Park football oval is one of the weirdest shaped ones I've ever had to play on! It's shaped like a bit of a kidney as there is one wing that kinda completely disappears into the centre square. I bet that has helped a little with Morphies dominance over the years.

Also to add in a fun little thing Erin and Jess Foley were teammates in the 2008 Lightning side with Tracey Gahan (now married to Erin) - their coach was Vicki Valk (now Daldy). Vicki is the team manger for the Crows AFLW team this year. You can see her on game day on the sidelines trying to get the players to obey the interchange rules.