AFTER turning down a basketball scholarship in the USA, it was always going to be all or nothing for teenager Chloe Molloy when it came to football.

Named as the TAC Cup Girls’ league best and fairest, sharing the award alongside Dandenong Stingrays’ Bride Kennedy, the Calder Cannons’ forward was a clear standout in the inaugural season of the competition.

As the applications to nominate on the AFLW draft opened on Monday, Molloy was one of the first to click on the link and register for October’s National AFL Women’s Draft.

The dangerous forward/midfielder booted 20 goals from five games and was a key player in ensuring that the Cannons would claim the title.

“Going back to what you remember (from the competition), that last game that we played, getting that cup and having all the girls run around and having that cup was one thing that I remembered,” Molloy said.

Since the TAC Cup Girls competition concluded, Molloy has played for Diamond Creek in the VFL Women’s, alongside Collingwood captain Steph Chiocci and is loving the experience to play alongside one of the best AFLW players.

“Chiocci is someone I really admire as a player and then off the field just as much, just her care for the game and for the others and her leadership is just as admiral and her effort and I think she’s a real top player,” Molloy said.

Reflecting on the season that was at the TAC Cup Awards night on Sunday, Molloy felt that she had come a long way throughout her season, with it being a year of full on focus on the oval ball.

“I looked at myself and I’ve grown so much as a footballer since back then, there’s one video where I did an inside out handball and I just facepalmed and I was like wow, I think I’ve come pretty far,” she said. “For me (this season) it was finding my feet within footy, it was my comeback to football, I guess structural wise and positional wise, finding myself and where I did fit in on the footy field.”

The step up from playing TAC Cup Girls to VFL Womens has been one that Molloy has embraced in her own journey in 2017.

“You’ve got a lot more smarter players just because they’ve been in the game so long, they’re the pioneers of the game and you’ve gotta be really smarter cause you can’t get away with things I would’ve got away with in the TAC Cup, it’s a lot physical and a lot more structured,” Molloy said.

On rejecting the scholarship, it was a decision that Molloy didn’t take lightly but she is comfortable with her decision.

“Difficult is probably an understatement,” she said. “I think I grew a lot from that decision. Independence as well. “I don’t regret it but definitely one of the biggest decisions I’ve had to make in my such a young career. I’m very happy with the decision and how it’s playing off.”

As for where she may play at the next level, she was keen to continue her transition through the midfield and up forward.

“I think for me I want to have a few years in the high forward (position), kicking some goals and delivering but I want to move myself into the midfield and become a bit more of a diverse player and offer more to whatever team I’m in,” she said.

A big finals series is coming up for the ‘Creekers’ and Molloy is looking forward to the opportunity to shine.

“Yeah (I’m) definitely nervous,” she said. “We’ve got Darebin coming up which is a big game, it could go either way the Creekers have gotta bring always their A-game but pretty confident in the girls we’ve had a pretty good season so far and hopefully we can capitalise on that.”

Chloe Molloy is a columnist for AFL Draft Central – You can read her latest article here