SOUTH Adelaide’s Nicole Campbell is only 28, but the former Adelaide Crows midfielder is enjoying being a leader at the Panthers in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) Women’s. Heading into 2022, the Panthers lost a number of key players through a variety of reasons, but still managed to secure fourth spot and play a final. Though they ultimately lost that semi-final to reigning premiers Glenelg, it was still a success for a young team.

“We’ve just got a lot of young talent from the south that we’re tapping into,” Campbell said. “We still managed to make finals which is really exciting so hopefully we can do that again but go one more.”

Campbell said the younger players were keeping “us mature-age players on our toes” and the consistent onballer was ready for a big 2023. Though the future stars of the AFL Women’s and SANFLW might be the ones who take over the roles of the more experienced heads, Campbell enjoyed the competition and benchsetting from those fresh faces.

“I love playing against the young ones because they really push me,” Campbell said. I’ve got to work on my fitness and get to the same fitness that they’re already at.”

On gameday, Campbell looks to lead by example, and in 2022, averaged 20.1 disposals, 3.1 marks, 3.7 clearances, 3.1 inside 50s and 2.9 rebound 50s, while laying a whopping 7.9 tackles per game. The South leader said she was confident her side could go deeper into the finals series next year.

“I try and be that voice on the field and kind of direct play a little bit and just rely on the young ones to do all the running and get the ball where it needs to go,” Campbell said. “I think we’ve started our preseason quite early this year. We’ve done a lot of hard work during he off-season so we’ve got a good stable base and we can go one more this year.”

Campbell said there were “so many” young, talented players coming through the Panthers program, and she could pick out individuals, but it would be exciting to see how they “shape up” on matchday. Despite playing five games for the Crows back in 2020 where she averaged seven disposals and 2.4 tackles per game, Campbell said she was comfortable playing at state league level in order to juggle all her commitments.

“I’m pretty happy where I am at the moment to be honest,” Campbell said. “Coming from there I know how big the commitment is, so I’m pretty happy just being a leader at South and really, really enjoying my footy again.

“For myself, (my goal is to) just to have a good season and for the team just to get that excitement around playing some really good footy and getting into the finals again.”

South Adelaide will be buoyed by the return of 2021 leading goalkicker Jorja Hooper inside 50 after overcoming an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, but she will unfortunately be replaced in the rehabilitation group by bottom-age young gun Shae Archbold who tore her ACL post-season. The Panthers also bring in former Panther Jordann Hickey who returns after a stint from Woodville-West Torrens, while another Eagle, youngster Charlotte Dolan has also signed on at Noarlunga.

The SANFL Women’s season starts on February 17, with the 2023 fixture to be released in the near future.