CHANGE is never something that has bothered South Adelaide recruit Jordann Hickey before, so it is unlikely to worry her when she runs out in the blue and white during the 2023 South Australian National Football League (SANFL) Women’s season. In fact, the change from Woodville-West Torrens to Noarlunga is one of the smallest changes she has made to her football career, having originally played for the Panthers during their successful premiership era prior to her AFL Women’s career.

Hickey’s journey has taken her from the Red Centre of Australia down to Adelaide, across to Melbourne and up to Gold Coast, in what might seem like a long novel, but the versatile utility’s story still has a few chapters left.

“My footy journey started in Alice Springs eight years ago now,” Hickey said. “Then it transitioned through Pinktails, then the NT Thunder in the VFLW where I was lucky enough to be picked up by Melbourne Demons.

“I was there for a year, unfortunately didn’t play a game but loved it. Then did two years over in Gold Coast Suns, which is a fantastic place, played nine games throughout the two seasons. Then I was delisted, moved over back to Alice Springs, then played a few games at Souths in the 2021 season.

“Last year I was playing with Woodville-West Torrens and then I’ve moved back to South now because that’s where I’ve got the connections with the Pinktails and that’s where my footy career started so I wanted to give back to them.”

When her named was called out by the Demons at Pick 31 in the 2018 AFL Women’s National Draft, Hickey became the first Alice Springs local to be drafted into the elite women’s competition. Though four years on from that moment, the Northern Territory talent was watching her friends lift the 2022 cup aloft in last month’s decider.

“I saw a few of my mates in Melbourne Demons win it recently and it was just awesome to see all their hard work finally pay off,” she said.

Though it might be a reminder of what could have been for her career in the red and blue, Hickey insisted there was no bitterness, only happiness for her friends.

“I mean you could look at it that way, but I think I was more the other side where I was just happy, over the moon for them all. I’ve known how much work they’ve put in just the one year I was there and I knew they would keep building on that,” Hickey said. “To see them finally win was amazing.”

Hickey’s goal in life is to show aspiring AFL Women’s footballers, that remote community life does not stop you from achieving your dreams.

“It (getting drafted) set an example that anything is possible out of a small town, especially Alice Springs,” Hickey said. “It’s a bit remote from other major cities and big competitions in the footy world. It was quite unbelievable that it actually happened and I was able to live that dream for the three years. I met so many wonderful people and gained an awesome experience.”

Now back in the SANFL Women’s, Hickey is focusing on helping the youth at South Adelaide – and the Pinktails coming down from the Territory – at becoming the best players they can be.

“I’m big on leading by example, so just show them that when you’re at training, you train the way you play, that helps on gameday,” Hickey said. “That’s what I do in training, I train the way I play, so bring that intensity and it sets the level and you come onto that level if they want to be playing in the SANFL senior team.”

Focused on becoming a better leader in 2023, Hickey admitted she was “competitive as all hell” on the field, and conceded she had a “bit of white line fever”. Having played in a variety of positions, Hickey regards her overhead marking and composure as some of her strengths. One key aspect of her motivations was that Hickey had not given up on her dream of reaching the top level yet again.

“Absolutely I’d love to be back at that level,” Hickey said. “Just the environment for the same reason, you want to better yourself, but also as a team you want to get that ultimate prize of not just bettering yourself, your club, your environment, you want to better get the premiership which would be amazing to see.”