APRIL 22, 2023. Glenelg is defeated by Woodville-West Torrens in a Round 8 SANFL Women’s clash, marking the last time Scholz sisters Matilda and Poppy lined up together on a footy field – for now.

A month earlier, elder sibling Matilda was made a priority signing for Port Adelaide and would soon embark on her first preseason as an AFLW player. That left Poppy, a bottom-ager, to see out the Bays’ season minus her big sister.

Now Matilda is pushing for a potential reunion. Fresh off an outstanding rookie season with the Power, she’s invested in Poppy’s path to the top, with the latest step taken last Friday afternoon.

The National Academy convened at IKON Park for its first training session of the year, featuring 26 of the nation’s best and brightest AFLW Draft prospects. Poppy Scholz was among them, buoyed by words of encouragement from Matilda who had paved the path before her.

“Matilda is in my ear at the moment, just telling me to take all my footy opportunities because obviously this is my draft year and she knows a bit about how it goes,” Scholz said. “She’s just trying to push me to keep training harder and keep doing all the little extras.

“Seeing what she’s come from being at Glenelg to then playing with Port, she has just improved in leaps and bounds. So, I think it’s quite exciting to see what could happen if I hopefully get picked up this year.”

Scholz trained under the tutelage of Academy coach Tarkyn Lockyer, a host of Talent League mentors, and with the watchful eye of two-time Brownlow Medallist Greg Williams at Carlton’s revamped facilities.

She says the two-hour session was “a lot different” to anything she’d ever experienced, with the “vibes” high among many players who had not previously met.

“The intensity from all the girls was next level,” she said. “Coming out here with all these girls who are potentials to get drafted… everyone’s taking it so seriously and wants to be here and wants to get the best out of it.

“I’ve been around Port a bit because of Matilda, but I mean, Carlton’s just like kind of another step above because they’ve obviously redone their facilities. It just looks awesome and all the things that their players are exposed to are just elite.”

Scholz has a good idea of what it takes to reach the elite level, not just from her sister. She recalled fond memories of sitting in the President’s Room at Glenelg as Tigers Sarah Goodwin and Ella Boag were drafted by Port Adelaide in 2022.

At the end of 2023, eight South Australian teammates made the cut – including skipper and SANFL Women’s league best and fairest, Piper Window. You could hardly ask for a better insight into “professional standards”.

Scholz’s mother, Peta also excelled in her sporting endeavours. The former Australian Diamond is a World Champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, with Poppy pursuing a similar netballing pathway at Oakdale.

“I’m still playing netball,” she said. “I’m with Oakdale this season again, so trying to balance both [sports]… I’ve been training and doing gym there, which has been really good and has been quite beneficial for my strength, I think, which has kind of translated to footy and netball.”

Speaking of strength, Scholz is looking to take a leaf out of the book of a pair of Power stars. The now fully “converted” Port supporter already knows her game well, too.

“I really like how Gemma Houghton plays,” she said. “I’m not a forward, but I just love like her just like intensity and aggression and her attack on the ball.

“Abbey Dowrick as well… she’s got a huge leg, which I hope to have one day, just got to get in the gym a bit. They’re both such intense players and they’re so strong around the ball. I just hope to be like that one day.

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“One of my strengths is my aerial contests. Initially because of my height, especially when I was younger I always kind of had that advantage over kids, but then everyone kind of started growing and I just kept on working on that.

“Ground balls are not one of the strengths of mine, and I think I’m still trying to work on reading the play a bit. When I’m in the backline, I’ve had a season there and I’ve kind of got it, but when I’m like playing [elsewhere] I kind of find it a bit more difficult.”

As somewhat of a ‘unicorn’ in the sense she can play in any position on the ground, Scholz settled across half-back last year but is hoping to gain more exposure as a forward in 2024.

Stringing together strong, consistent League games for Glenelg is the first priority before preparing well for the National Championships. Last year, defeating Vic Metro before taking out the title became a career highlight for the 17-year-old.

Needless to say, being drafted at the end of it all is Scholz’s overarching goal. She says she’s “sitting on” a potential interstate move via the draft, though there’s a long way to go until then, and plenty of footy to be played.