THREE players with very different stories, taking three very different journeys to try and all achieve the same dream of reaching the AFL Women’s. In a special Rookie Me Central production ahead of the 2024 AFLW Draft, we spoke to Isla Baldwin, Olivia Fogarty and Lily Jordan post-season with the trio all draft chances 12 months ago, but each for whatever reason were overlooked and chose a different path for that second chance.
The ‘Three Players, One Dream’ series is aimed at not just promoting some of the top players outside those in their draft year, but also finding out more about the different paths players can take when overlooked, and how to put the initial disappointment behind them to go again and strive to get better.
In the three-part AFLW Draft series, we speak to ex-soccer player and 26-year-old Canberra local Olivia Fogarty who has now spent two seasons at Ainslie having been a train-on with the GWS Giants, and now sets her sights on the VFLW having moved to Melbourne to train with Hawthorn throughout the 2024 AFLW season. Fogarty also got the chance to represent her state and further enhance her name as one of the best players from the region.
Over-ager Isla Baldwin spent the season juggling her commitments between the Eastern Ranges and Carlton VFLW after being overlooked in 2023. Injury played a big part in the teenager missing out on the AFLW Draft, but instead of just focusing on one or the other, opted to play at both clubs and levels. She managed just the five games for the Ranges, but starred for the Blues, finishing equal runner-up in Carlton’s VFLW best and fairest, playing 11 games for the year through the middle.
Also a midfielder, former forward Lily Jordan opted against returning to the Coates Talent League, instead choosing to fully focus on her state league career. Geelong became the ideal destination thanks to getting a Deakin University offer at the nearby Waurn Ponds campus, and despite having some injury interruptions, won the Cats’ best and fairest off 11 games, laying more than 100 tackles in that time.
Each of the three players will have feature articles, and full-length one-on-one interviews via our Rookie Me Central YouTube channel which you can view over the next few days.
Three Players, One Dream: Jordan undeterred by draft disappointment
GEELONG VFL Women’s best and fairest winner Lily Jordan did not let the disappointment of missing out on reaching the top level in her draft year affect her on-field in 2024. The former GWV Rebels small forward chose to head down the coast to play for the Cats and focus purely on senior football in […]
Three Players, One Dream: Brilliant Baldwin opts for balancing act
ISLA Baldwin had a top-age season curtailed by injury, but it did not stop the over-ager from chasing her AFLW dream. She opted to play both VFLW and Talent League Girls, finishing equal second in Carlton’s VFLW Best and Fairest and has firmly put herself back in the AFLW Draft frame. That decision to play […]
Three Players, One Dream: Driven Fogarty looking “to be noticed”
GROWING up in a rugby heartland, talented multi-sport athlete Olivia Fogarty has never subscribed to the status quo. The former soccer player always enjoyed Aussie rules, but only decided to take it more “seriously” last year. The 26-year-old had a whirlwind first season with Ainslie in the AFL Canberra, attracting interest from AFLW clubs and […]
Three Players, One Dream: AFLW Draft journeys
THREE players with very different stories, taking three very different journeys to try and all achieve the same dream of reaching the AFL Women’s. In a special Rookie Me Central production ahead of the 2024 AFLW Draft, we spoke to Isla Baldwin, Olivia Fogarty and Lily Jordan post-season with the trio all draft chances 12 […]
What the leaders said: 2024 AFLW Grand Final
IN WHAT may feel like a sense of déjà vu to some, the AFL Women’s Grand Final has come around again, and for the second year in a row it will be North Melbourne taking on Brisbane in the decider. Both sides have been on a journey in the 12 months since last year’s decider, […]
Rockin’ Ruby ready for biggest game of career
THE BUILD up to the 2024 AFL Women’s Grand Final could not be more different than the build up to the 2023 decider for North Melbourne’s Ruby Tripodi. Squeezed out of the team on the eve of finals last year, Tripodi is now very much an indispensable part of an already impressive North Melbourne midfield, […]
Chiocci calls time, reflects on pioneering career
ANOTHER pioneer of the AFL Women’s competition has retired from the competition, with former Pies skipper turned Saint Steph Chiocci calling time on her AFLW career at the conclusion of St Kilda’s season a few weeks ago. However, although she was one of the biggest names of the competition in its infancy, the ever humble […]
Jordan’s journey brings great rewards despite obstacles
INJURIES are never fun, and that was something Collingwood AFLW utility Jordan Ivey learnt the hard way. Heading into last season things were looking promising for Ivey as her stint at Melbourne was starting to develop heading into its second season after crossing from Geelong, then things got derailed thanks to a chronic plantar fasciitis […]
Indigenous Round an important platform for all
ROUNDS 9 and 10 of this year’s AFL Women’s season sees the celebration of Indigenous Round, celebrating Firsts Nations culture in this country and their contributions to the game. There will be matches all over the country, but it all culminates in the Dreamtime match, which takes place in Darwin this year for the first […]
