WHILE few players head into a SANFL Women’s League Best and Fairest, West Adelaide’s Zoe Venning was so certain she told partner Kobe Ryan not to bother attending. However, just after 10pm local time last night, it was Venning up on stage on admitted that perhaps she was wrong and said Ryan had made the mad dash to join her for the post-ceremony celebrations.

“He’ll be very upset he wasn’t here tonight, he did try and come and I was like ‘nah it’s just us girls there’ and all that, ‘I’m not going to win it anyway, so who cares?'” Venning laughed when recalling the interaction.

>> AWARDS WRAP: Venning crowned SANFLW Best and Fairest

A shocked Venning apologised in advance on stage, before delivering a classic, honest and very clearly not pre-rehearsed speech that sent the packed William Margarey Room into raptures, applause and then the traditional standing ovation as glasses were raised.

When the dust had settled and speaking to media in the aftermath of the win, Venning only had a fleeting thought she might win it “in the last 10 seconds” when down a vote against South Adelaide’s Soriah Moon with only Venning’s match against Glenelg to come. Moon did not poll in the Panthers’ loss to Eagles, while Venning’s Bloods got the job done.

“I was just thinking ‘thank god we won’,” Venning said heading into Round 14. “At Westies we love a good win, so at least I had that on my side. Knowing Soriah being a ruck and each week has who knows how many hitouts, I was just thinking she was going to get three and I was just trying to not pass out in the moment that if I got a vote, I would be in it.”

When asked if there was ever a point where she thought she might actually take out the award, Venning replied “not really.”

“I knew I had a stinker against South, like one of the worst games I’ve ever played in my life,” she said. “I thought I was doing okay up until then and then I was like ‘I’ll get nothing then’ and I got a couple of twos and it was mainly that last game against Glenelg knowing we had the win, I thought ‘oh maybe I will’ in the last 10 seconds.”

The West Adelaide midfielder thought she would “go okay” but with the Bloods not making finals – and therefore not winning as many games as others, she never really considered it a possibility heading to Adelaide Oval last night.

“We (Wests) have some really strong players in Hannah (Hannah Button), and then you’ve got players like (Jess) Bates and (Isobel) Kuiper in the comp who also stat up extremely well,” Venning said. “I thought I’d be around the mark but nowhere near the top three or any of that.”

“It feels like I’ve said many times tonight, I’m just in pure shock and a bit overwhelmed. Extremely unexpected and I feel extremely grateful to be honest for this whole experience.”

Venning described the West Adelaide Football Club as a “family” on stage, and elaborating on her bond with the Bloods that could well pass the 100-game mark next season, the 21-year-old could not be more grateful of the chances she had received in the red and black.

“I associate West Adelaide with family, got my father there, got my partner there, my brother used to play there,” Venning said. “They’ve just looked after me since I was 15.

“I can’t say I’ve been hard done by one bit at all. I’ve always had my coach’s support and I’ve always been backed in and I feel extremely grateful as I know that’s not something everyone experiences through their footy but I’ve always felt every coach we’ve had, every playing group we’ve had, they’ve had my back and that’s really special.”

Of her partner Kobe’s influence on her, she said they were “often each other’s biggest critic” but they have “got each other’s back and we love watching each other play footy.”

Family is a theme for Venning, who is a third generation Blackwood Football Club player, joining her grandfather and father at the ‘Woods’.

“I’ll always be a Blackwood girl even when we’re at Westies and we talk about our local clubs, it’s always Blackwood. Mum, dad grew up there,” Venning said. “My dad’s dad was also at the Blackwood footy club and my family do so much for that club, and they do so much for my family.”

The award capped off a big night for Venning who was named on the unfamiliar position of the wing. When asked in jest how many times she had played on a wing, the talented young gun laughed.

“Well I’m open to it, I’ll play anywhere,” Venning said. “It’s an honour to be picked in that, and with those girls it’s such a talented comp. It is stuff like being on the wing because you’ve got your mids like Kuiper, Bates, (Christina) Leuzzi who are all really strong contenders.”

Reflecting on the medal win, Venning said the accomplishment would be “pretty high up there” and she had not expected to win it “any time soon” so would just bask in the glory and have to come up with some new goals now.

“It’s something I’ve dreamt about, never ever thought I’d achieve it,” she said. “I feel extremely overwhelmed, it is something that’s been an aim of mine. Being an individual aim is trying to establish myself as a strong midfielder in the comp and I feel like this is one of those awards that you only dream about.

“I am really am focusing on building at West Adelaide and trying to be the best we can be as a team. “We’ve got such a strong list and we are growing and I think it’s fairly important that I challenge myself with individual goals so I try and set club goals and then individual goals.”

“This is obviously that I didn’t think I’d reach anytime soon and don’t know what my goals will be now. It’s just living in the moment a little bit now and reset tomorrow morning.”