ASPIRING AFL Women’s footballer Yasmeen Janschek is under no illusions she has a long way to go to succeed at the top level. The former netballer spoke to Rookie Me Central about her journey recently, with part one of the two-part series looking into her background and decision around choosing the code. Part two will focus purely on her football game and looking ahead to the future.

>> FEATURE Part I: Janschek puts netball “on hold” to chase footy dream

The first part of Janschek story ended with the talented Giants Academy ruck telling of her desire to see just how far she could take her football, and though she admitted she did miss netball, was getting her “sport fix” through the new venture.

While her footballing skills are still developing, the athletic tall was pleased some of her attributes from the netball court were transferable onto the footy oval. In particular her ability to “move for her height” and being “one of the tallest” out on the ground compared to among the taller players in netball.

“This (size) also helps in the ruck, with my body work because I guess even though netball’s non-contact… it is kind of a kinda contact sport, but I learned a lot there in terms of body positioning and contest work,” Janschek said.

“Even though I got sort of put straight into the ruck because of my height and because that’s where Giants needed me coming into a AFL I’d been told by a lot of people, because I was a defender in netball, that’s probably where I would end up in AFL so that’s still something I’m looking to develop.

“I haven’t played much, anywhere else other than ruck. I haven’t played much, period. But I definitely see that ability to make contests and intercept and read the ball as something that I would’ve taken from netball.”

Naturally the skill component was a big test for Janschek, especially initially with the talented athlete giving a brutal assessment of her game in part one by declaring at first “not being able to kick to save my life”. However she has made inroads off the back of a lot of hard work.

“I mean that was the goal initially is really like hone in on the skills, and that’s something that I’ve been working on really hard and it’s actually becoming a strength, which is great,” she said.

However work with ball in hand was not the only required improvement for Janschek, finding the sheer distance to run also a wake up call from her days on the netball court.

“Then there’s also that endurance side, far out coming from netball, like the court is 30 metres long, and then my first step onto a footy field, first session, like conditioning, running, round and round the field,” Janschek said. “I’ve gone, ‘oh my God, I’ve got to build an engine for this, like I’ve gotta work on my fitness for this’, which I’ve also been doing lots of work on.

“Those were the top two things for me. Then obviously there’s the footy IQ and that’s just playing for me. “I’m hoping to go back into the VFL next year just looking at how to figure out what I’ll do for uni, and then maybe even play in Northern Territory over the summer.”

Looking up to the top level, Janschek looks to model her game on two of the top rucks in the competition in Port Adelaide’s Matilda Scholz and Sydney’s Ally Morphett because she can see how their physicality and ability to play as “extra midfielders” is something that the aspiring AFLW player wants to do.

However if Janschek ends up as a key defender, then Cambridge McCormick is her pick to model her game on, having trained with the hard-running defender when with the Giants.

“At training, she just takes all these marks and just runs like half the field,” Janscheck said. “I think that intercept marking and run off half-back game is what I would love to model my game off. But they’re just incredible. I love watching it.”

The Sydney Roosters fan has been converted to AFL through her dealings with the Swans and Giants Academy, and even converted her family. However picking between the two New South Wales sides is a completely different story.

“I started at Swans, and so Swans are my team,” Janschek said. “But now that I’ve crossed over to Giants, I feel a bit caught between. I would say I go for both, but I don’t know if that’s allowed. I like those two when they’re playing. Those are the ones that I’m like, ‘oh yeah, let’s watch this game’ and want them to win.”

Her family has been a great source of inspiration for her football journey, with her dad in particular helping her take the first steps towards the new code.

“In that first year, and even now when I was learning footy, he was my point of call to teach me how to kick,” Janschek said. “Every time I would ask … there was some points where it was like every day, I’d be like, ‘Hey dad, like let’s go to the park, let’s have a kick’ and you know, he’d always be up for it. He’s the one who taught me to kick in the first place and he’s just really loves following my journey.

Both her parents have really dived deep into following “the ‘W” and alongside their support and development, Janschek thanked all the coaches who have had a part in teaching her new skills along the way.

“I’ve had some awesome coaches, especially coming into Giants, those coaches there,” she said. “Because I think a lot of people assume that I knew things because everyone who comes into those Academies has been playing for heaps of their life.

“I came in really not knowing much at all. They were the ones who were like, ‘Okay, Yas let’s just like teach you the basic fundamentals’. That’s like what really kind of got my head in the game. Super grateful to them for that.”

Looking ahead to the future, football is the code of choice for Janschek. Though it has hardly been easy, the talented NSW/ACT tall has a dream that she is chasing, but most importantly is just loving the journey along the way.

“Since I was a little girl, my dream was always to put sport first and to make it professionally in sport,” Janschek said. “At that point, it was netball or there was a big sprinting part in there as well, and now it’s footy and that’s still what I want more than anything.

“But I guess it’s just to get to the highest level that I can, and to play at the highest level and just love doing it. I mean, part of the reason that I love sports so much is because I love the challenge, and so keeping moving forward and up in the pathway is just the best feeling.

“To get drafted would make my life, that would be the best thing ever, so that’s definitely the end goal, but as long as I just keep loving what I’m doing, I’m happy.”