FROM the highs of winning a national championships title to the lows of a season-ending hand injury, South Australian Layla Vizgaudis can still have a smile on her face when thinking of 2026. They were just a couple of moments in an action-packed year concluding a junior career which has never been short of eye-catching performances.

“I think it was good, it was a bit of a rollercoaster for me,” Vizgaudis told Rookie Me Central at the National Draft Combine. “I started strong at South and then the state for me personally wasn’t my ideal competition but it was a good finish and enjoyed playing with those girls. “Then I went back to South and I fractured my hand and I couldn’t play for the rest, so that’s a bit of ’26 I suppose.”

Having recovered from that hand injury ahead of the Draft Combine testing, Vizgaudis said she didn’t have any particular goals for the indoor events, focusing instead on the running ones.

“My only one is for the running (1.6km time-trial) which I didn’t hit, but that’s alright,” she said. “For everything tomorrow morning, not really, just personally try my best. “I know for a fact that the clubs probably won’t care too much if I can jump the highest, so just focusing more on the 20-metre and the agility.”

Before her injury, Vizgaudis got to play with younger sister Taryn at South Adelaide, a highlight she will hold dear from 2026.

“It was good actually, I quite enjoyed it, probably a highlight of my year,” the top-age Panther said. “I got to present her guernsey and then we started playing and she actually got injured, but she was fine after that. “Got a bit emotional like ‘not my little sister’ but it was alright.”

A few eyebrows were raised when the talented Vizgaudis missed out on making the Under 17 Futures program last season, but Vizgaudis never lost sight of the dream, a place on an AFLW list.

“I was maybe a little bit disappointed,” she said. “There were many factors I was thinking about, I’m like ‘it could have been this’ but in the end all I can do is what I’m capable of at the moment so it probably didn’t give me motivation, but I was still striving for the same thing.”

The softly spoken Vizgaudis admitted she had improved her voice both on-field and off-field this year, which really helped her develop her all-round game.

“Probably my confidence on-field and just as an individual (is my biggest improvement),” Vizgaudis said. “Willing to take those risks on-field and then also just off-field talking up and building more friendships.”

Looking to still develop a better tackling technique to match her intent when wanting to lock up an opponent, Vizgaudis said she was happy to play anywhere if she made it to the next level.

“I enjoy playing midfield down at South and I would obviously love to continue playing midfield but I would not expect that if I were to get drafted next year,” she said. “I’d probably expect myself as a wing or a small forward. Maybe a backliner, but I doubt that.”

Vizgaudis openly admits she doesn’t watch much football or dive too deep into analysis, instead just loving playing the game when she’s out there. It meant at times the Draft Combine interviews with clubs can get a little “stressful” but she still enjoyed the experience.

“Some are a little bit more stressful compared to the others,” Vizgaudis said. “Some just want to get to know me, some are asking me more in-depth footy questions and to be honest I’m a bit stuck because I haven’t played football or watched it in a while. “It hasn’t been too bad.”

If there was one statement to sum up Vizgaudis as a person in a nutshell, it is what she wanted to be and show to her new teammates over preseason.

“Just be a loving person like I am,” she said. “Just show them what I’m capable of but also just try and connect and be a part of the team.”

DRAFT FEATURES:

New South Wales: Evie Bowie, Frances Walsh, Majella Day, Morgan Stevens, Ashleigh Barlow
Queensland: Zoe Petrides, Summer Browning, Aiyana Pritchard
South Australia: Emily Mableson, Emma Charlton, Ruby Lynch
Vic Country: Greea McKeegan, Lily Milner, Eliza Roche, Lacey Nihill
Vic Metro: Bailee Martin, Tayla Olivieri, Maddison Meagher, Brylee Anderson, Grace McIntyre, Alli Allen, Kiara Boyd
Western Australia: Lexi Strachan, Mia Carlshausen