ONE of three NSW/ACT players to earn a National Draft Combine invite, Giants Academy utility Amelie Prosser-Shaw is in rare company. The top-age teenager out of the East Coast Eagles set her sights on representing the Allies at the Under 18 Championships, running out for GWS Giants’ VFLW side, and getting drafted at year’s end.

Two and a half months out from the latter, she ticked off both of the first two goals she had, with a successful national carnival and then an eye-catching debut for the Giants Academy where she kicked a goal from 12 touches playing off a wing.

“Definitely Allies this year. That’s one of the main goals. VFLW as well Hoping to get a bit more exposure there,” Prosser-Shaw said ahead of the season. “Obviously the end goal is drafting, so whatever I can do to get my hands on a footy and keep playing to give myself the best opportunities, to put my best foot forward, keep working hard, that’s my best thing to do, that’s all you can ask.

“Just keep working hard, try and aim for Allies, VFLW and then obviously the end goal is drafting this year or next year.”

One of only 47 players to earn a National Draft Combine invite – meaning she will have two days of potential club interviews alongside the physical testing to take place at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) on October 6 – Prosser-Shaw joins fellow Giants Academy member Ashley Patton, and Sydney Academy wing Emma Juneja on the list.

Prosser-Shaw is no stranger to playing for different clubs, having started juniors with Baulkham Hills Hawks before moving to the Eagles who have been the most dominant side in the AFL Sydney Women’s Premier Division over the past two years. While playing her junior footy, Prosser-Shaw got invited into the Giants Academy, and has been one of the most promising players there.

Having spent time at half-back and on a wing, she got a taste for more inside action this year while the Giants Academy played through the Coates Talent League Girls competition.

“I think transitioning more into the middle from the wing, definitely just more contest stuff (is what I want to work on this year),” Prosser-Shaw said. “More knowledge of the game and how to play in different positions more on the ball, I think that’s going to help me with my strengths and it’s going to go hand-in-hand when I do understand more on-pitch contest work, I can then obviously get my legs and drive out the contest quicker and kind of work with the ruck more.”

Prosser-Shaw sees football in a holistic view, to not only improve herself on the field, but off it as well, gaining as many perspectives as possible. She has aimed to make the most of her time while running out for a host of different sides across multiple levels.

“It’s been great to interconnect with the clubs because there’s lots of crossover between club and Academy and the different opportunities that you’re given and it’s super great to see familiar faces and also meet new people and expand your playing diversity between different people and being able to play and adapt with different people,” she said.

“It’s really great because it helps you build connections in the AFL community and really it expands you as a player and makes you a better person as well to meet new people and play with different people.”

Unsurprisingly a Giants supporter, Prosser-Shaw looks up to Alicia Eva who she said has inspired her on and off the field with her leadership, hard work and ability to look out for others.

“I think that’s something I look up to because I also strive to work really hard and I really wanted to put my best foot forward at all times and obviously make it to that level,” Prosser-Shaw said. “The interactions I’ve had with her at the moment it’s really great, because it’s giving me someone to look up to, giving me someone to inspire to.”

Prosser-Shaw said she also enjoyed seeing the rise of Josh and Nick Daicos in the men’s competition as she can draw comparisons between their family dynamic and her own, with younger sister Darcie a promising double bottom-ager running around for the Giants Academy this year.

“I have my younger sister coming through the Academy as well and we work as training partners together and we train really hard and I think it’s really great to see that end goal and have those people to inspire to who play similar positions so we can work together and almost look at that and strive for that,” Prosser-Shaw said.

“We are obviously each other’s biggest champions and love each other to bits. We’re each other’s biggest competitors as well, but we work so well so well together and I feel like we really push each other, and being only 18 months apart it’s super great to have a training partner.

“Whenever we’re not training, every day we’re with the footy at the park kicking it around, doing the extras. It’s super handy to have someone like that.”

Along with her sister, Prosser-Shaw said her parents and Giants Academy development junior manager Mick Clift had the most impact on her individual career.

“My coaches as well have really pushed me to shout out to Mick Clift, he’s definitely been one of my main supporters throughout the Academy from when I was really young, he’s really pushed me to be my best, and he’s seen me and my sister as each other’s strengths, which is what we see each other as, so being able to push each other and then have his support as well has been really great,” she said.

While many players are done for the year, Prosser-Shaw’s East Coast Eagles face Juneja’s Sydney University side in a do-or-die preliminary final this weekend. The winner advances through to the grand final to take on Manly Warringah Wolves who toppled the Eagles in a surprise result for the minor premiers.

It looms as a busy month for the highly athletic Prosser-Shaw, with her speed and endurance mix set to shine at the upcoming National Draft Combine. With that invitation it shows multiple clubs are interested in the top-ager, which means the third of her goals for 2024 is closer to reality than ever before.