TALENTED South Australian Hope Taylor came on in leaps and bounds last season, holding her place in South Adelaide’s premiership side and impressing up forward for the Croweaters. A smart and skilful ball user, Taylor has plenty of upside and is one to watch in 2026.
We spoke to Taylor at the recent South Australian Preseason Testing Day about her football journey, game, career influencers and goals for the year ahead.
Q: Hope, tell us a little bit about your footy journey?
HT: “I actually started pretty late compared to everyone else. I wasn’t like a young girl who played, never played with the boys or anything. In Year 7, my best mate convinced me to play in her team because she needed players. After that she promised me a bag of lollies to go play for her local club. Never got that bag of lollies, but that’s alright. I started at Happy Valley, worked my way up through 14s to 17s, 18s to A Grade, won a flag, went to SANFL and now I’m here.”
Q: You’ve played wing and forward, what do you like the most?
HT: “I used to think I really liked the wing, like that was my spot and I didn’t belong anywhere else. But I got chucked up small forward after playing a game for SA there, and I’ve just loved it at South. It just lets me use my speed and because I’m on defenders, they’re usually quite strong but I can usually get around them, so that’s where my strength comes into play. I couldn’t use it so much on the wing, because a lot of the wings are quite tall and you have to be good aerially, and I’m just not. I’m not tall, I think that the small forward spot really suits me.”
Q: What do you see as some of the strengths in your game?
HT: “I’d like to think I’m pretty fast, so that’s always a win. I’ve been told that my kicking’s pretty good. I think I’m just able to do a lot of kicks too, I’m not limited to drop punt or anything, I think that’s where my strengths come in.”
Q: What are you trying to improve on at the moment?
HT: “I’ve been trying to get a bit bigger this off-season because we all know I’m quite small. I’ve been called that many times, diminutive, all that. I’ve been working on my strength a bit, and it doesn’t show but I can feel it and I feel a lot stronger out on the ground.”
Q: Who’s had the most influence on your career?
HT: “I think obviously my best friend who got me into footy, she’s had a pretty big impact on it because she’s also followed me up the ranks, she’s come with me, she’s supported me every step at the way. When she wasn’t out at South, she came out to every game. You can hear her screaming in the recordings, like it’s ridiculous. I think also my step dad, he was also a big footy fan, he wanted me to get into footy. Port supporter which kind of sucks, but he had a really big impact, he’d go for a kick of the footy with me all the time.”
Q: Which AFLW club do you support?
HT: “I’m a Carlton girl.”
Q: Why are there so many Carlton supporters in SA?
HT: “The Carlton girls just look like they’re having so much fun. They’re still a good team and it shows, but they just look like they’d be so much fun to be around and I feel like my personality would really mesh with them.”
Q: What was the original reason, was it you liked them or followed family?
HT: “My family’s not really into footy, apart from my step dad who was in Port. I’ve never really been a massive fan of Port, but I like all the AFLW teams. I just don’t like the Port men, don’t know why.”
Q: Is there a player you look up to or model your game on at the top level?
HT: “It’s really bad, but I don’t watch that much footy, and when I do I’m not focusing on specific player or anything. I go to a lot of AFLW games but I’m there for the environment because it’s really nice.”
Q: What goals do you set for yourself this year?
HT: “This year I want to maintain my League spot, maybe make some history and get another flag. But personal goals the main one is to get drafted hopefully. But I think just little steps, like making the squad and then going to either the State or the National Combine, that would be a really big thing for me.”
