{"id":208917,"date":"2026-02-18T09:30:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T23:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/?p=208917"},"modified":"2026-02-18T09:30:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T23:30:30","slug":"2026-aflw-draft-qa-ruby-lynch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2026\/02\/18\/2026-aflw-draft-qa-ruby-lynch\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 AFLW Draft Q&A: Ruby Lynch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ATHLETIC utility Ruby Lynch<\/a> is willing to play anywhere, and expects she may well roll between a number of positions in 2026. The Woodville-West Torrens talent crossed from basketball a few years back and looms as a prospect with great upside and is one to watch this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spoke to Lynch at the recent South Australian Preseason Testing Day about her football journey, game, inspirations and goals for the year ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Ruby, tell us a little bit about your footy journey?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:\u00a0<\/strong>“This is going into my fourth year [of footy], so I’m still pretty fresh. I was playing basketball from the age of five. I started footy as more of a chill thing, just have a bit of fun, and exactly what it was was fun, and it was all I wanted to do. So I quit basketball and have focussed on footy since. That’s how I got into it, just to play with friends.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What level did you get to with basketball?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong>\u00a0“I was playing Division 1 and captaining Under 18s Div 1, and I was in a few state squads. But last year I quit that to just focus on footy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What was the step up like starting at local footy into SANFLW and state programs?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong>\u00a0“The biggest difference for me going from local to seniors was just the mentors. I’ve been mentored by ‘Cutters’ (Leah Cutting<\/em><\/strong>) who was playing AFLW. I think its just everyone wants to help each other out and that was the biggest difference.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Is there a person whose had the most influence on your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong>\u00a0“Probably her (Cutters), but also a lot of basketball coaches as well just pushing me to do my passion even though basketball was there first. They pushed me to do what I loved, which was footy. A few basketball coaches out there helped me with that as well.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What is your preferred position at the moment? Where do you think you’ll fit in?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong>\u00a0“That’s a hard one because I do find myself playing pretty much everywhere on the field. I love playing forward. I got thrown into mid a bit last year towards the end of the season for Eagles, which was really good to learn from some new people as well. I like rucking, but I think forward would probably be my position.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What do you see as some of the strengths and your improvements?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong>\u00a0“I think my strength [is] I can play pretty much anywhere, and I’m open to doing that as well. Then just for my height, basketball’s given me a bit more movement, quick hands, agility, that kind of stuff. I think my biggest weakness is my confidence. Being pretty fresh to footy, not backing myself sometimes and I’m also looking to get fitter and faster.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Do you watch a lot of footy?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong> “I do, yeah. A fair bit.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Which club do you support?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong> “In the AFL I go for Essendon, and in the AFLW I go for Gold Coast or Carlton.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What’s the reason behind all that?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong> “Well I go for Carlton in the AFLW because I really like the way Poppy Scholz<\/strong> plays and Soph McKay<\/strong>, all of those girls who I really look up to. I just really like their vibe the way they play. Essendon I’ve always gone from them, my parents just convinced me at a young age they were a good team.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Are there players at the top level you look up to or model your game on?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong>\u00a0“At AFL\/AFLW level, Poppy Scholz is a big one for me. But genuinely I look into my teammates out at Eagles the most. I try and pick up stuff from them, [they] teach me directly which is probably the best way to go about it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What goals have you set for the year?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RL:<\/strong>\u00a0“I’m in Year 12 as well, so I’ve got a few for that. But footy wise I just want to put myself in the best position. I’ve set some real nutrition and recovery goals to set myself up off-field as well, not just on-field. Then I have a big mental focus like trying to back my confidence and learn some stuff around footy. Then a big goal of mine is to be drafted, but I think the little ones along the way will probably have the biggest impact.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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