FROM filling in at school to captaining her state,\u00a0Sabreena Duffy\u2019s\u00a0<\/b>football development has been rapid.<\/p>\n
After coming from a soccer background, she pulled on the Aussie Rules jumper to make up the numbers for the school footy team. Duffy only needed to play one game of school football to get noticed, receiving an offer that she didn\u2019t see coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played just for school just because they needed a fill in and then I played one Western Australian Football League (WAFL) game the next week that they found me and I just never went back to soccer. \u201cI just loved it (Aussie Rules).\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the rapid rise in standard, the 18 year-old admits her transition into the elite level was \u201csmooth\u201d, thanks to a couple of friends and a natural gift to play the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew a couple of school girls,\u201d Duffy said. \u201cI was naturally good at the sport so I didn\u2019t have to learn how to kick or anything like that so that was a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duffy attributes her natural kicking ability to having a kick with the neighbours in her younger years. Back then, the Western Australian midfielder did not even know there was a pathway available for her in the sport, so she stuck to the round ball game.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Playing) with the neighbours down the street, that\u2019s all I knew,\u201d Duffy said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know there was women\u2019s footy, nothing. \u201cI only knew soccer. Mainly with footy, I would just mess around with my best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fast forward to 2018 and Duffy\u2019s development in Australian Rules has gone through the roof. The Black Swans midfielder was rewarded for her efforts in the AFL Women\u2019s Under 18 Championships, where she was awarded Western Australia\u2019s Most Valuable Player (MVP). Duffy is aware of the strengths in her game but would also like to make improvements, displaying her determination as a footballer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m more of a runner and a clearance player I\u2019d say,\u201d she said. \u201cI can hit the scoreboard as well, being a midfielder. \u201cI\u2019m more looking to improve on when I get the ball, I tend to bounce it after three or four steps, just instinct, so I need to just hit the speed and then bounce it after like 14 steps.\u201d<\/p>\n
On top of being awarded the state MVP, Duffy was named in the 48-player All Australian squad, and could be on her way to making the final 22 and earning a fifth All Australian accolade. The Western Australia captain says this is a memorable moment in her career, and she is on her way to creating many more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve gotten four All Australian jumpers and I\u2019m pretty proud of that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The 18 year-old reflected back to the first time she received an All Australian jumper, and admits the emotion got to her on the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my first year, Under 16s, and it was my first competition,\u201d Duffy said. \u201cI was just overwhelmed, I wasn\u2019t expecting it and I was just speechless really. \u201cLucky my mum was there because I was a bit upset, it was cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
But for Duffy, captaining her state made her just as privileged, as it was a role she never thought she would be chosen for.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played in the team for four years and I could never imagine being a captain, being my last year,\u201d the 18 year-old said. \u201cI was honoured to be able to lead this group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duffy says the playing group was extremely positive, even after losing against Vic Metro in their first match on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe girls are so good, they\u2019re so positive,\u201d the Black Swans skipper said. \u201cWe bond so well so it didn\u2019t really hit us. \u201cWe thought about it for the period we needed to think about it and then it\u2019s over. \u201cThey were so good, no down moments, nothing. \u201cIt\u2019s just been really great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like many up and coming players, Duffy has her sights set on AFLW, having finished her Technical And Further Education (TAFE) certificate and looking for a job.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy next level is really AFLW so hopefully I get drafted and then see where it goes,\u201d Duffy said.<\/p>\n
The 18 year-old is well on her way, having been one of three Western Australians to be invited to the AFL Women\u2019s Draft Combine in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FROM filling in at school to captaining her state,\u00a0Sabreena Duffy\u2019s\u00a0football development has been rapid. After coming from a soccer background, she pulled on the Aussie Rules jumper to make up the numbers for the school footy team. Duffy only needed to play one game of school football to get noticed, receiving an offer that she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":38219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3131,137],"tags":[6393,5351,157,2762,6392,4832,1921],"class_list":["post-38517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-western-australia","category-womens","tag-afl-womens-draft-combine","tag-afl-womens-under-18-championships","tag-aflw","tag-aflw-draft","tag-black-swans","tag-sabreena-duffy","tag-western-australia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}