Funny bastard.
Watching the womens rugby at the ground. Can just tell Mia Rae is a natural leader, always talking and revving the girls up.
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Sutton a modest role in a 71-0 win by the Cannons. Eek.
The Western Jets didn’t play this weekend and so Krystal Russell was wasted. WTF.
Apparently she played forward, so 16 disposals not so modest. Failed to convert her chances.
Clifford couldn’t quite drag her team to their first win, losing 23-30.
She went 5/5 on kicks; the other team went 2/6.
BRING HER IN.
(even if she likes Clakkko)
by Sarah Black
WHILE Lila Keck loved playing footy with the boys at South Bendigo, she wasn’t sure if it was worth it.
Then when she was 12, the NAB AFLW competition kicked off, and football became a serious option for Keck, who’s now captain of Coates Talent League side Bendigo Pioneers.
“I started playing football when I was five, so nearly 12-13 years ago. I just picked it up because I was surrounded by it, massive football family, love kicking the footy with my brother and my dad,” Keck told womens.afl.
"Starting with the boys, it was like if you’re good at it, is it worth it? Putting the time and effort into trying to be better? But after 2017, it was like this is what I want to do, and this is going to be huge.
"It just excited me how big it was going to get. I wanted to be part of that.”
Keck moved to play with the girls at Sandhurst when she aged out of mixed footy – “won three premierships in four years, just a cheeky little flex” – before last year playing her local footy with senior women’s side Strathfieldsaye.
“I was tiny (162cm), that’s for sure, and got squashed a few times, but was definitely quick enough to get away from the older women,” Keck said with a grin.
"Primarily, I’m a small forward, but this year, I’ve stepped up in the midfield, which I’ve really enjoyed. It’s where everything happens, and I like to be amongst it.
"To describe myself, I’m definitely a hard-ball winner, and I’ve got great goal sense. Love a snag or two, and definitely a celebration too. Lately, it’s been Xav Duursma’s bow and arrow.”
Lila Keck runs with the ball for Futures Team White in the NAB Futures League match on June 5, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos
Keck is just as energetic and industrious off the field as she is on it, a chatty, down-to-earth person with just the right amount of cheek and confidence for a small forward.
She’s a barista, still tries to make it down to watch every game of her local side and loves walking her dog. A North Melbourne supporter who’s “not too embarrassed to say that anymore” now Alastair Clarkson’s at the helm, her AFLW idols have been Daisy Pearce, Monique Conti and Bendigo local Emma Grant.
Keck’s ready for a year of combining study at Catherine McAuley College in Bendigo with top-level representative footy.
“I’m doing year 12 at the moment. It’s getting a bit hard now, first term was all right, but it’s getting up there. I’m doing all the health subjects so I can do something in the physio/exercise field outside of football,” she said.
"I want to use my leadership skills. I’ve just been appointed captain of the Bendigo Pioneers, so probably that’s a main goal for this year. Enjoying my football individually, but bringing people and my teammates up with me is definitely one of my goals for the year. And getting a few wins on the board as well.
Lila Keck in action during the Coates Talent League Girls testing day on March 5, 2023. Picture: AFL Photos
"I definitely went into this year wanting to work on my speed, being that bit smaller and not having the body size to be up against big people, I want to be that bit quicker. So definitely my speed, and on a general level, my ball use and that sort of thing.”
Keck also loves her cricket, having played as an all-rounder at premier league level before opting to focus on just one top-level sport. She still plays locally on a Sunday morning, as a break from her footy commitments.
She’s previously captained Vic Country at under-17 level, and has two local under-18 best and fairests under belt, and is prepared for the challenges ahead of her final year of junior footy.
“There’s a whole lot more pressure, being your top-age year. I definitely took (under-18 Vic Country) with both hands last year, thinking how good, I’m an underage player and I get to play against girls who are about to be drafted,” Keck said.
“Definitely going into this year still enjoying it, but sort of realising this is where it all starts.”
Or in video form:
For the conspiracy theorists: jumper numbers 54, 69, 70 and 71 are yet to be used.
No posts yet, but the intro explains her absence.
Hey there! My name is Eloise. I’m 24. And I’m (or, I guess, was) an athlete playing VFLW Football for Essendon, as well as studying a Masters in Occupational Therapy.
After a viral infection, and contracting covid twice during 2022, I was unfortunately diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME). After progressively deteriorating over a 6 month period of pushing through (unaware of both the diagnosis and dangers at the time), at the beginning of 2023 I had my worst crash so far, leaving me essentially bed-bound for over a month.
Resilience is something that I’d worked on a lot over my time as an injury-riddled athlete, but I don’t think anything could’ve prepared me for this. It is, and will be, a very slow process of rebuilding my life. I’m certainly still right in the thick of it as I write this. This illness is tricky enough as it is, throw in being Asthmatic and having ADHD which, outside of medication, are both largely managed through exercise that I can no longer do… it adds a further complication.
I often spend a lot of time reflecting, setting goals, and creating, so I started writing about my experience. I wanted to document it for myself, but I also hoped to find a way to share my experience with others. So if you’re reading this, welcome!
If you have a similar chronic illness, maybe you can find some solace in my words. If you’re fortunate to be free of a chronic illness, maybe you feel some gratitude for your health after reading. Maybe you feel inspired. Or, maybe you think I’m just rambling which would be quite okay too. But I hope that you can take something away from my musings.
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Had a friend (the first and maybe still only Australian male to win a world junior circuit event in table tennis) get whacked hard by CFS. He eventually came out the other end and has now been fine for ages, but certainly this can be life-flipping.
I contracted CFS at the end of 2012…was misdiagnosed several times and so mistakenly tried to push through it until my worst episode where I was laid up for two weeks.
That was nine months after first getting it and it was at that stage that a specialist finally diagnosed the problem.
It’s a prick of an illness as it not only messes you up physically, but also mentally…any sign of any symptoms and you’re convinced it’s back.
It took me almost four years to beat it mentally (when discussing that with my doctor, he told me that, physically, I would have been over it after about two years).
I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
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To be accurate, we’ve played 43 rather than 42 players this year (disregarding practice matches).
There’s a piece on Chaston in the Hun (paywalled).
I had already assumed it’s why we sang “our team who play this grand old game” two weeks ago, but it seems odd to immediately drop back to “girls” this past week just because El did not play.
Well, fark.
Caitlin Sargent playing for the Pies this week. Surely it’s not that hard to break into our forward line… and I’m not sure she’ll get any better delivery there.
But we’ve decided to re-use some already-assigned numbers for our two Cannons debuting tomorrow.
Maddison Ford nicks 42 from Shelby Meyers (despite being 13cm taller), while Sarah Grunden is given the job of rehabilitating Annebel Strahan’s 79.
Maddison Ford is the “old” one at 19 years and 2 months. She’s at least 174cm (note the claimed height in the tweet below, from late last year) and has a more-legit-than-usual basketball background.
Ford will have a tough decision on her hands soon as she has been excelling on the hardwood and also on the football field for Wallan and the Calder Cannons.
After playing her first season of football last winter, Ford won the NFNL Under 14 Girls Red best and fairest and Wallan’s best and fairest.
She was also named Most Valuable Player in her VJBL grand final with Sunbury.
It’s easy to see why Ford looks up to Monique Conti, another dual-sport athlete, who plays point guard for the WNBL’s Melbourne Boomers and recently signed to Richmond’s new AFLW side.
https://central.rookieme.com/afl/player/maddison-ford/
Her stats this year indicate she may be playing in defence.