JASMYN Hewett first picked up a football in earnest exactly a year ago.
She is now testing at the first NAB AFL Women’s Draft Combine in Melbourne, and is a very real chance of being drafted on October 18.
The 24-year-old grew up playing netball. She is from Stirling North (near Port Augusta in South Australia), and moved to Darwin last year with her partner.
"I knew before I made the move to Darwin I would get the opportunity to play football, so that was another thing that made moving so much more exciting," Hewett said.
"I loved kicking the footy as a child with my dad. He always tried to get my brothers out on the street, out on the dirt, kicking the footy around, but I was the only one interested in my family."
The ruck/forward, who has kicked at least one goal in every match playing for St Mary's in the NTFL, is one of the tallest of the 47 players at the combine, at 183cm.
The 47 players will take part medical assessments, club interviews and fitness testing (including tests for speed, agility, power and vertical jumps) on Tuesday and Wednesday at Etihad Stadium.
Invitees have not been restricted by age, with 16 over the age of 18. Players were nominated for the combine by AFLW clubs and state bodies.
One of the younger participants is Queensland under-18 captain Arianna Clarke, who is missing a week of her year 12 classes to test at the combine.
"I prefer to be here anyway," Clarke said with a laugh.
The 18-year-old's football journey contrasts sharply with Hewett's, having started at the age of seven in a small Western Australian country town called Kambalda, west of Kalgoorlie.
"I did a bit of Auskick, then played [with] boys football in under 10s. I played under 12s and 14s, then moved to the Gold Coast where I played under 15s and under 18s girls for the Coolangatta Bluebirds.
"I'm a defensive player. I play in the backline, so I enjoy reading the play and directing others. I think I make pretty good decisions under pressure."
Clubs have a comparatively quick turnaround from the combine to the NAB AFLW Draft, with just two weeks between events.
The AFLW pre-season starts in mid-November, with round one pencilled in for the end of January.
