PAIGE Scott loves being an underdog. Taken with pick eight in the most recent draft, she was the only top 10 selection not in the room that night. Nine weeks on, she is a NAB Rising Star nominee after an outstanding debut against Hawthorn on Saturday night.
"I haven't stopped smiling," Scott told womens.afl.
"The team that I debuted with, I can't speak highly enough of them. They made the moment so special, and the crowd and the fans were unreal."
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Being included on such a momentous day in Essendon's club history was a far cry from the disappointment of not being invited to the draft.
"I had highs and I had lows the whole day," Scott said of draft day.
"I was so confident, like 'You're going to get drafted' and then I'd be spewing, 'No, I'm not, I'm not even invited down there'. I won't lie, I was a little bit hurt by not getting invited down there.
"Like I always say, I couldn't care less what pick I went as long as I was picked up. But you know, to be a top 10 and not be invited down there, it stung for a little bit, but it's so much better now that I think about it because I was with my family and you know, I came out as a bit of an underdog."
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Time spent training with Essendon's midfield group throughout the pre-season, and a heavy focus on improving her running, has been a gamechanger for Scott.
"I've worked so hard on my running, I got some criticism about how my running needs to improve a hell of a lot … the coaches have worked really hard with me on my running and they're trying to make it easy for me now, with transition running instead of just running everywhere," Scott said.
She started Saturday night with an impressive goal and spent the rest of the game through the middle of the ground setting up teammates with her elite skills. It was a performance that resembled the capabilities of Geelong star Chloe Scheer, next to whom Scott made her VFLW debut earlier in the year. And it wasn't by accident, Scheer is one of the key players Scott models her game on.
"(Scheer) was warming up kicking 50-metre set shots and I was like, 'Yeah, no wonder she's got the name she has now', and just the way she made the VFL side so electric and exciting, it was really good… I love her attack on the ball," Scott said.
"I can't speak highly enough of Chloe Scheer. She was such an amazing person on and off the ground, she was always up for a chat, I loved playing with her."
At the Bombers, Scott has found herself under the wing of Maddy Prespakis and Jacqui Vogt.
"I remember being in year eight saying, 'Oh, gee, I'd love to be like Maddy Prespakis one day' and to now be her teammate, as well as one of the close friends is unreal," she said.
"Jacqui Vogt as well has been another big one for me. From the get-go I thought she was such a lovely, lovely person. She made me feel so welcome at the club. I was pretty nervous after I got drafted. I went down to the club, and she gave me the biggest, warmest hug back and I just felt at home straight away."
Now, settled in at the club and with a strong debut under her belt, the world of AFLW is at Paige Scott's feet, even if she has broken the underdog tag.
