BAILEE Martin has a big year ahead.
A prospective top draft pick, the key forward has a full footy slate – the Marsh AFLW Academy, the Marsh Under-18 National Championships with Vic Metro, and the Talent League with perennial contender Oakleigh Chargers – as well as year 12 at Caulfield Grammar.
The Chargers started their Talent League season on Saturday, facing fellow powerhouse Eastern Ranges at the Kennedy Community Centre.
While she was always a talented player, Martin stamped her mark on her cohort with a stunning Talent League campaign last year, booting 42 goals from her 10 matches, including nine against the Northern Knights and seven against the Calder Cannons.
Throw in a casual bag of seven up against Vic Country in the under-18 nationals, and it was a hell of a campaign from a 17-year-old.
"Hopefully I can maintain that form, but I just want to try to enjoy it and just continue to improve," Martin told AFL.com.au.
"I grew up playing a lot of midfield, and I still play midfield at school, but at Oakleigh I moved down forward in my double-bottom year (16 years old), and last year was my main exposure there. I've really enjoyed it."
The AFLW Academy's year actually began in mid-December with a trip to New Zealand for the first camp of the program.
As reported by AFL.com.au, both the boys' and girls' squads made trips over the ditch to the New Zealand campus of innovation and sport in Wellington, the first international camps for the program since 2018.
"The aspirational sporting landscape for young athletes in Australia is quite incredible. We want to make sure we're doing everything we can to provide the most aspirational pathway possible for Australian rules footy," AFL head of talent Nicky Couston told the website in early December.
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"Part of that from all the feedback we gathered was to have a really high-quality once-in-a-lifetime development opportunity that we're able to provide.
"We do think that as well as providing a high-quality footy training camp, some of the other benefits of travelling, being as part of a team, the cultural immersion we're able to do in a place like New Zealand, will be really great to share some of that with the players as well."
The girls' national squad is once again led by Tarkyn Lockyer, with a complete ex-AFLW player panel as assistant coaches: former Brisbane skipper Emma Zielke, recently retired Cat Kate Darby, and ex-Eagle Kate Orme, who has also just been appointed Western Australia's under-18 and under-16 coach.
The players met at Essendon's training base on their first day, with non-Victorian players flying in to meet up with the group. Then it was an early flight to Wellington the following day, with the four-day camp including a main training session and craft session and a few excursions.
"We went to see the New Zealand police dogs, which was a fun team activity, and got some free time to explore Wellington," Martin said.
"The facility was amazing, it's where the Hurricanes (Super Rugby team) are based, and the All Blacks use it quite a bit as well.
"It had a massive indoor grass area, the recovery area with the ice baths, the gym, and then the [fields] were very good.
"It was one of the highest levels of training I've ever worked at. The effort and intensity that all the girls put in was so good. Everyone comes from different programs, so you're learning off everyone.
"We did some sessions on nutrition and the psychology side of the sport. Obviously this is a big year, so I'm learning different ways to be able to get through things, like meditation and mindfulness before games, and the goal-setting side of things so you're not always in your head."
