HAWTHORN has a new Wiz in town, this time in the form of West Australian forward Poppy Stockwell.

"We're calling her the Wiz around the club because she's just got the natural smarts of a footballer, and I just can't believe Freo let her go," Hawks veteran Kaitlyn Ashmore told AFL.com.au over the phone.

The call was to Stockwell, but upon answering, she passed the phone over to housemate Ashmore at the latter's insistence.

"She's flourishing in our environment, which is really nice," Ashmore added.

Stockwell landed in Ashmore, Mackenzie Eardley, and Lavinia Cox's share house after spending some time in an Airbnb, given the speed with which her move to Victoria and arrival at the Hawks happened.

"We all play (Fortnight) together, which is cute," Stockwell said.

Partner Alyssa was encouraging the move, knowing that despite the long-distance between them, it was exactly what Stockwell wanted and needed. Particularly in bouncing back from a tough 2025.

This year has been a "complete 180" compared to her experience last year, in which she was signed as a replacement player at Fremantle, battled injury and illness, and was delisted after just two games.

"I'd be lying if I said it was an easy year. I was struggling with an ankle injury in pre-season, pretty much as they picked me up, and dealing with sickness as well. I got sick three to four times back-to-back. So I didn't really have that pre-season under my belt that I needed, from a fitness standpoint," Stockwell said.

She's honest and open, identifying fitness as an area that she's always needed to work on and improve. Always able to show snippets of what she's capable of, finding that consistency has been the challenge.

"I knew that I was good enough to be in an AFLW program and to be there, but they didn't really like the fitness component of that. So, I just asked for an off-season program and I did it, and then came back to the WAFLW, got my fitness up and just started playing well," Stockwell said.

Things have come together for the small forward – and, frankly, for Hawthorn – with 15 goals under her belt and a growing chemistry with fellow forwards Jac Dupuy and Àine McDonagh. They clicked in round 12, helping the club to its highest-ever score and securing a place in finals.

It's a far cry from the teenager who signed a two-year contract with Cricket WA as a keeper-batter, ruling her out of nominating for the Telstra AFLW Draft.

"Loved all my teammates, all the coaches, it was just one thing that got to me. When I did sign my cricket contract the Eagles came to me and were like 'Oh, we want you to go into the draft', and I had a meeting with them and I said, 'Oh, I can't because I've just signed my cricket contract, so that would be a breach of that'," Stockwell said.

"I feel like that just weighed on me over the next two years of my cricket career. I was just thinking, 'what if?' with football the whole time, and I think that had an impact on my cricket performance and a kind of self-sabotage thing, like 'Oh, maybe I should just quit and go to footy'. I couldn't stop thinking about footy the whole two years."

Born in 2003, AFLW didn't come around until Stockwell was 14, while female cricketers playing for Australia were her role models during her crucial development years. Playing for Australia, playing Big Bash cricket, seemed like the most realistic dream for a young Stockwell.

But once she was in the thick of it, earning that contract while in her last year of high school, it made her realise what she truly loved. And that was footy.

"Nat Medhurst, she was our cricket (player development manager) at the time, and she sat down with me and was just like, 'Do you even want to be here in regards to cricket?' and I couldn't really give her an answer, and I couldn't really look at her in the eyes because I felt bad. I don't know why, but I kind of just broke down and I was just like, 'Yeah, not really', and that's when the journey started going back to footy," Stockwell said.

"A lot of my family around me also said, 'Oh, we think you're better at footy'."

Watching Stockwell on a footy field, it makes sense. The goal nous, the enthusiasm at strong team performances, and above all, the freedom with which she plays.

"I'm very much a player that plays off instinct. I'm not the most logical person, like, I can be, but when it comes to footy I just do what feels right. And I feel like a lot of the time I do make the right decision when I go off my gut and instinct," Stockwell said.

"The difference between cricket and footy is like, cricket, you're batting, you're out, and it's pretty harsh. Whereas I feel like footy, it's such a mental game but it's how you bounce back. You can stuff up a kick or miss a goal, but you still have a chance to get another one back and show that mental resilience and grit."

Despite going the long way round, Stockwell has ultimately landed exactly where she needs to be.

"I definitely feel like the environment at the Hawks has suited me to perfection," Stockwell said.

"Just love running around, kicking goals, celebrating as well. It's good fun."