J'NOEMI Anderson may still have a year before she is eligible for the NAB AFLW Draft, but the Northern Territory forward has plenty of family she can lean on for advice.
Anderson, 16, has three older siblings who have or currently still play in the AFL and AFLW competitions.
Joe played 17 games for Carlton between 2007 and 2010 and Jasmine was a rookie on Adelaide's inaugural AFLW list in 2017.
Jed is now a mainstay in North Melbourne's midfield, having played 80 games after starting his career at Hawthorn, and Anderson able to spend a lot of time with him now she's living in Melbourne for her schooling at Melbourne Girls Grammar.
"We do chat about footy a little bit but it's more just normal stuff," Anderson said.
"He messages me on some game days and tells me, 'just go out there, have fun, play your hardest and do what you do best'.
"I'm always there every weekend, so get to see him and the kids.
"It's pretty good to have an older sister and two older brothers play professional football, it's a lot of help and support from them for me."
While in Melbourne, the decorated junior – who won the NTFL's 2020/21 Rising Star award – has been plying her trade for local club Richmond JFC, as well as running around with NAB League side Sandringham Dragons, where she was named in the best in two of four occasions.
She also returned to Darwin to play in St Mary's under-18 Grand Final triumph over Darwin Buffettes.
"I usually play in the middle, but the last couple of years I've been playing forward, which is pretty good, tackling, kicking goals and stuff like that and potentially help the girls kick goals as well," Anderson said.
"My family are big family, like a footy family. My granddad was a huge player in Darwin, so he's started it off. My brothers have all gone through, at a different club though, but my sisters all went to St Mary's, so I followed them.
"Footy was pretty fun and a lot of my friends did it as well, so having the (family) support to go and play was good. I've just been in love with it from when I was little to now, and it's a pretty good sport."
INDICATIVE DRAFT ORDER Your club's picks ahead of the Sign and Trade Period
Anderson has a firm eye on next year's draft. The Northern Territory has an alliance with Gold Coast, but there have previously been players (Krstel Petrevski, Steph Williams) nominating for Victoria after completing their schooling in the state.
"I want to work on my skills a bit more, as well as fitness and strengthening my body and stuff like that," she said.
"Just playing the game is one of my biggest things, but if I make it [to the AFLW], hopefully, if I get the opportunity, then I'll take it."
