A more experienced Maddie Shevlin says she's ready to take her first steps in the AFLW after being drafted by Collingwood on Tuesday, giving her the chance to play for the club she grew up supporting.
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The former Gungahlin Jets wing got a taste of the AFLW environment last year when she was picked up by the Melbourne Demons in the rookie draft.
The Demons delisted Shevlin in March, but she spent the off-season playing for Casey in Victoria and won the club's best and fairest award.
That has given her the confidence to make the leap into the growing competition and Collingwood put faith in her development by using pick No. 19 to secure her services.
It was a big moment for Shevlin, who started supporting Collingwood after he grandfather died when she was four years old.
"I couldn't be happier. Being drafted is great and a real surreal feeling, but to go to the team you've grown up supporting is something really special," Shevlin said.
"Pa had bowel cancer [and when he died] there was one less Collingwood supporter in the family so I jumped ship. I've never looked back since then.
"My uncle's a mad Collingwood supporter as well, so to now be playing for them is amazing."
Collingwood picked up nine players in the draft, including Jordyn Allen and Katie Lynch with their two first-round picks.
Geelong selected Nina Morrison as the overall No.1 pick in the draft, just two years after her dad encouraged her to take up the sport.
Shevlin, a former Australian oz-tag representative, has only been playing Australian football for three years after one of her teachers convinced her to try the sport.
"I'm lucky enough to find myself on a list this season," Shevlin said.
"The Melbourne footy club gave me a big opportunity by putting me on their list last year, but I didn't get that chance to play. Looking at next year, hopefully the experience I've got I can get as many games as possible.
"Having the AFLW season and the training programs really helped me developed, I owe a lot [to Melbourne and Casey] for being on the Collingwood list."
Meanwhile, former Canberra United captain Ellie Brush has put her soccer career on hold to focus on her AFLW campaign with the GWS Giants.
Brush, a foundation W-League player, left Canberra and moved to Sydney last year to juggle soccer duties with the Western Sydney Wanderers and Giants training.
But the 30-year-old says the time has come to focus on Australian football if she wants to flourish for the Giants.
"Being a 'dual athlete' over the past [two] years is something I'm very proud of and I'm also very grateful to have been able to have those opportunities," Brush said on social media.
"However as it is becoming increasingly difficult to pursue both as they increase in professionalism- a fantastic thing for sport in this country- I've decided to make the difficult call to step away from W-League for the 2018-19 season and focus on AFLW with GWS Giants."
