Daria Bannister broke the AFL women’s state agility record of 8.51 seconds – and then equalled a new sprint record for good measure.
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The Launceston footballer joined Blues teammate Hayley Breward to share a 3.29 seconds 20m sprint mark at Saturday’s AFL Tasmania youth girls academy testing.
The pair wiped off the state’s previous best from Wynyard’s Emma Humphries, who earlier this year was selected at pick 34 for Melbourne in the inaugural AFL women’s draft.
Breward was also high on test lists, recording a standout 11.3 on her beep test.
But East Launceston’s Amy Halaby scored the top 11.8 level for the gruelling run.
The girls’ set of marks at the Silverdome were on track with meeting standards expected of AFL draftees.
AFL Tasmania football development manager Leigh Elder was on hand to put the state’s most equipped 47 players through their paces.
Elder said statistically five Tasmanians would gain a AFLW spot, highlighting that the best recorded marks at the state testing weighing heavily on clubs’ minds.
“Those two elite figures are going to be shining beacons of light when they go to the AFL once the TIS gives its report later next week,” he told the aspiring AFLW players.
“That’s the first thing they’ll ask about.”
Just weeks after Tasmania barely registered a blip on the AFL draft map – none coming directly from the island – the star female athletes were kicking new goals.
Elder said the breakout national competition has ensured women’s football is “taken to another level” under a new high-performance state league and Tasmanian academy models.
“There’s an argument now to say we’ve got so many talented athletes coming into the system that probably half of the girls that represented the state under-18s last season are under pressure for their spot, which is a great situation to have,” he said.
“We’ve got more athletes and more talented footballers after playing a full season in that youth girls structure. We’ve come from 200 players to select from to 1000.”
The teens were told sacrifices on their fitness and diet were needed over the festive month that should include a weights’ program to build up their strength and core work.
They will return in January for three time trials before up to 30 footballers are accepted into the state academy with hopes of joining the four Tasmanians in the AFLW.
“We actually had five girls who played with those drafted girls for the state, so all of a sudden someone they’ve played with is in the national competition,” Elder said.
“That’s built a lot of momentum and they realise their dreams are not far away if they do the hard work.”
We’ve come from 200 players to select from to 1000 players to select from
- AFL Tasmania's Leigh Elder