A change of heart has led an ex-Launceston Tornadoes star to abandon her pursuit of a promised AFLW career.
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Tayla Roberts initially signed a contract in June with North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos, one of two expansion clubs in the women’s football competition next year.
But the 25-year-old told the Roos on Monday morning that her burgeoning basketball schedule would take precedence and delay her foray into making the switch.
The AFLW side already had earmarked the 192cm basketball power forward for a ruck role due to her “athletic attributes and height”.
“Tayla has a great opportunity in front of her to take her basketball to the next level and we understand it was a tough decision for her to make,” North’s AFLW head of football operations Laura Kane said on Monday.
“We were well aware of the situation when we signed Tayla, but unfortunately it came to a point where she had to pick between the two.”
Roberts had departed the Tornadoes at the end of the 2017 SEABL season to join rivals Dandenong Rangers to align up with her WNBL club.
The former Riverside High student that grew up in Exeter told The Examiner on the annoucement of her brave decision that she never had played the game but was encouraged by her entire family being Kangaroos supporters.
“I heard what [North Melbourne] had to say and met up with the club a few times, and decided I’d give it a crack so as long as I will be able to keep playing basketball,” Roberts said in June.