New Melbourne recruit Deanna Berry didn’t have long to let the realisation she’d achieved her AFL dream sink in.
Having been taken with pick nine, the first of the second round, the 18-year-old had to return to school the next day.
“I tossed up whether I would go,” she said. “They called me, telling me the principal wanted me there for a briefing. I ended up running late and they were calling asking for me. Everyone applauded me when I walked in.”
The Whittesea Secondary College school captain admitted not a lot of work got done, as everyone wanted to talk about her draft success.
Berry, who played for Melbourne Uni this season, said making an AFL team was “unreal”.
“There was so many mixed emotions … I was still nervous as it [the draft] had only just started when my name was called out,” she said. “I said to a few people it could be a while before my name is called out, but I was called out at pick nine.”
Berry said she had spoken to a few clubs before the draft, but Melbourne wasn’t one of them.
Demons captain Daisy Pearce was one of the first people to congratulate her.
“I had trained with her at the [AFL Victoria Women’s] Academy and I saw her before the draft and she was asking how I was feeling,” Berry said. “As soon as it happened, she had her phone in my face getting all my emotions.”
Berry said being part of the academy had been important in her development. She was 17 when she entered the academy as its youngest player.
“I was really happy with the opportunity at the academy this year … it could get my foot in the door,” she said.
Berry was also part of the Vic Metro side that won the Youth Girls Championships on the MCG earlier this year.
Berry is the first player drafted out of Mernda Football Club. She played junior football there and was part of the first girls team to play at the club.
But she said she never thought her name would be called out in an AFL draft.
“Never,” she said. “Growing up with the boys, I had played rep football. The last couple of year sthe AFL has got on board with women’s football.
“The boys who I played with didn’t get a crack. Dad is still involved with the club and to represent them is another thing I want to do right.”
For now, Berry will turn her attention back to school and completing her VCE exams before heading to the Demons for pre-season next month.
