Tara Murray
Rylie Wilcox has ticked off a lot of boxes as she gets closer to realising her dream of becoming an AFLW player.
The Northern Knights star excelled throughout the NAB League Girls season before playing for Vic Metro in the under-18 national championships and then for Carlton in Victorian Football League Women’s competition.
Wilcox said she was pretty excited by what might happen in the coming weeks. The AFLW draft is on June 29.
“I couldn’t have dreamed of anything better and I’m really happy where I am today,” she said at the AFLW draft combine.
“I can not wait for the next month or so. I’m so nervous, really excited to see what happens in a month’s time.”
Wilcox said her whole top age year had been an exciting one.
Having started playing football in 2018 after previously playing hockey and soccer, Wilcox found a home pretty quickly and joined the Northern Knights program.
This season she played six games averaging 20 possessions a game, up from 12 last season.
After being named in the Vic Metro squad at the start of the season, Wilcox made an impact at the national level.
She was named in the under-18 girls All Australian team for her performances at the championships.
“It was such a great experience,” she said. “I met some incredible people and made friends throughout the whole program.
“I loved it. It took time to fit in and get used to it, but it was definitely really good by the end.”
Next stop was playing in the VFLW, another goal Wilcox had set herself in the pre-season.
She said she was grateful for the opportunity.
“It’s been such a great experience for the short period of time I’ve been with them,” she said.
“It’s very tough and it’s such a great standard. It’s definitely a good experience getting used to bigger bodies and physique.”
After a solid performance in the two-kilometre time trial at the AFLW draft combine, Wilcox said she was keen on making sure she was ready for whatever comes next.
“I’ve been pretty busy and I’m grateful for the opportunity,” she said. “I’m really happy what I’ve done short team and hopefully I’ll get drafted in the long run.
“I’ll just continue to improve on the stuff I need to improve on and keep up my fitness and go to the gym.
“I’m not going to let this period [before the draft] go to waste. I want to continue to get better.”
