Last month Michael Di Petta spoke with St Kilda Sharks midfielder Brianna Davey about her career and which code she would select. Today she was announced as a Carlton marquee player - decision made.
NOT many young Australians can boast dominant ability in two of the nations football codes. But Brianna Davey, an explosive midfielder for the St Kilda Sharks in the Swisse VFL Women’s competition and a talented goalkeeper for Melbourne City in the W- League, does just that.
Davey presents one of the most impressive resumes for any twenty one year old in Australian sport – not only has she played for the Women’s national soccer team (the Matildas), but has also become one of the nations top footy prospects despite having just a years experience in the game.
This leaves Davey in a rather unique, yet favorable predicament. With the inaugural AFL Women’s National League presumably just around the corner, Davey may well need to choose between codes for a professional career sooner rather than later.
“At the moment it’s still up in the air for me, I’m not too sure whether I will have to make a decision, but if it comes to a point where they will clash then that’s when it will have to happen. To be honest I couldn’t tell you which way I’m going to go, but in saying that, if I can play both, I will play both.”
Currently playing with the Sharks and the Western Bulldogs Women’s squad for the football calendar season before switching back to soccer in September, right now Davey is just enjoying the chance to spend time with her much loved oval ball.
“Initially I grew up playing Aussie Rules and basketball, they were kind of my roots as a kid, my family had a background in footy. So I grew up playing footy up until I was around 12, and that was when I decided to change codes, because there was nothing really in it for women’s footy,” Davey says.
Davey’s switch from footy to soccer began on a family holiday at Anglesea Caravan Park, when the then twelve-year-old was discovered by a talent scout in a classic kick-about game on the grass. From there, Davey’s whirlwind journey onto the Australian soccer scene culminated in a first national appearance at the tender age of 16, before she became the mainstay number one goalkeeper in the Matilda’s side.
But after a surprise exclusion before the 2015 Women’s World Cup, Davey decided to try her hand at footy again, with exceptional results.
“I guess it was the perfect time to go back to the footy, I had a bit of time up my sleeve and I wasn’t travelling around like a maniac with the national team. It was quite spontaneous, it wasn’t planned or anything, but I picked up the footy again and after five games I was drafted as the number one pick for the Western Bulldogs.”
Indeed, Davey found that her abilities as a goalkeeper translated over into the AFL landscape.
“It’s funny how much goalkeeping transcends into the game. I think my main strength on the footy field, what people would put down as my strength, is that I’m quite explosive over the first few metres and good bursting through packs. Really that’s come from goalkeeper training, and I think that’s been a massive part of my game.”
Whichever code Davey prefers when the time comes, should she need to decide, there is no doubt she has the potential to forge an extremely successful career, be it with keepers gloves or with footy in hand.
“I’m playing footy at the moment, and I’m having a break from soccer until the W-League, so I guess you could say I’m focusing on that, but it’s more of a personal decision than to say that I’m focusing on my footy.”
“If in the end there is a decision to be made (between footy and soccer), then that’s going to be very hard to do.”
Photo: Cameron Grimes
Last Modified on 27/07/2016 17:36
