On this edition of Player Spotlight, we talked with women's rookie Joanna Rutkowski. In her first season playing footy, she has definitely got her share of attention from opponents. Her height has been definitely given her a headstart with ruck taps and contested marks but the rest of her game is steadily coming into form as well. Her play has caught the eye of AFL Canada and she has been named to the team going to compete in the Parallel Cup against the United States, a tremendous accomplishment.
1. How did you get involved in footy?
I went to Australia for a year and the first time I saw the oval footy field, I thought Australians play quidditch as a sport. I've been to one afl game in Sydney (I was very confused at the time as I tried to figure out the rules) but other than that, I did not get involved with footy until I came back to Canada. One night I ran into Kendra, Erika, Steph and Nick at snooty fox - they were very impressed with my height and convinced me to give it a try so I started training with the Hamilton Wildcats in January and I've been loving it ever since.
2. As a taller player, you have naturally been slotted into the ruck position. How are you finding playing in the ruck and being involved in every play?
It's great, I'm never confused as to what position I'll be playing! It's definitely a lot of running around, I need to be wherever the ball is because at any given time, the ref can stop the play and I need to be ready for a ball up. Then ideally I make a beautiful pass to my teammate ... doesn't always happen but I'm working on it :)
3. You were currently selected to play in the Parallel Cup to represent Canada. What motivated you to go out for the team? What expectations or goals do you have for yourself on this team?
I'm very excited that I made the National team! My motivation was to become a better player - there's always room for improvement and now I have another set of coaches that will help me work on my skills as well as many talented teammates I can look up to. Other than that, a chance to represent Canada is a motivation on its own! I definitely have the height advantage over any other ruck-woman, but that's not always enough to put the ball in my teammate's hands. My goal is to increase the number of successful passes - I need to toughen up, jump higher, stick my knee up and work on communicating with my teammates to know where to put the ball and then make sure it goes where it's supposed to.
4. What would you say to someone who may be interested in playing footy but still on the fence?
You might love it, you might decide it's not for you, but you won't know until you give it a try. I can't speak for every afl team, but all players and coaches (both the guys and the girls) on the Hamilton Wildcats are very welcoming to all new players. Trying a new sport that you don't know much about can be intimidating, but I found that anyone on the team is happy to walk rookies through the basics or explain the drills.
Last Modified on 09/07/2015 12:29
