Since being selected with pick no.12 in the 2024 AFLW draft, Holly Ridewood has quickly made her mark in the young Dons side through a mix of different roles across the midfield, wing and forward half.
A versatile option for the side, the 18-year-old featured in every game for the 2025 season and has established herself as a consistent contributor from the get-go.
Ridewood quickly became a fan favourite as she adopted the nickname ‘Hollywood’ from round one, where she kicked two incredible goals on her debut against GWS.
We sat down with Holly and reflected on her first year at AFLW level, as well as her key takeaways on and off-field.
Ridewood on… reflecting on her first year at AFL level
It was so much fun. I feel like it was like a ‘dream come true’ type thing.
I definitely felt prepared coming into it. My body definitely took a little while to adjust to the physicality of playing against older or bigger girls, but I feel like it was absolutely awesome to take that step a little bit quicker with a round one debut.
I absolutely loved all the experience I was able to get and it was perfect.
Ridewood on… playing every game
I feel like it wasn't a specific goal of mine, it was just something that came with it.
I was lucky enough to be able to get the experience of every game, and every game I've learned something new and have been able to work on that, then use it to grow my game for the following week.
So yeah, I feel like at the beginning of the year it wasn't a set-out goal. It was just to see how we'd go and then as the year went on, I was like, ‘this is pretty cool.’
Ridewood on… first goal(s) in her debut game
I remember it was pretty awesome.
I was just so excited stepping out onto that ground at AFLW level for the first time – it was absolutely incredible. I was lucky enough to have lots of family and friends there too, so kicking two goals was an added bonus.
It all happened in a blur. Everyone was kind of just came running at me all at once and it was just such an amazing feeling, one I'll never forget.
Being able to finish my debut with two goals and a win in Canberra was pretty cool.
Ridewood on… the bond between the 2024 draft class, on and off-field
Yeah, we're very lucky to have such a close group.
I feel like we're all very close to each other and especially with training too, we've learnt and supported each other a lot.
It’s the small things like asking questions together, speaking about things that maybe everyone else knows, but we maybe hadn’t grasped at the time.
It’s been absolutely awesome.
To be able to go through it all together whilst knowing how challenging it is to kind of take this step up in all of our careers, being able to do it together has been so helpful.
We've had a few games that we have been able to play all together. To go from the pre-season, getting drafted together, it’s a dream come true for all of us.
Ridewood on… mentors, teammates who have been in her corner
I feel like coming in, I learned a lot from Bess Kearney, she is awesome.
She gave a lot of insights on the wing role and really explained it to me that in ways that I understood and simplified all the difficult things that came along with it.
She was in my back pocket supporting me and giving little fist bumps along the way. It’s really cool to have her as a mentor and learn lots of insights from her years of experience.
Ridewood on… Dreamtime in Darwin and the experience up North
I’d say that was my favourite round all year.
It was so cool to be able to go up there for a few days, visit the local schools and meet some amazing kids, they were seriously awesome.
They were so sweet and their love for footy was admirable, all the kids were just having so much fun with it all so be able to play in front of a lot of them and the community down there was like an experience I'll never forget.
It was obviously a very hot game, but it’s one that I hopefully look forward to next year and can see some of the girls that we visited at their schools again.
‘Holly, can you sign my hat? My footy?’ ‘Of course you can.’ I love that.
Ridewood on… personal goals for the off-season
Strength is one of my main focuses, especially against these big bodies.
I’m definitely still working on my fundamentals and really perfecting them to make sure they're up to the standard and beyond.
I feel like with all the experience this year, it's also just been great to see all the mistakes I've made along the way too. Then I can evaluate how to work on those and become the best footballer I can be.
