After walking away with a nail-biting win against Collingwood in their first practice match last weekend, the Bombers are itching to get the AFLW season underway.
New recruit Sophie Strong, although currently sidelined through injury, is still hustling towards the pre-season finish line, eager to kick off her first year in the big time.
“My primary focus while being in rehab has kind of just been going through all the vision that I can to make sure that when I go out on the track again, I'm fully prepared for that. Just not falling behind on any of the structure stuff,” Strong said.
“Team wise, we’ve been focusing mainly on our ball movement and getting speed on the ball. There's been a lot of work around our stoppage structure, so learning all of the new structures, but also refining what we want to be known for in attack and defence.”
The Tassie-born small forward had a dysfunctional draft year due to injury. However, a few quality appearances in the Coates Talent League were enough for Strong to get picked up by Essendon.
“I was actually injured all of my draft year, which was a bit of an upset, but I ended up playing a couple of allies games and playing for the Tassie Devils team in the Coates League,” Strong said.
“How it kind of came about is I played one Allies game against Queensland, (I was) lucky that was a good game. And yeah, the Bombers were pretty keen.
“They had an interview with me and I didn't really hear much from them until draft night, so it was a bit of a shock but I’m so happy that I got picked up by the Bombers.”
Strong has entered the professional sporting environment alongside eight other new faces, appreciative of the Club culture and her peers for guiding her into this new space.
“I think just the supportive environment that all of us draftees have been brought into, it's just like having 30 new sisters really,” Strong said.
“The culture and the connection that the girls have been building over the past four years, coming into that has been so easy to just be yourself.
“All the coaching staff, they're just so keen to get you up to beat and share their knowledge.”
The Dons’ leadership group has expanded this year to include an Emerging Leaders panel, and with Co-Captains Bonnie Toogood and Steph Cain leading the charge, the young Bombers have many role models to look up to.
Strong speaks to those in the team that she’s inspired by from a leadership and playing perspective.
“Certainly ‘Bon’ (Toogood) and ‘Caino’ (Cain). They've both got their own very unique leadership styles that I think resonate with everyone in the group, they've both been very big supports for me,” Strong said.
“On field I look up to Daria Bannister, we’re both small pressure forwards. I aspire to play like her.”
Footy wasn’t always on the cards for the young forward.
Strong was a gymnast for 13 years before she looked into football, and with the launch of AFLW program in 2017, the doors of opportunity opened.
“I started (playing football) in 2020, and then I started training properly at the end of 2021,” Strong said.
“When the AFLW came about, I didn't ever think that I'd be playing because it only got serious for me in about 2021.
“Then I quit gymnastics and from then on it was with the Devils and that's where I found my love for it really.”
With another practice game around the corner, the Bombers are full steam ahead and ready to take on the opening round of the 2025 AFLW season.
Despite her injury, Strong is looking forward to the season ahead.
“I'm just looking forward to playing a higher standard of footy and being able to put into practice all that we've been working on training,” Strong said.
“I’m just keen to be able to actually get out on the field with all the girls I've been forming a connection with and to play alongside them.”
