Zarlie Goldsworthy of the GWS Giants and Matilda Scholz of Port Adelaide have been named the Round 2 AFLW Rising Star nominees.
Goldsworthy, a former junior Matilda, has found her footing this year after balancing school and travel in her inaugural season with the Giants.
Goldsworthy made her debut for the Giants against the then-competition newcomers Sydney – in the AFLW’s first-ever Sydney derby.
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“To start with, I felt like I couldn’t really buy a kick, so to get this nomination is very humbling,” she told 7NEWS.com.au.
Having had to balance finishing her year 12 studies in Albury and playing and training with GWS, Goldsworthy says this year is very noticeably, a much more manageable pace.
“Last season we were coming off NAB league and all the national allies champs and then coming straight into a football season – I just felt a bit burnt out by the end of the year and obviously doing HSC as well,” the 18-year-old said.
“I definitely notice the difference, obviously not having that external pressure and worrying about school has been great. And just focusing on being around the club more, moving up to Sydney full time now has just been great to feel a bit more settled and comfortable.
“I love Albury so much, but sometimes when you live in the city, you just realise how much simpler it is down there in the country.
“I’ve noticed a big difference from last year- I remember I was flying, every Tuesday and Thursday just to get to training after school, I’m just noticing how much of a difference it’s made just feeling much more settled and being in one place.”
Goldsworthy managed to earn the nomination despite her side being beaten by 77 points by the reigning premiers, Melbourne.
“I’ve been a bit more calm when I’ve had the ball and weighing up my decisions, and just trying not to feel too pressured or anything,” she said.
“Obviously, coming into AFLW is a huge step, and there’s a lot of pressure on the ball, so that’s definitely something I’ve been working on.
“It’s a great achievement – obviously, we’ve been training for the last three months with preseason, but we’ve also been training a lot in the off-season, too so I guess that it’s just a bit of more reward for effort for those long running sessions we were doing.”
Goldsworthy ended the day with 18 disposals and four marks, as well as a behind for a near miss at goal.
Port Adelaide also got demolished by the Brisbane Lions over the weekend, in a loss by 50 points, but again, it didn’t stop one of their youngsters in Scholz being nominated as a rising star.
Scholz finished her day with 13 disposals, four marks five tackles but says she was completely surprised by the nomination.
“I felt like it was a bit unexpected,” she told 7NEWS.com.au.
“I feel like I’ve improved so much over the pre-season.
“My fitness has been a massive thing that I’ve struggled with in SANFL, that’s 100 per cent improved, and my marking used to be one of my growth areas but I’d say it’s almost now my weapon.
“Coming into Port and having the set conditioning, the set gym stuff has helped me so much.
“I love all the girls so much and I love being at Port but it’s bloody hard.”
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