Three Carey Captains, three AFL draft prospects

Kelly Southworth Editor

The Captains of the Boys First XVIII, Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson, and the Captain of the Girls First Football, Nicola Xenos, are all looking toward a career in AFL and AFLW respectively. So how has Carey footy helped them on that path? Nicola, Matt and Noah recently spoke to Torch about what they’ve learned along the way. How long have you been playing? Noah: Since Auskick. So when I was four or five years old. Nicola: I’ve been playing seven years. I started mainly with basketball and netball, but I dropped that and I’m now focussing on footy. Matt: I’ve also played tennis, basketball, athletics. I played in the First Tennis Team. Noah played in the First Volleyball Team and State Basketball. And we’ve both done Athletics since Year 7. It’s helped quite a bit with footy though, with spatial awareness, fitness and coordination. Noah and Matt, I’ve heard you’re pretty good friends too. When did you meet? Noah: We used to play against each other in basketball and football in primary school, and we’d talk at a few primary school cross country meets because we knew who we both were. We were kind of rivals, because we both had pretty good teams, but then we ended up coming to Carey in Year 7 together and started playing basketball and footy at school, and we’ve been best mates pretty much ever since. What have you liked about Carey footy? Matt: Playing with my best mates. And we’ll have a really good bond forever, with all those years of Saturday mornings out when the dew’s still on the grass. And now we’ve finished up with the premiership, so it’s pretty cool. Nicola: It’s also been good being Captain, because it’s not something I would normally put my hand up for. Stepping up really helped me both on and off the field. And it’s been good to be part of the start of girls footy. The talent in the team from a young age is crazy these days, so it’s only going to get better. The standard is lifting. And how does Carey footy compare to your other teams? Nicola: It’s pretty different, but very rewarding. You can definitely get a lot out of school footy.

‘School footy feels like it’s more centred around the team as a whole. The focus is on if we win or lose rather than individual performance. Because you have a real bond with these people on your team that you’ve known for six years. You can’t beat that.’

Noah: School footy feels like it’s more centred around the team as a whole. The focus is on if we win or lose rather than individual performance. Because you have a real bond with these people on your team that you’ve known for six years. You can’t beat that. Who has inspired you at Carey? Nicola: I always looked up to Katie Lynch because she got drafted last year. And I played on the team with her. So, she’s probably my role model. Matt: Vince Dattoli and Jack Joslin have been really good. Vinnie’s not too intense and he lets you have a good time as well. I couldn’t have asked for a better coach for school footy. Noah: Yeah, they’re great. I’d also say past players, like Charlie Thompson, Tom Jepson, Ed Richards, they were awesome, we looked up to them. And how did this season go? Noah: It wasn’t like we knew the whole year we were going to win the APS Premiership. We were holding on because we lost in round three to Haileybury, which was devastating. Matt: It felt like the end of the world. Noah: We had to win every game for the rest of the year to get a chance at the premiership. And then Rowelly and I missed two games because we had to play State, and while you have trust in your teammates you just want to be

there to help. But they got it done. We were so happy when we heard we won. Matt: Then after those two games, we played Brighton, and we were down by six goals with 30 minutes left. We ended up winning with a kick on the siren! We won the rest of the games until the final match against the undefeated Caulfield. We won, so we were joint APS Premiers – that was the best day of my life! How do you go balancing Year 12 with all of your sport commitments? Nicola: It’s been quite stressful, especially the last month because the workload has picked up a bit. But it’s really important to find that balance between sport, school and social as well. Matt: And you have to get help from people as well, you can’t do it all on your own. I’ve had a lot of help from teachers outside of class just to get me through. What is the most important thing you’ve learnt throughout school football? Matt: Probably the importance of connection. I think we do that really well with school footy. It’s one of the main reasons we ended up with the APS Premiership, especially when you have players across year levels and age groups. You have to connect. Nicola: I’d agree, making those relationships within the team and coming together. A lot of us didn’t know each other when we started, but once

we found that connection with one another, it was so much easier. It made it more enjoyable for everyone. Noah: I think enjoyment is a big one. Realising that there’s more to life than football – it’s not everything. What advice do you have for younger Carey footballers? Noah: Just enjoy it. It goes so quickly. Obviously, we aim to go professional and do it for a job, but for a lot of people Year 12 is probably the last year of junior footy you get. So just enjoy playing with your best mates. Nicola: I think the bottom line is enjoying it. And especially for girls footy because it’s so new. And obviously a lot of girls play for fun, but if you do want to take it seriously, whatever that might mean, you want to get something out of it. If you’re aiming to achieve something, go for that goal, and do what you can to achieve it. Is it daunting at all, going into professional football? Matt: Probably the most daunting thing of all is that you don’t know where you’re going to end up. You could be moving interstate. But apart from that, it’s pretty exciting. We might be playing footy for a living, which is what I’ve always want to do and what I love. Noah: It’s more exciting. It’s an opportunity.