Drysdale was toasting former junior Tess Craven on Saturday night as the 20-year-old became an AFLW premiership player.
Craven booted the opening goal of the 2024 grand final for North Melbourne at Ikon Park as the Kangaroos overran Brisbane to win by 30 points.
It wasn’t until the former Drysdale Hawk and Geelong Falcon came from the field late in the final term that she knew the Roos had it won.
“I was coming off the field and people were celebrating a bit on the bench so it sort of clicked and I kind of figured out ‘gee, I think we might be good here’,” Craven told the Independent.
“And then obviously as time progressed I fully allowed myself to enjoy it and hug my teammates, hug the coaches and just really soak up those last couple of minutes.”
Craven was drafted in 2021 with the 13th pick as an inside midfielder, but has made her mark as a speedy winger.
“The thing is when you’re drafted to North Melbourne, there’s just no space in the midfield,” she said.
“I was fully aware that I probably wasn’t going to play there, and I probably won’t for a couple of years now. If that’s in my future, that’d be great, but honestly, I’m happy to play wherever.
“I think that’s (the wing) just what works for me now. At this point in my career, obviously I’m going to leave it up to the big dogs in the middle and maybe there’ll be a time there for me, but I’m certainly happy on the wing now.”
Craven and her family were inundated with messages after the win. Fellow former Drysdale junior Connor Idun, who is carving out an impressive career at GWS, was one of them.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing though. Craven did an honest podcast with AFL journalist Sarah Black where she opened up about her self-doubt.
“Look, it’s an ongoing process and it’s not linear that’s for sure,” she said.
“Like you can go up and down, especially in footy, you can have a bad game, you can have a good game, like things change. And I mean, I’m still obviously experiencing the challenge of trying to keep my head above water in terms of having that confidence and it’s not always easy, but I think since the events of last year, I’ve learned the tools to how I can get myself out of a slump.
“But if there was to be one turning point, I’m not sure if I can pinpoint a specific moment. But if I was to say anything, it’s really just in the off season. I just really dedicated myself to working really hard and I think that sort of instilled some internal belief in me from that point.”
Craven turns 21 a few days before Christmas and will spend the off-season relaxing before preparing for a tilt at back to back flags.
“I’ll go back to uni next year, I’ll hopefully see my family,” she said.
“My family moved. They’re actually not in Geelong anymore. They moved to Bendigo around when I started playing footy so I haven’t really had the chance to go. I’ve only been to the new house once so I should go up and spend some time with them, which will be fun.
“But honestly, just relax and enjoy life a bit. We’re a very committed group (at North Melbourne) and we’ve been dedicated to our cause of winning this flag for the whole year at this point. So it’ll be good to just lay back for a bit and then hopefully get straight back into the offseason.”
