Meet our Round Eleven Women’s Rising Star Nominee, Finlay Menz from Sydney University,

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Player Profile

Name: Finlay Menz

Nickname: Fin

AFL Sydney Club: Sydney University

Position: Defender

Junior Club: N/A

What is one thing that we don’t know about this Rising Star that they are well known for around the club?

People find it hard to believe that Fin only made the switch to playing footy this year after growing up playing basketball.

What role do they play for the club both on and off the field?

Fin came to the club this season as a Sydney Uni student, keen to try the game after growing up playing high level junior basketball. She’s a popular player having now played in every grade this season after starting her career in Div 3. Fin is also footy obsessed, so is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to what’s going on in the AFL.

Fin is a quiet achiever. On field she is a competitive defender that’s rarely beaten one-on-one and is always there to help out her teammates. She works really hard at training and never misses the opportunity to take on feedback and improve. Her genuine enthusiasm and team mindedness have earned her a great reputation around the club after only playing only 10 games of footy in her lifetime!

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Nomination Details

Reason for nomination this round:

Fin has been a revelation this season since coming down to training to give footy a go. She has now backed up her early season potential in the lower grades with 5 solid games in Premier Division, having been named twice in the best.

This week against Mac Uni Goannas, Fin played a solid role in our defence across half back. She took a number of intercept marks as well as getting plenty of ground ball to provide us with a lot of rebound right when we needed it. Fin is great at reading the game and has a knack for popping up in the right place to cut off opposition forward entries. She has become an important part of our defensive set up.

Coach quote on Performance:

We couldn’t believe Fin hadn’t played footy before and since joining the program her progress has been outstanding. Having come from a basketball background her hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness are outstanding and she has worked really hard on her kicking skills to get to the level to play Prems football.

Fin watches a lot of football and had done some umpiring as a junior, so she really gets how the game is played and this is evident in her positioning and attack on the ball.

Overall, Fin’s ability to win the ball and rebound have been a welcome addition to the squad after losing 5 Prems team defenders from last season. She has fitted in seamlessly into our system to become a vital part of our defensive set up. Fin is well respected by her teammates, which is a credit to how well she has adapted to playing footy in such a short timeframe.

As a coaching group we are incredibly impressed with what Fin’s been able to achieve in such a short period of time and the way she has remained so unassuming in the way she’s gone about it is a real credit to her character.

Jon Dyster- Women’s Senior Coach

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