Who is your club’s heart and soul player?

AFLW: Darcy Vescio has been the main face of Carlton’s AFLW team since the start of the competition, guiding them through many ups and down. A marquee signing in 2016 and the first Bagger to reach 50 games, Vescio was at the club even before that, working in the club’s design team. Along with kicking snags onfield, they also have injected a lot of personality and heart into the club. And at 29, there’s still a lot of football ahead.

COLLINGWOOD

AFL: The Magpies have no shortage of players to choose from in this department with Taylor Adams, Steele Sidebottom, Jack Crisp and Brayden Maynard all fitting the bill comfortably, but when you have a walking, talking bronze statue in your team still playing so well in the twilight of his career, it’s hard to go past him. That’s right, Scott Pendlebury continues to make a mockery of Father Time and has legitimate claims as Collingwood’s greatest player. Pendlebury turns 35 this week, but after claiming his 14th top-three finish in his club’s best-and-fairest last year, his legend only continues to grow.

AFLW: Similar to the men’s group, there are plenty to choose from in the women’s side when it comes to the heart and soul of the Magpies, including captain Steph Chiocci, Chloe Molloy, Brianna Davey, Ruby Schleicher and Stacey Livingstone. But it’s hard to ignore Brittany Bonnici, who really is the glue of the team. Despite doing her ACL early last season and missing the majority of the past two seasons, the 25-year-old has been a pillar for the team, taking on an off-field leadership role while on the sidelines.

ESSENDON

AFL: In a team that features Zach Merrett, Dyson Heppell and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, it’s saying something when you have been unofficially ordained the club’s spiritual leader. That’s exactly the situation exciting ruckman Sam Draper finds himself in. Less than three years after making his debut, Draper has quickly become a massive club favourite both within The Hangar and among fans. He had a breakout year in 2022 and on multiple occasions has grabbed his team and put them on his broad shoulders when the situation calls for it. He is already one of the AFL’s best celebrators, and he made no exception for his spectacular goal of the year against Gold Coast last year.

AFLW: While Maddy Prespakis’ light looms large for the club, it’s really co-captain Bonnie Toogood who is the spiritual leader. A lifelong Essendon supporter and an inaugural co-captain, along with Steph Cain, Toogood embodies so much of what the Bombers are about. She took her game up a notch in season seven, earning her first All-Australian squad inclusion. She was named best club person in the club’s first year, along with the player values award and was runner-up for club best and fairest.

FREMANTLE

AFL: Even after the irreplaceable David Mundy retired, the Dockers still have a bunch of experienced veterans such as Nat Fyfe, Alex Pearce and Michael Walters, but a youngster by the name of Andrew Brayshaw has quickly become the face of the Fremantle Football Club. He exploded in his fifth year, winning the AFLPA MVP and his first Dockers best and fairest, while also earning a maiden All-Australian jumper. He finished just four votes shy of Patrick Cripps in the Brownlow, too. This is his midfield now, so much so that two-time Brownlow winner Fyfe said on multiple occasions last year that he was prepared to play wherever he was needed as he plotted his comeback from a long-term shoulder injury.

AFLW: There are many dedicated purple hearts at Fremantle. Emma O’Driscoll, Ange Stannett, Ebony Antonio, captain Hayley Miller, and you just have to go to a home game to see 21-year-old Roxy Roux is a fan favourite. Yet Kiara Bowers stands above them all. A marquee signing who’s gone from strength to strength over the years – including taking out the league best and fairest with Brianna Davey in 2021 – Bowers takes the team into a new gear when she’s on the field. She’s also been club best and fairest four times.

GEELONG

AFL: If you thought Geelong would be left wanting in this area following the retirement of inspirational skipper Joel Selwood, you’d be sadly mistaken. In fact, the Cats are awash with heart-and-soul types: Tom Hawkins, Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Stewart, Mark Blicavs, Mitch Duncan, Cam Guthrie, Zach Tuohy – they are quite literally spoiled for choice. But one man who really stands out from the crowd is Tom Atkins. His story is one of grit, perseverance and determination. He had to do it the hard way and after years toiling away in the Cats’ VFL team, finally got a chance in the 2019 rookie draft as a 24-year-old. He had to reinvent himself again last year as a hard-at-it inside midfielder, and rose to the challenge again to become one of the most important players in one of the most dominant teams of the modern era and earn himself a premiership.

AFLW: While a case could be made for both Meg McDonald and Amy McDonald – and for Georgie Prespakis in years to come – Nina Morrison just nudges her way to this title. The No. 1 draft pick from 2018 earned a rising star nomination in her debut before an ACL setback.

GOLD COAST

AFL: Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson might be vying for this mantle in the years to come, but right now, there is only one man who is the Suns’ spiritual leader – Touk Miller. Outside of Gary Ablett, Miller is probably the greatest player in Gold Coast’s short history. He sets the standards, he leads by example and is a magnificent player. During an interview with Fox Footy last year, Anderson joked that he wasn’t sure if he was going to make it in the AFL as he struggled to keep up with Miller in intense training sessions during his first pre-season. It is an anecdote that perfectly sums up the dual All-Australian’s work ethic, which has doubtlessly played a key role in slowly but surely turning the Suns into a competitive outfit at long last.

AFLW: A lot of Kalinda Howarth’s journey is emblematic of Gold Coast’s in the league, and that, plus her unyielding love for the club, is why she’s the spiritual leader of the group. Long before she was drafted, Howarth was a lifelong supporter of the club, and playing for the Suns has been a dream of hers since 2013. She was originally signed by Brisbane in 2017 but was delisted the following year. Taken as a priority signing for the Suns in 2019, she’s lifted her game immensely and is now the kind of player relied upon by others. She’s worked hard to get where she is, similar to the Suns’ journey, who despite not yet enjoying a finals campaign, have seen tremendous improvement in the last year.

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY

AFL: The description “colourful character” puts it mildly, but it’s hard to think of a club in the AFL that draws so heavily on one player as GWS does on Toby Greene. A flawed genius, not only is Greene one of the premier small forwards in the competition, but the co-captain is the beating heart of the Giants. Callan Ward and Phil Davis did a great job of nurturing and cultivating the expansion club’s culture over its first decade, but this is well and truly Greene’s team.

AFLW: GWS aren’t starved in this area with four-time club best and fairest Alyce Parker, Irish stalwart Cora Staunton and captain and All-Australian Alicia Eva on the books. And it’s the latter who really defines the spirit of the first Sydney team in the league as Eva has personified the club since joining it in 2018. She led the side through the devastating death of teammate Jacinda Barclay and the COVID years, and has an unyielding belief on show each time she takes the field. As foundation player Rebecca Beeson once described her, she’s a captain with all care.

HAWTHORN

AFL: The Hawks have undergone a similar transition to the Giants with star defender James Sicily assuming the role of spiritual leader. He hasn’t been named the club’s new skipper yet, but you get the sense that it’s a fait accompli. And after a string of short-term captaincies under Jarryd Roughead, Ben Stratton and Ben McEvoy, the Hawks look set for a long era under Sicily, who only turned 28 on Friday. The stage is set for Sicily to mould this team in his own image as the ultra-competitive player that he is.

AFLW: With Hawthorn having only been in the competition for one season, it’s hard to pick a spiritual leader so soon. There’s plenty of youngsters on their list who could take up this claim in future years, including Jasmine Fleming, Tahlia Fellows and Sophie Locke, but right now, none embody it more than Irish import Aileen Gilroy. It’s rare for an Irish player to change colours, but once Gilroy switched from the Roos to the Hawks, she seemed to just bleed brown and gold. Shown best in her winning the club’s gold standards award, as voted by her peers.

MELBOURNE

AFL: In a team blessed with the likes of Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Jack Viney and Angus Brayshaw, one man stands above all – the inimitable Max Gawn. Gawn is the embodiment and physical representation of the Demons’ stunning turnaround in fortunes in recent years, which culminated with them breaking one of the VFL/AFL’s most famous premiership droughts. The bearded giant has captained his club with aplomb and not only leads the way off the field, but does a sensational job of doing so on it as well and is arguably the Demons’ most important player.

AFLW: There’s a lot of players who could easily be touted as heart and soul when it comes to the Demons. Karen Paxman, Libby Birch, Lily Mithen, Kate Hore and more recently Tayla Harris could all take the cake, but it really could only be one: Daisy Pearce. The first Melbourne AFLW player on the list, inaugural captain and now premiership player. Pearce is a three-time club best and fairest, three-time All-Australian and four-time AFLW best captain. And they are known as “Daisy’s Dees” after all.

NORTH MELBOURNE

AFL: If you needed a reminder of what Ben Cunnington means to the Kangaroos, just have a look back to his comeback game against Adelaide in round 22 last year. The outpouring of emotion for the star midfielder following his recovery from cancer was palpable. Not only is he still one of North’s best players when he’s fully fit, he is also a role model for so many of the club’s younger players who look up to him in awe. Cunnington in many ways has been the glue that has held Arden Street together during what has been an extremely tough three years.

AFLW: This one’s a toss up between skipper and stalwart Emma Kearney and superstar Roo Jasmine Garner, who despite each year being touted as a league best-and-fairest favourite, gets overlooked in the counts. On-field, teammates and fans can just breathe a little easier with the three-time club champion in the engine room, and off-field she’s been integral to building the team culture. Although, to be honest, her younger brother Kane, who you can hear loudly at every North Melbourne game, needs some credit for being the spiritual leader of the outer.

PORT ADELAIDE

AFL: Look no further than Travis Boak. While he wasn’t as devastating last year as in his stellar 2020 and 2021 campaigns, the AFL club’s games record-holder is going strong at the age of 34. Ollie Wines and Tom Jonas are certainly providing their fair share of leadership for the Power, but as one of their greatest players, Boak still commands respect from his peers and is synonymous with the Port Adelaide name.

AFLW: It’s incredibly rare for a spiritual leader of a club to have once been the co-captain of its main rival, but then again, there really hasn’t been a story quite like Erin Phillips’ before. A three-time premiership player and two-time league best and fairest, the 37-year-old came home to the club she grew up around as her father played 343 for the Power. The first captain of Port Adelaide’s women’s side, Phillips embodies so much of the club’s history and future.

RICHMOND

AFL: Another club with many candidates to choose from. Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin, Dylan Grimes, Nick Vlastuin, Jack Riewoldt, Liam Baker and Dion Prestia all fit the bill nicely, but ruckman Toby Nankervis truly epitomises what the Tigers are all about. He took to the co-captaincy like a duck to water in his first season in the job last year, producing arguably the best season of his triple -premiership career as he led from the front brilliantly. Richmond walk that little bit taller when Nankervis runs out with them.

AFLW: Courtney Wakefield would have been a shoo-in for this had she not retired at the end of last season but, even then, it would have been hard to ignore what Katie Brennan has done for the club. Joining in 2020 as an inaugural player and captain, she led by example through the rocky first years before leading the side to its maiden finals in season seven. Despite having stars on the list, there’s a notable difference in the ferocity of the group when she’s on the field.

ST KILDA

AFL: The rapid transformation of Jack Steele into not only one of the AFL’s elite midfielders, but the Saints’ spiritual leader has been one of the more noteworthy storylines of the past couple of years. Steele sets the standards and lives up to those standards every time he sets foot on a footy ground. With two All-Australians and two best-and-fairests in his back pocket, he commands respect in everything that he does.

AFLW: Sharpshooter Kate Shierlaw and captain Hannah Priest are perhaps the more notable faces of the team but it’s Bianca Jakobsson who embodies so much of the Saints’ fighting spirit. The 29-year-old took a break from the game in 2020 and wasn’t sure if she would return, but then slotted straight into the team in 2021. She plays her heart out for the team each week, which earned her the club’s best and fairest last season. And you’d be hard-pressed to find a game in the last year where she wasn’t one of the best.

SYDNEY

AFL: Is there a more underrated AFL player over the past decade than Luke Parker? It’s hard to think of one. Perhaps if he played the majority of his career in Victoria, he would receive the appropriate plaudits. You only have to listen to the way coach John Longmire speaks about Parker to get an understanding of what he means to the Swans. An invaluable member of the squad who consistently leads by example with his actions.

AFLW: It’s hard to pick a spiritual leader in such a new and young team but Cynthia Hamilton, at just 18, has already shown she’s up for the task. Already a fan favourite who embodies the Bloods’ culture, she’s been a bright spark for a team that’s yet to score a win. She’s also the club champion and shown she’s got leadership potential. In that regard, she’s got company alongside fellow teenager Sofia Hurley.

WEST COAST

AFL: The end is drawing near for Shannon Hurn, but the 35-year-old still has a bit left to give before his outstanding 18-year career comes to an end. The club’s first 300-game player and games record-holder, Hurn has been a cool and calm head in defence for years, and the former captain’s vast experience will once again be called upon in what looms as another tough year for the Eagles.

AFLW: This just has to be Emma Swanson. Swanson has always been an integral part of the Eagles’ midfield group but took it up a notch last year, capping it off by claiming the club champion and player trademark award. She’s a point of inspiration and energy for the group, which is yet to taste any real success in the league.

WESTERN BULLDOGS

AFL: He’s only 27 years old, but the truth of the matter is Marcus Bontempelli has been the heart and soul of the Western Bulldogs for years. In fact, it’s been the case since his second or third year at the club. An extremely rare and special talent who helped transform the Dogs into a premiership power again after almost six decades in the wilderness, he is one of the best captains in the league, and will go down as a Bulldogs great by the time his brilliant career ends.

AFLW: You really can’t go past Ellie Blackburn for this one, although Kirsty Lamb is right up there with fan-favourite status. No one steps up more when the side needs them, nor plays with their heart on their sleeve, quite like the Bulldogs skipper. This was best put on show when she kicked a last-minute goal in round 10 last season to get the side into the finals. And her football is just continually on an upward trajectory, as she claimed her third club best and fairest last year.

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