WARATAH V STH DISTRICTS

Bloodlines show in Ponter’s prowess

BEST 2.1 6.1 7.3 10.3 2.7 5.9 10.14 14.15 LIKE so many female Aussie rules players, Danielle Ponter grew up immersing herself in every sport she could.

She shone at softball and basketball. But there was something about kicking the footy around that she just could not stray from.

Perhaps it was in her blood. After all, her mother Susie’s brother is Essendon great Michael Long.

Then there is her cousin, the recently retired Hawthorn star Cyril Rioli.

And she has more cousins running around in the AFL: St Kilda’s Ben Long and Michael’s son Jake, who is on Essendon’s list.

At only 19, Darwin-based Ponter makes history because she’s the first girl in the family to debut at football’s top level.

She will play her first AFLW game today when the Crows take on Carlton at Ikon Park.

“Obviously, I’m very excited,” Ponter said after learning she’d made the Crows list after being an emergency the previous weekend.

“I was with the girls at the time and they really got around me, which helped settle the nerves a bit.”

Ponter was drafted by the Crows with pick 48 at the 2018 AFLW draft and coach Matthew Clarke observed this week that while it seemed like Ponter would be playing her first game, in reality, she’s played far more senior games than that, after playing for Essendon in the VFLW and St Mary’s in her local NT league.

“We talked about it being her first game and then we said: ‘Well, actually, it’s probably her 101st’ because she’s been playing footy in the NT since she was a toddler,” Clarke said.

“Her skill level is really high, but now the pressure will be higher than it has been in those 100 other games, so we’ll see.”