ALL-AUSSIE ADVENTURE
SUN EARNS TOP HONOUR
REJECTION has proved the making of All-Australian Suns star Kalinda Howarth.
Last night the 20-year-old was named in the 2020 AFLW All-Australian squad following an incredible debut season which included a Rising Star nomination, nine goals and a Suns finals campaign.
But if not for a dose of harsh reality, not once but twice, Howarth isn’t sure she’d be the player she is today.
Drafted by the Brisbane Lions for the 2018 season, Howarth couldn’t crack into an extremely competitive starting 21 and was delisted without playing a game.
Later that year after rediscovering her love for football, Howarth tried her luck training with the Greater Western Sydney Giants but was again told she wasn’t required.
“I tried my best to get on to a list but Giants coach Alan McConnell was really nice and honest with me and they told me I didn’t fit into the team they needed at that point in time,” she said.
“It was obviously disappointing but I wouldn’t be in the position I am now if that didn’t happen.
“Getting knocked back helped me realise that I needed to dig in and work hard.
“I knew I could play at that level if I worked hard but I realised that it wasn’t just the Lions keeping me off an AFLW list.”
When she was later signed by the Suns, McConnell congratulated Howarth on her new contract. But it didn’t take long for the competition to realise what they were missing out on. Once Howarth kicked her first AFLW goal against Brisbane in Round 3, the pressure departed and she established herself as a star of the future.
On Sunday night, Howarth was greeted at home by Suns head of women’s football Fiona McLarty and told she’d been named in the AllAustralian side.
“I thought she was dropping off the last few things from my locker but she had this box in her hand which I said wasn’t mine but she said, ‘no, I think it might be,’” she said.
“There was this piece of paper which said, ‘what do all of these things have in common?’ and I started sifting through and there was a little koala, some Australian socks, a corked hat and a few photos of me.
“I was looking at Fi so confused like what does all this mean but then at the bottom of the box there was another piece of paper which said ‘they are All Australian!’.”