NEW ERA FOR AFLW

OUR LATEST STARS

AS small children, Arianna Clarke and McKenzie Dowrick would play football on the red dirt plains of mining town Kambalda, Western Australia.

After five years apart the two have reunited on the opposite side of the country on the Gold Coast as they prepare to play together in the AFLW for the Brisbane Lions.

Clarke, 19, is entering her second season at the top level and has now been joined by longtime friend Dowrick, 18, pick 33 of last year’s draft.

“We grew up playing footy together and now we get to do it at the professional level, it’s so surreal,” Clarke said as the Lions prepare for their season opener against GWS tomorrow at Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex.

“When we run around at training together it just feels so normal and like we are back playing as kids.

“Nothing has really changed except we are taller, stronger and have matured into our bodies.”

Clarke moved to the Gold Coast at the age of 13 and now lives in Robina with new roommate Dowrick.

Clarke, a Riewoldt Family AFL Excellence Scholarship holder with Bond University, had a successful debut season playing in Brisbane’s backline. Dowrick is poised to forge her path with the forwards.

“She has a lethal left foot so if you put her in front of goal she will kick a couple,” Clarke said. “Because of our positions, when we train together we often play on each other and when we do drills she will kick it extra hard at me and I’ll do the same to her.”

Brisbane have made it to the grand final of the opening two AFLW seasons, first losing to Adelaide before falling to the Western Bulldogs last year.

Clarke said the team had continued to learn from their experiences in high-pressure games and backed the club to be a contender again in 2019.

“We have worked really hard in the pre-season, like all clubs,” she said.

“The AFLW is changing and growing and every team has an edge.”