JASMYN’S TURNING POINT IN NT
A flag with PINT in the NTFL helped Jasmyn Hewett find her love for footy once again
FOOTBALLING natural and the Territory’s latest AFLW premiership player Jasmyn Hewett had pretty much fallen out of love with the game during a particularly grim 2019.
After a swift lift, from a raw PINT rookie to Adelaide Crow in the space of just two years, that golden run suddenly stopped after a season-ending ankle injury during a league trial game against Fremantle in March of that year.
It was shocking timing for the now 29-year-old, who had come off a solid VFLW season with the NT Thunder in 2018, which had sharpened her game education and built confidence.
Primed for a breakthrough season, she was hoping to add to her seven senior matches in the West Lakes tricolours.
“It was heart-wrenching, I knew the minute I did it that it was a serious ankle injury,” Hewett said.
“It was really hard.”
After then crossing from the Crows to the Suns in 2020 – while completing an extensive 12-week rehabilitation – she eventually grew tired of carrying the residual pain and craved some downtime to “mentally reset”.
“My ankle was painful and sore all the time, I almost fell out of love with the sport,” Hewett said on Saturday after arriving back in Darwin from the long drive from Adelaide.
Putting herself on the inactive list, Hewett returned to the NT where she was eventually talked into having a run around with PINT in the Women’s Premier League.
And in Hewett’s own words, “what a success that was”, winning a premiership by just 11 points over Darwin, judged best on ground while taking home the Gwynne Medal. “(PINT) really helped me reignite that love for the game again,” she said.
Then, after a chance meeting between gun Crow Chelsea Randall and a friend of Hewett’s, she was drafted back to Adelaide Oval for the 2022 season. Hewett’s expectations were particularly low, and she was happy to just pick up a game or two.
“I started the year with the intention of just training with the most elite team in the competition,” she said.
However, fortune shone on the SA product when Montana McKinnon was suspended and coach Matthew Clarke needed a replacement for the grand final against Melbourne last Saturday.
She would kick the first goal of the game as the Crows clinched their third flag in six seasons with a 13point win. “It was mind-blowing, I’ve actually got goosebumps just thinking about it, it’s an absolute dream come true,” she said.
“It’s a feeling you want to have more than once in your life. The thirst for more is indescribable.”
It bookended a footballing journey which began after Hewett moved to the Territory in late 2016 from Port Augusta for a “scenery change”.
Needing respite from a 17-hour-aday working life as a PT and co-running a sports store, it was only meant to be for a few months.
“I just fell in love with the place, it was a really easy decision to transition up here,” she said.
“I don’t see myself wanting to move away from the Territory.
“I’d love to run around in the NTFL again this year if I can.”