Ally Morphett

Morphett grew up on a farm at Gumly Gumly, a small town on the outskirts of Wagga Wagga in the New South Wales Riverina. She participated in the sport of Barrel racing as a teenager including winning a junior national title. After taking up Australian rules at the age of 15 at Wagga High School, she played locally for East Wagga-Kooringal before joining the Murray Bushrangers - U18 NAB League and later U18 Giants Academy. At the age of 17, Ally was also selected in the U18 NAB National Academy, further developing the young footballer. Due to the Covid pandemic, any further development was halted, leaving Ally the only option to join the Belconnen Magpies in the AFL Canberra women’s competition for whom she was awarded best-on-ground in a grand final victory aged 16 in 2020. As a junior, Morphett played representatively for the U15 NSW Schools State team in Adelaide SA at the All Schools National Competition, with only 6 games in Ally”s repertoire her selection to the U15 All Schools - All Australian Team was the driving force behind Ally’s football journey. Ally was captain of the Allies at the 2021 Under-19 national championships. ==AFL Women's career==

Greater Western Sydney (2022 season 6) Morphett was drafted by Greater Western Sydney with pick 37 in the 2021 AFL Women's draft, the first selection in the NSW pool. Sydney (2022 season 7–present) A passionate Swans supporter growing up, Morphett made her debut for the club in its inaugural AFLW game against St Kilda at North Sydney Oval. She played nine games in season 7 (2022) as the side's number one ruck and competed strongly but was not dominant. In the subsequent off-season, Morphett lost almost 10kg having worked hard on her fitness, and she has credited this work and a challenge from coach Scott Gowans for her form the following season. She was the leading ruck in the competition for disposals, hitouts, clearances and contested possessions per game. Morphett earned selection as the All-Australian ruck for 2023 and was runner-up by a solitary vote for the Rising Star award despite her injury. She was also named in the AFL Players Association's 22under22 team. In November, she re-signed with Sydney for a further four years amid reports of a lucrative contract offer from the Western Bulldogs. ==References==