Claremont Premiership Star Matilda Dyke Discusses Journey From Narrogin To Essendon Ahead Of West Coast AFLW Clash

Matilda Dyke's success in the AFLW is a testament to the power of persistence. She explains to ELIZA REILLY how she seized an unexpected opportunity.

Matilda Dyke has completed her career in the AFLW.

After being passed over in her third selection in April of this year, the 21-year-old woman made the difficult decision to shelve her dream.

"I'd written off AFLW for this season," Dyke remarked. "I'd written it off." "At Claremont, I was determined to win yet another flag. After that, I planned on taking a sabbatical of three months to backpack through Europe. I simply needed some time off."

These ideas shifted considerably in a short amount of time.

Midway through the month of May, around a month and a half after Dyke's most recent draft setback, Essendon made contact with him.

She explained that in under 48 hours, she went from being approached by Essendon to being handed a contract with a 24-hour deadline to sign and return. "At first, my manager Paul Peos said, 'They want to speak to you, but they're speaking to heaps of people.'

I remember those two days very clearly; I had to work, but I managed to sneak out during lunch to meet with Essendon's list management. My move to Melbourne occurred two weeks later.

Cat Phillips was placed on Essendon's inactive list after it was revealed that she was expecting her first child, prompting the club to replace her with Dyke for the 2023 season. Dyke did not anticipate that this would be the path that led to her first AFLW contract. However, taking into account the circumstances of her past, the wait was unquestionably well worth it.

Dyke says she was raised like any other farm girl.

She performed numerous sports as a young girl in her hometown of Narrogin, located around two hours southeast of Perth.

"That's how it works in the country," she explained. I could help out in a variety of sports, including basketball, tennis, and netball. When I first got to my boarding school, I couldn't believe how many different sports there were.

Dyke was rapidly engulfed into the state netball system in Western Australia. She was the best and fairest player in the under-18 division of the Perth Netball Association Metro League, but she got into some trouble off the court.

A lot of politics go into netball. Sports will always be there, but I felt like I needed a change," she admitted.

Dyke was mislead by something that was actually rather familiar. Dyke was like the odd one out in her football-obsessed family, especially as interest in women's football grew.

Her ancestor Leo Graham played for Western Australia, and her grandfather Stuart did as well. Her two uncles, Richard Graham and David Graham, were both WAFL players. Dyke also has four relatives who live in different parts of Perth: Claremont, East Perth, and South Fremantle.

To put it humorously, "at Christmas, we talk about politics and football," Dyke said. I just showed up at John XXIII for a Claremont preseason practice.

Because it was so far from the boarding house, my uncle drove me there to drop me off. Aside from playing touch football with my family, I had never picked up a footy.

Dyke was unable to demonstrate any further promise, therefore he was immediately placed in round one and played 11 games during that season. She also competed for Western Australia at the Under 18 National Championships, making her the fourth generation of her family to compete in a sport that is associated with the colors black and gold.

She was a defender back then, and she frequently faced up against the most dangerous attacker the other team had.

"I was a GD in netball so straight off the bat, I was like, 'I'll be a defender,'" Dyke said. "I'll be a defender." "The sensation of making an interception mark is unrivaled by anything else."

Dyke was ultimately passed over in the 2021 AFLW draft because it was taken into consideration because she had just recently finished her maiden season of playing football.

"My skills weren't at an AFLW level, nor was my body type I don't think," she added. "I don't think." "There aren't too many beanpoles that are 181 centimeters in height. To be able to tolerate the contact and the physicality, you need to have a little bit of stuff on you.

Dyke rejoined the Tigers the year after and was a significant contributor to Claremont's breakthrough WAFLW premiership performance during that season. But there was clearly something missing.

"I wanted to run more, and I wanted to win more of the ball," Dyke recalled. "I wanted to run more." Being a fullback, when you only receive two possessions every game, can be a bit challenging at times.

Dyke was becoming into a good defender, but it was difficult for him to stand out in the draft pool because of how competitive it was. Therefore, like a savvy businessperson, she found a market segment with unsatisfied need.

She explained, "At the end of the previous season, I had a conversation with my Claremont coach, Jack Schwarze." I thought to myself, 'There's a need in the market for a somewhat undersized ruck who can operate as an extra midfielder and rack up kilometers.'"

I believed that we were moving away from the large rucks that were not extremely mobile, and he agreed with me.

The experiment began during Claremont's premiership season and went all the way until 2023. During that time, Dyke won the fourth-most hitouts in the WAFLW despite not rucking at all during the season. This year, she had a scoring average of 20.7, which was good for second place behind East Fremantle's Laura Catherine's (23.6) production.

The proximity to the football suited Dyke's height and speed because of his agility.

Despite interest from Fremantle and Port Adelaide leading up to the April AFLW supplementary selection (with Fremantle offering Dyke a train-on role following the draft), Dyke was ultimately not selected.

I felt like I was doing everything correctly and bringing something unique to the table, so it was frustrating not to be drafted," she added. It was hard, but I enjoy rooting for the underdog. By the time the next draft rolls along, I figured, "They won't be able to overlook me because I'll be so good."

It was unnecessary for her to hold out for so long.

Dyke onto the field for the first time in the AFLW during the fourth round match against Fremantle, much to her own surprise.

"I knew it was pretty uncommon for a random girl a club picked up because someone was pregnant to get games straight up," she added. "I knew it was pretty uncommon for a club to pick up a random girl because someone was pregnant." "Being a professional athlete and constantly having to improve my skills is a dream come true for me. It provided the missing pieces that were absent from my education at Claremont.

"When Steph Cain and Bonnie Toogood Facetimed me to tell me I'd be making my debut, I really wasn't expecting it at all," she said. "I really wasn't expecting it."

The thought crossed my mind that 'this is the beginning now.' I didn't want to treat it as my first game because I was so excited to play, but rather as the beginning of many games to come.

Since then, Dyke has been in every game and become comfortable in his new role as a winger.

"The wing is fantastic. So far, this is my favorite position to play. She remarked, "It's such a rare opportunity, and I believe my skills make me a good fit for the role.

On Sunday, when Essendon hosts West Coast at Windy Hill, Dyke will have come full circle. Dyke spent a season with the Eagles as a train-on player, giving her a taste of AFLW for the first time.

It's quite odd to be playing West Coast, I was just telling my mom on the phone last night," she added. It's quite odd to be in this circumstance where you're in a completely different set of shoes than you were two seasons ago, considering that I trained with them and know all the girls.

If West Coast doesn't want to pick me up, that's fine with me. I don't think I was good enough to be on a list, let alone to play in AFLW games.

When I rode the train there, I had a great time. I tried my best to get up the ranks, but I noticed a distinct difference between the status of train-on players and that of listed players. That's probably what I picked up during my time as a trainee there: a strong work ethic and a constant drive to improve.

The ambition of playing in the AFLW has finally come true for Dyke.

Since then, she has become a Bomber.

"Footy is where I find the most joy in life. "I couldn't have asked for a better past month," she exclaimed. "There is nothing quite like the rush of adrenaline and endorphins that comes after a victory."

"Bombers supporters are familiar with your name and are interested in obtaining your autograph. It's beyond reason.

"I can hardly wait to see what the rest of the season has in store for us."