Brisbane Lions AFL Women's Team Captain Emma Zielke spoke at this morning's launch about her excitement for this weekend's inaugural game. Zielke will captain the Brisbane side when they play Melbourne at Casey Fields on Sunday.
The 28-year-old will draw from a wealth of experience when she leads her team out onto the park, having previously captained multiple state teams under coach Craig Starcevich’s guidance, while also having served as an assistant to Starcevich for the Under 18 Youth Girls Queensland team. Most notably, Zielke captained local team, Coorparoo to three consecutive premierships in the premier Queensland women’s league (QWAFL).
“I never expected this to happen when I first started playing footy about 10 years ago. To have this pathway now for the younger girls and us girls that have been playing for fun in the past. It’s a massive achievement for the AFL and the clubs involved,” said Zielke.
Emma Zielke poses with the football. (Photo: Cassie Burton)
“I couldn’t be more excited. It’s an incredible feeling to be able to get out there on Sunday and wear the Brisbane Lions logo on our chest.”
Zielke won’t be taking her captaincy role for granted and has a vision for how she will go about her role – with a very team focused approach.
“We’ve been really competitive within ourselves, we push each other each training session. The standard is better than ever before, everyone has stepped up to the plate.
“We know what we’ve set out to achieve and we couldn’t be more excited to get out there on Sunday.
“We’ve got some pace, 16 a side suits us well because we do have some speedsters. The bigger the field, the better for us. It’s always physical when you come up against a QLD team. We love the crash and bash
“We’ve got elite foot skills, really good tall timber in our forward line and Shaelise Law who zips around and snaps those goals.
“I think overall we’ve got every line covered and everyone has a good strength, we’ve got a really exciting brand of footy.”
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