A NEW recruit to the Melbourne women’s team, Tiarna Ernst has established herself as one of the country’s premier rucks, while juggling her football with her career as a training obstetrician. Anna Harrington caught up with the Melbourne ruck ahead of the second AFL women’s match for 2015.

Anna Harrington: It’s the third year of the women’s game and this is the first time you’ve been drafted. What was the journey like for you – you came down to Victoria to get that top-level exposure – how has it played out for you?

Tiarna Ernst: It’s been absolutely amazing, I couldn’t ask for anything better. Over the last two years, not only has my game improved dramatically, just in terms of my skill, but also the experience of being able to play with some of the best football players in Australia I think has really improved my game. I guess that’s really contributed to me being able to be noticed and then obviously drafted this year.

AH: A couple of the players that you’re going to have to tackle are Aasta O’Connor and Emma King, so there’s some pretty solid opposition there. You must be looking forward to that hit out?

TE: I’m looking forward to the challenge – I love a good challenge. I play against Aasta. I’ve played against her for the last year and a half at club level so I know how she plays and I’m prepared for what she will bring to the game. I also got the great opportunity to play against Emma King playing against Western Australia in the national game over in WA a couple of months ago. So I think that will be very good for my preparation going into this game because I feel prepared for what both of them will bring. They ruck entirely differently [to each other] so I go in with a bit of confidence knowing how they both play and feel I can be very competitive with both of them.

AH: What are your strengths as a ruck, what do you pride yourself on?

TE: Within the VWFL I’m known as someone who can run with Aasta, I’ve got a very similar ability to spread around the ground. I’m pretty quick – I’ve got a background history of track and field athletics with a lot of sprinting competitions in the past – so I’m pretty quick off the mark and can make a good tackle. I like to think that I’m renowned for that – I can chase down a Daisy Pearce or an Aasta O’Connor at club level and be able to make a good tackle. So just my agility and general speed in addition to my leap – I know that I’m one the highest vertical leaps in Australia – I think that they’re probably my best attributes.

AH: You were playing football in Queensland before this?

TE: I started playing in Cairns for the first time five years ago. I was 22 and was at university up there and I ran into the Manunda Hawks girls up there and that was when I first played. I got the Rising Star award for the year playing up there and off the back of that I got selected for the Queensland team in 2011. I again got selected for Queensland in 2013 and played in the national competition again and had a lot of exposure to a lot of the players from Western Australia and Victoria through that. I then played down at Griffith Moorooka Reds in Brisbane for a couple of years before moving down here.

AH: Did you move down to Victoria for footy or for work?

TE: A bit of both – I got a good job opportunity and I thought ‘why not?’ I saw the appeal of playing in a very competitive competition in the VWFL. I contacted a couple of the clubs and Diamond Creek Women’s Football Club got back to me very quickly and made it very easy for me to make the transition to being a Victorian and they helped me with travel arrangements and [finding] housing. It’s my home really and I’ve created a family out of the club as well.

AH: You’re going to get to play with one of your Diamond Creek teammates Loz Morecroft this week. That must be exciting for you?

TE: Absolutely, I’m so glad that she’ll be there as well. She’s an absolute ripper of a player, so hard at the ball and I really admire her determination and her physicality in the game as well. I think we’ll both hopefully perform and do the club proud.

AH: You’re a Queenslander and we’ve seen plenty of great Queenslanders come through the ranks. To name a few: Aasta O’Connor, Tayla Harris and Katie Brennan. It must be really good seeing the way footy’s developing up there and how women’s footy is really taking hold?

TE: I’m actually really proud of the way Queensland has developed with their football and I think they would be very competitive if they were to match [up against] Western Australia or Victoria in a national game in the next couple of years. The growth of the game up there and the resources and the effort that has been put into improving women’s football in Queensland has really impressed me and I think that we should all be very careful because they will be challenging the West Australian and Victorian teams in the future for the best footy state in Australia.

AH: Is there anything that really defines the footy up in Queensland? We know in Western Australia, they play a running game where they love to carry the ball and spread whereas in Victoria you see a very contested, in-close style of footy. You’ve got a lot of high-flyers up there, does that say anything about the style of footy?

TE: I think physicality’s probably the one thing [that defines the style of football]. I definitely know that when I was playing in the Queensland team, we were renowned for our physicality. We’re very competitive and we don’t like to lose. So our tackling pressure and our agility around the ball with your tall players like Aasta O’Connor and Katie Brennan and Tayla Harris. You add physicality to your athletic ability to jump high and accelerate quickly [and] I think that’s probably the things that stand out in the Queensland game.

AH: You have a very demanding job (as a training obstetrician) – how is it for you trying to juggle everything and make sure that you’re preparing to be an elite athlete while also staying at the top of your game at work?

TE: It’s difficult but it’s the only way that I’d want my life to be. You’ve just got to be organised really, so you need to make sure you prepare good foods and healthy foods. You make sure you try and drink as much water as you can during the job because you’re always running around. I think you’ve got to be able to demonstrate your teamwork within the professional environment and make sure that your colleagues can help you out with shift swaps so that [you] can make trainings and make games. So far I’ve had no issues with that – so long as I’m a team player and help them out as well. But from a physical point of view and a mental point of view, you just make sure you do all the right things. Rehab is very important so that you can actually work the next day after a footy game. Eating healthy foods and drinking lots of water and going to bed at a reasonable hour is important as well.

AH: Is there anything that you take from your job into your footy? Is there anything you can draw upon as that more mature player?

TE: I think just professionalism. I’m professional in my job and so I think if you’re a professional in the way you address your footy, in terms of your recovery and the way you address your teammates as well as your coaches [it will hold you in good stead]. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being professional in that sense and I think that’s probably what’s made me succeed as well, as I take it all very seriously. That’s how my success has come – just doing everything to the best of my ability and trying to be a better player than I was the week before.