By Jonty Ralphsmith
It was a brutal initiation to VFLW for Cranbourne’s Kheely Cornwall on Sunday.
Representing the Southern Saints in their fixture against a Carlton side which contained 16 AFLW-listed players including stars Abbie McKay and Darcy Vescio, the final scoreline read 10.17 77 to 0.2 2.
But crucially for Cornwall, the opportunity was a great learning experience in her first taste of senior footy.
Having played 14 matches across the last two seasons for the Stingrays as a dashing halfback, the Eagles junior reprised her typical backline role and was under heat for much of the game as Carlton took it inside 50 64 times.
“It was very fast, they love to run and carry,” Cornwall said.
“I found it tough in the first couple of quarters with the transition but with the girls in the backline – (Deanna Jolliffe and Tessa Boyd) – really got around and encouraged me which helped.
“I had so much fun.”
Cornwall had several crucial defensive efforts alongside her six disposals and was named among Southern’s six best players.
Stingrays teammates Indi Toledo-Glasman and Zahlia Clarke also debuted, with the former pulling down some strong marks from limited opportunities in the forward half.
The trio each trained with Southern thrice ahead of the debut, exposing them to a different program and giving them all their first taste of a senior club.
The debut allowed Cornwall to get important game time during the Stingrays’ two-week break, given Cranbourne was forced to withdraw its under-18s girls team midseason due to a lack of numbers.
Cornwall is weighing up which local club to link up with for the remainder of the season, having played all her junior footy for Cranbourne.
“I’m still good friends with a lot of the boys I played with when I was younger at ‘Cranny’ so getting to play alongside them and now seeing them develop is something I’ll enjoy looking back on,” Cornwall said.
“I’ve always loved playing at Cranny.
“I have lots of memories which will never be forgotten.
“It will be hard to find a new club but I’ll always be a ‘Cranny’ girl at heart.
Cornwall is one of a slew of talented running defenders in the Stingrays lineup this season and plays with great balance, setting up the game when she has the opportunity and defending desperately when under pressure.
Having played as a midfielder at local level, seven games for Dandenong last season helped embed her understanding of a new role.
“Understanding how we like to play our game in the backline – defend first, change lanes, running off – before my top-aged year has definitely helped set me up and know the game style we like to play,” Cornwall said.”
“Defending first suits the game style I like to play and using my run and carry running off the halfback line and getting deep entries has been really good.”
