New signing Tayla McAuliffe will have eyes only for the footy when the versatile tall gets the chance to make her AFLW debut for Fremantle in 2018.

Signed as a ruck / key forward, McAuliffe was added to Fremantle’s primary list ahead of Friday’s rookie draft after Kirby Bentley was added to the long-term injury list and was ruled out of the 2018 AFLW season.

The Swan Districts product spoke to Courtney Walsh from The Australian about her approach to football. 

“I go and get that ball. I want the ball. I will tackle you for the ball,” McAuliffe said. 

“That is the main objective and that is how I work. Anytime I am out of postion I find the ball. And if we don’t have it, I will go and fetch it.”

McAuliffe says the physical side of the game is her favourite.

“It looks worse than it actually is,” McAuliffe said in an interview at the AFL draft combine earlier this month.

“When you are fully committed, you get those bumps and they look bad, but they are not, because you are fully committed to getting the ball and the next thing you are thinking of is, ‘Where did the ball go?’

"You are not thinking about the bump. If you walk into a wall, all you think about is the pain. But out there, all you are thinking of is the ball.”

Originally a talented baseballer and athlete, McAuliffe said she was attracted to football due to her desire to be more involved in the contest.

“I went to high school playing baseball. It is a good sport but it came out of the school (program), so I went to athletics but it didn’t quite give me that happiness that I was looking for in sport,” McAuliffe said.

“It is probably the commitment you had to have to be out there and the constant involvement in the game. In some sports, you are in for a bit and then you are out. In baseball, if you weren’t the pitcher, you were in and out and I didn’t enjoy that.

“I want to be constantly involved and footy gives you that. You have to be switched on the whole time and I like that.”

McAuliffe told The Australian that she loves her footy, often re-watching games and getting very vocal in the process.

Now, she’s looking forward to being on the other side of the fence.