New Fremantle draftee Emmelie Fiedler only had a passing knowledge of Australian football growing up.
The ruck celebrated her 21st birthday the day after she was selected by Fremantle in Tuesday’s AFLW Supplementary draft and moved to Australia from her native Malaysia with her family in 2020.
Her dad originated from Perth and is a die-hard Freo fan, and it led to Fiedler trying out the game before they made the move.
“I grew up in Malaysia, basically born and raised there. I had a very exciting childhood and I loved it, it was great,” Fiedler said.
“I didn’t grow up with football as much as the other (draftees) did, my Dad has always been a diehard Freo fan ever since he came over from Perth to Malaysia and he tried getting us into it.
“We weren’t able to watch it much but when they started a women’s footy team with the expat group, they invited us to come and play and I just fell in love with footy from then on.”
Fiedler stands at 187cm, meaning she encouraged to try her hand at the ruck, and she only thrived from there, eventually ending up at East Fremantle in the WAFLW.
“I started off as a ruck, it a position I wasn’t just placed in because of my height, they also noticed from my volleyball background that I was very good at controlling the direction of the ball and the jump contributed to getting up there,” Fiedler said.
“I fell in love with the position straight away, I never wanted to stray from it, obviously I’ve had opportunities to go into the forward line as well, which has been really great.
“I can definitely work on it (the forward craft) as Ruck has always been my go-to.”
Fiedler will be introduced to all her teammates on Thursday evening at a training session, but there is one player she’s especially eager to meet.
“I’m excited to meet Mim (Strom) and pick her brain,” Fiedler said.
“She’s the main teammates I can learn from and I’m excited to collaborate with her and see what she’s got to say and teach me.”
