Despite playing promising football since Under 13 level, Lucy Wales never made the jump to interleague, representative or NAB League Girls during her junior career.
Even in her senior career, she was initially overlooked for Casey’s VFLW side after filling out an expression of interest form.
But then, in Round 3 of the VFLW this season, her life changed.
The Demons had lost a ruck and were looking for depth in that department, which not only earned Wales a call-up but also her twin sister Stephanie, who has since been drafted to Essendon.
This opportunity proved the catalyst for Wales to move away from her life-long basketball career and turn her attention to footy following 10 appearances for Casey this season.
“It’s not a bad transition to be fair and I’ve played both sports for a long time,” Wales said.
“I’ve taken skills from one another to improve my game.
“I’ve definitely had to work on my endurance - footy is a much bigger field so I’ve just been trying to work around the ground harder.
“I think I’m pretty clean at ground level and that definitely would come from basketball skills.”
Come draft night, there were just 10 picks between Lucy and Stephanie’s names being called out by Hawthorn and Essendon, respectively.
This would mark the first time the twins have been apart in their sporting careers.
From playing basketball for the Nunawading Spectres to football for the Oakleigh Dragons and Casey, the opportunity now beckons for the twins to forge their own sporting paths, which Lucy is embracing.
“Steph and I are really close, we basically do everything together,” she said.
“This is going to be the first time basically in a different sporting team but I think we’re really embracing this step in our journey, it’s going to be a positive experience for both of us and help us create an even better relationship with each other.
“Being separate from each other and having our own goals and ambitions will help us grow as people.”
As for if they come up against each other on the big stage, Wales is more worried about her parents’ allegiances than the actual prospect of playing against her sister.
“I’ll probably just treat her like any other player,” she said.
“I might know her strengths and weaknesses better than anyone else but I’ll try and use that to my advantage.
“I don’t know what our family will do when we play each other - they might wear the double scarf, we’ll see.”
Family has been a big part of Wales’ life so it meant the world to her to have everyone by her side on draft night.
“The main part of this whole journey was deciding whether to even nominate for the draft, that was a tough decision for me,” Wales said.
“But once I decided this was what I wanted to do, my family were on board - my dad even gave me a few tips!
“I also have two brothers and they’re always really keen to kick the footy with me and give me some tips as well, even though sometimes, I don’t take them on board.
“My family just want the best for me and for Steph so they were really happy with the outcome of draft night.”
