Hawthorn AFLW forward Bridie Hipwell showed a remarkable glimpse of the player she could be in the 2023 season during match simulation against an AFL Cairns Invitational team at Cazalys Stadium on Saturday morning.
The 19-year-old spent last season balancing football and Year 12 studies, finishing with six games under her belt.
From those games, she averaged 4.7 disposals and kicked two goals.
Having missed two weeks of pre-season last year due to the timing of the draft, Hipwell has benefitted from having a full pre-season under her belt.
Her game started to come together in Cairns, putting multiple majors on the board as well as impressing with her aerial ability and strong hands.
“It was nice to kick some goals and run around,” Hipwell said post-game.
“It’s been good because I’ve been able to build on the stuff I’ve been working on and really put it into play.
“It was good for my confidence.”
Overall, Hipwell has enjoyed building on her impressive base from Season 7 this pre-season.
The star forward said there were a few things she hoped to add to her game before the season commences in September.
“Pre-season’s been really good,” Hipwell said.
“Last year, my pre-season and all the younger girls’ pre-seasons were cut short.
“It’s been really good to be there full-time at every training.
“It’s been really fun but I’ve been working on some stuff and trying to get a bit more confident, a bit more harder to play against in that forward line and really being a presence down there.
“It was good to do that today.”
Hipwell not only caught the eyes of those at the stadium but also her coach, Bec Goddard.
Speaking post-match, the Hawks coach said she was thrilled to see Hipwell's potential on display in Cairns.
“Bridie’s been outstanding over the off-season,” Goddard said.
“She has just done everything that she possibly can to put herself in the best position to be a great full forward and I think we saw today with some marking that we haven’t seen out of Bridie before.
“It’s clearly an art that she’s trying to be elite at and she took some great grabs today and finished her work really well.”
A big difference between the Cairns game and the rest of Hawthorn’s pre-season was the presence of opposition at Cazalys Stadium, compared to the Hawks completing match simulation against themselves in Melbourne.
Hipwell said she benefitted from going up against different bodies in different conditions.
“We have been doing our match sim and that sort of full ground stuff against our own team so it’s pretty bloody awesome to be able to play against some new opposition, some people we haven’t played before,” the 18-year-old said.
“They made it tough so it was really good, it was fun.”
Hipwell and the Hawks will now return to Melbourne to continue their preparations for the 2023 AFLW season, which is due to kick off in the first week of September.
