Twelve months ago Pip Peschke would have never dreamed she’d be where she is now.
After only just beginning her football career at any level in 2017, the Hawks midfielder is now preparing for a season in which she’ll be part of Hawthorn’s inaugural women’s side - something she says is a inspiring prospect.
“I’m very excited, the season’s still a while away, but very excited to play under the Hawthorn name,” Peschke said.
“It definitely feels like we’re part of the club and part of the family so it’s going to be a great opportunity and I know everyone around the club, all the girls, are definitely a lot more up and about since Hawthorn has taken us under their wing officially.”
Having never played football at any level before last year, Peschke’s journey to the Hawks was certainly a rapid rise.
After contacting AFL Victoria, Peschke was invited to attend the Southern Women’s Academy training in January 2017 from where she was selected to represent St Kilda in an exhibition match against the Australian Defence Force side in April.
It was Peschke’s performance in that game that caught the eye of those at Box Hill, who then made her an offer to immediately join the club’s VFLW side.
The former hockey player jumped at the chance and hasn’t looked back since.
“It was more time and place and the offer that Box Hill at the time gave me, it was just something completely different and something which I’d never been exposed to before, so I just decided to give it a crack.”
“Box Hill reached out to (AFL Victoria’s) Darren Flanigan and asked for my details and next minute I was touring the facilities and here we are.”
Read more: AFLW watch - Round 3
Strong in the contest, Peschke spent the majority of the 2017 season as a midfielder, at times showcasing the ability to play a shutdown role on some of the competition’s star on-ballers, but admits she’s still got plenty of work to do.
“As a player I suppose I’m pretty competitive, pretty aggressive. I like to go in hard and lay big tackles and things like that.”
“I’m still pretty new to the game so I’m still finding my feet a little bit in terms of positioning and how to read the play and stuff like that.
Looking up to some the AFL’s most explosive midfielders, Peschke is hoping she’ll be able to add some of the same powerful acceleration to her game eventually as well.
“I do like watching some of the more explosive midfielders like Dustin Martin and Patrick Dangerfield who can just break through packs really easily and quickly and Chris Judd back in his heyday, who can just collect the ball and then take five, ten really quick steps and then explode away from the packs and then deliver the ball into the forward fifty,” she said
“That’d be something I’d like to incorporate more into my game.”
While Peschke and the rest of Hawthorn’s VFLW side will have to wait until May 6 for their season to officially kick off, the 24-year-old is enjoying being part of something exciting for both the club and its players.
“It is really inspiring to be a part of something that’s new, and brand new for Hawthorn as well, everyone has been so great and welcoming, so you feel very special and very humbled to be a part of something like that.”
