September is upon us and the swooping season has begun. No magpie has taken up the challenge as seriously as former Australia netballer Sharni Layton, who has dived into a new career at the same club by joining Ashleigh Brazill to become the second Diamond to take on an AFLW career with the Collingwood Magpies.
Even if Layton hadn’t played football as a junior, it would be difficult to find a netball fan who is surprised at the transition. A tough competitor throughout her career, Layton has become known for her loud voice and white line fever. Off the court she was playful as a kitten, spending countless hours chatting to her young fans, but once the whistle blew she was as fearsome as a lioness, leaving opposition players quivering in her wake.
Sharni Layton to play AFLW for Collingwood after stellar netball career
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It is that competitive spirit that netball fans will be eagerly anticipating when Layton swaps her dress for a guernsey in 2019 and takes to the field for the first time. How she will react to fewer restrictions around making contact with opponents is the stuff that dreams are made of.
From the Vixens to the Thunderbirds and the Swifts, and back to Melbourne with the Magpies, Layton has earned a cult following all over the country. She has the rare ability to garner goodwill wherever she goes, with cheers equal, or even greater, to those of the home team players in every city she travels to. This will not have gone unnoticed in AFLW circles – the prospect of a Sharni Army gathering at every home and away game is a tantalising prospect for the emerging league.
Of course, the fact that an elite sportswoman can change sports at the age of 30 with barelyan eyelid batted is an incredible story in itself. From Nova Perris and Ellyse Perry to Jana Pittman and Ashleigh Barty, Australian women’s sport is filled with stories of cross-code champions. Just within the AFLW, the likes of Erin Phillips and Chloe Molloy (basketball), Brianna Davey (football), Georgie Parker (hockey) and Brazill, have proved that coming from an elite sporting background can be highly advantageous in making a mark on the league.
It is a phenomenon born out of the current structure of women’s sport, but the hope remains it will end with full professionalism in the not too distant future. In the meantime, crossing codes and taking on new challenges remains a viable, if far from straightforward, option for this elite group of athletes to extend their sporting careers.
But what Layton lacks in recent football experience, she makes up for in the ability to impart wisdom about the professional sporting environment. While fellow netballer Nat Medhurst attracted some criticism in 2017 for questioning the ability of AFLW players to reach the professionalism and skill level of netballers in their limited contact hours, many recognised her comments as a true reflection of how far netball has come in raising the standard of its domestic league.
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Layton has come from an environment that demands she be a year-round athlete. She has also lived through an era of netball where she was required to work outside of sport to support herself, so she understands the demands put on her teammates and can help them navigate this semi-professional era.
Layton has much to learn and much to prove before she can be classed in the same group as Perris, Perry, Pittman, Barty et al, but no matter how her fledgling AFLW career pans out, at this juncture the Magpies will be able to count on one certainty – she will, with trademark resilience and toughness, give it her all once she crosses that white line.
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