Fermanagh star Joanne Doonan has declared “the best is yet to come” in her quest for AFLW premiership glory with the Essendon Bombers this season.
Doonan (29) made history in 2019 when she became the first woman from the Erne county to sign professionally for an Australian Rules club, until the global Covid pandemic disrupted her plans.
In the following year, she began her AFL journey with Carlton when she joined the Navy Blues as their firstever Irish-born player.
The former Fermanagh captain played two senior games in her debut season, but was delisted in 2022.
A closed door led to another open one so, when Essendon came knocking in February of that year, Doonan didn’t hesitate to pen a new AFLW contract.
She went on to feature in nine AFLW games for Essendon, who were one of the expansion teams in last year’s competition and were never expected to make finals.
Doonan also won her first piece of Australian Rules silverware when she was part of the Essendon side who won the 2022 Victorian Football League (VFL) title for reserve team squads.
After a whirlwind 10-week preseason, Doonan also helped Essendon’s senior side to a respectable four wins and six losses record in their inaugural season.
This time around, the decorated Fermanagh native believes the time to stop talking and putting words into action has arrived.
“The best is definitely yet to come and, to do that, we have dropped our first-year team mentality,” Doonan told The Irish News.
“As a club, we are focused on making a continuous improvement so that we can compete against teams who have been in the competition for the past seven years.
“We are building a winning culture and a successful football programme. “It’s about putting our words into action this season.”
Doonan has been left out of the squad for Essendon’s AFLW season opener against Hawthorn on Saturday, but she is refusing to let her head drop, believing that a full pre-season will stand her in good stead for the remaining nine rounds of the season.
“I stayed longer in Melbourne in the off-season and, having got a full pre-season under my belt, I learned a lot more,” Doonan said. “Last year, it was a completely new team and, after a 10-week preseason, a lot of us didn’t know each other.
“This season, we want to showcase our hard work from pre-season and help the team to lay down a marker of what we are capable of achieving.
“We are 100 per cent focused on aiming for finals and we’ve got some players in the team with seven years’ experience and younger players who are exceptionally talented as well.
“When my chance comes, I am going to take it with both hands.”
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After being deployed on the wing and across midfield last year, Doonan spent pre-season working on a new role in Essendon’s forward line.
When she first witnessed an Australian Rules game, she was left scratching her head at what appeared to be an unfathomable game involving two teams kicking an oval ball around and chasing it with frenzy.
Now with her skills honed, she has taken great strides towards learning the nuances and finer points of the game. “I now have a more influential role in the Essendon forward line,” Doonan said.
“It’s all about fitness, speed, craft, and a new way of thinking, which is a lot more tactical than when I saw my first game of Australian Rules.
“There are different running patterns to get used to and, for me, it’s about focusing on the connection between the mids, inside mids and forwards.
“It’s also about us as a team anticipating where team-mates are going to run and improving that connection between us.
“You could have a team full of brilliant individuals, but there has got be a strong connection between defence, midfield and forwards for it to work.”
Doonan arrived in Australia with two Club Allstar nominations, an All-Ireland junior championship and a Queen’s University Club Woman of the Year crown after helping the team win the O’Connor Cup Shield.
At this stage, she is undecided if she will be available to play for Fermanagh next season.
“I haven’t decided if I will go home and play for Fermanagh in the GAA next season because my partner James has travelled to Australia on a working-holiday visa, so we may spend the AFLW off-season travelling instead,” Doonan added.
“Hopefully, I will have the chance play for Fermanagh again in the future, before it’s too late.”
