Aasta O'Connor (born 21 June 1987) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played as a

ruck Ruck may refer to: * Ruck (rugby union), a contesting for the ball in Rugby Union from a grounded player * Ruck (Australian rules football), an aerial contest in Australian rules football between rival ruckmen * Ruck (rugby league), the area sur ...

for and for in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football league for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the league ...

competition. She is also a member of the

Darebin Falcons The Darebin Women's Sports Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is based in the northern suburbs of Melbourne and primarily notable for its Australian rules football team which competes in the highest-level Victorian state league – the VFL Women's (VF ...

' VFL Women's team.

Early life

O'Connor was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

and raised on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. She attended Immanuel Lutheran College throughout her upbringing and began playing football for the Northshore Jets under 10s mixed team in the local Sunshine Coast junior league. At the age of 18, O'Connor moved to

and began playing top level QAFLW football for the Logan Cobras. Her stint with Logan included four premierships, five Queensland state representative appearances and three All-Australian honours. In 2010, she decided to relocate to Victoria and began playing for the

in the

VFLW VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football Le ...

. Her time with Darebin included a further four premierships and state representative honours for Victoria.

Achievements

O'Connor is a four time premiership player with the Darebin Falcons, four time premiership player with Logan Cobras FC (QLD), Lisa Hardman medallist, 2 time Cath Wotton medallist, Vic rep at the first female AFL AIS squad in 2011. She was also the twelfth draft pick for the AFLW, but was limited to four games in the 2017 season due to a knee injury. The Western Bulldogs signed O'Connor for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017. In May 2018, O'Connor accepted an offer from expansion club Geelong to play with the club in the

2019 AFL Women's season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Mus ...

. In March 2021, O'Connor announced her retirement.

Personal life

Off the field, O'Connor is manager and coach at the AFL Women's Academy and lives in

Abbotsford, Victoria Abbotsford ( wyi, Carran-carramulk) is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Yarra local government area. Abbotsford recorded a population of 9 ...

with her partner, fellow AFLW player Kate Tyndall.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2018 season'' , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, , 4 , , 4 , , 1 , , 0 , , 9 , , 14 , , 23 , , 4 , , 6 , , 24 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.3 , , 3.5 , , 5.8 , , 1.0 , , 1.5 , , 6.0 , - , scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, , 4 , , 8 , , 2 , , 0 , , 40 , , 23 , , 63 , , 21 , , 16 , , 82 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 5.0 , , 2.9 , , 7.9 , , 2.6 , , 2.0 , , 10.3 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 12 , , 3 , , 0 , , 49 , , 37 , , 86 , , 25 , , 22 , , 106 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 4.1 , , 3.1 , , 7.2 , , 2.1 , , 1.8 , , 8.8

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Aasta Western Bulldogs (AFLW) players Living people 1987 births Sportspeople from the Sunshine Coast Australian rules footballers from Queensland Australian LGBT sportspeople Australian lesbians Geelong Football Club (AFLW) players Lesbian sportswomen LGBT players of Australian rules football Darebin Falcons players 21st-century Australian LGBT people Australian rules footballers from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland Australian rules footballers from Brisbane