Molly Ritson (born 12 August 1999) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for Brisbane and Gold Coast in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW).

Early life

Ritson grew up on the Gold Coast and attended

Aquinas College :''See also List of institutions named after Thomas Aquinas'' Aquinas College may refer to any one of several educational institutions: In Australia *Aquinas College, Perth, Roman Catholic boys' R–12 school *Aquinas College, Adelaide, residenti ...

throughout her upbringing. She began playing junior football with

Surfers Paradise Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

at a young age before switching to Southport and ultimately

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its founding on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teaching-focused higher ed ...

in an attempt to be drafted. Her decision paid off when the Brisbane Lions drafted her with the 14th pick in the 2017 AFL Women's rookie draft.

AFLW career

Ritson was not given the opportunity to debut for Brisbane due to an injury while contracted in 2018 and was subsequently delisted at the end of the season. She returned to Bond University for the 2019 season where she impressed enough to be selected by her hometown team, the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

, to be a part of their inaugural 2020 season list. Ritson made her

AFLW AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

debut against

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, and far western sub-regions within Sydney's metropoli ...

in round 1 of the 2020 season. At the end of the 2021 season, Ritson was delisted by the Gold Coast after playing nine matches across two seasons.

References

External links

* 1999 births Living people Sportspeople from the Gold Coast, Queensland Sportswomen from Queensland Australian rules footballers from Queensland Gold Coast Football Club (AFLW) players {{AFL-bio-1990s-stub