Nikki Nield ( Gore, born 11 December 2000) 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 playing for

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

in the

AFL Women's 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 ...

(AFLW) competition. She previously played for

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

State football

Nield played Australian rules football since the age of 11, first at

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

and then joined Christies Beach She captained Christies Beach under-14 boys' team in 2014 and in 2016 joined their senior

South Australian Women's Football League The South Australian Women's Football League (SAWFL) was the governing body and top level of women's Australian rules football in the state of South Australia from 1991-2016. In 2017, the SAWFL merged with the South Australian Amateur Football L ...

(SAWFL) side, helping them claim the

Adelaide Footy League The Adelaide Footy League, formerly known as the South Australian Amateur Football League (SAAFL), is a semi-professional Australian rules football competition based in Adelaide, South Australia. Comprising sixty-seven member clubs playing ov ...

Division 2 premiership in 2017. In 2018, Nield joined

SANFL Women's League SANFL Women's League (also known as the SANFLW or the Hostplus SANFL Women's League) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in South Australia. History The league was launched in February 2017, initially comprising ...

(SANFLW) club

South Adelaide The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known as the ''Panthers'', their home ground is Flinders University Stadiumdisposals over eight games, as well as collecting 21 disposals and laying eight

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

in the Grand Final victory over Norwood. In round 4, after collecting 20 disposals, she was nominated for the Breakthrough Player Award, winning the award at the end of the season. Furthermore, she was selected for the 2018 SANFLW Team of the Year and won South Adelaide's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award. Nield represented South Australia at the

2018 AFL Women's Under 18 Championships The 2018 NAB AFL Women's Under 18 Championships, AFL Women's Under-18 Championships was played between May and July 2018, with six teams competing in the main 'Series 2' round robin tournament and with a further four playing in a two-match on-on- ...

and was selected for the initial squad of the

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

. In 2019, Gore averaged 18 disposals over seven games, laying 48 tackles during the SANFLW season, helping South Adelaide claim back-to-back premierships. Gore also played two games for NT Thunder during the 2018

VFL Women's 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 ...

(VFLW) season. In 2024, Nield won the

SANFL Women's League Best and Fairest Award The SANFL Women's League Best and Fairest Medal is awarded to the best and fairest player in the SANFL Women's League (SANFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game. Future ...

with 27 votes, with South Adelaide qualifying for another Grand Final.

AFL Women's career

Nield was drafted by

with their first selection and eighth overall in the

2018 AFL Women's draft The 2018 AFL Women's (AFLW) draft consisted of the various periods when the ten clubs in the AFL Women's, Australian rules football women's competition could recruit players prior to the competition's 2019 AFL Women's season, 2019 season. As i ...

. Adelaide's general manager of football, Phil Harper, said that she "is a real competitor who loves the contest, tackles hard, and has an enormous work rate." She made her debut in the 32 point win over at Peter Motley Oval in round 6 of the 2019 season. In June 2022, Nield was traded to

Personal life

Nield was born in Christies Beach in

. She has a twin sister, named Amy, who is a surfer. Both twins had started out surfing, but Gore changed to football due to not enjoying the individual aspect of surfing. Both twins studied at

Tatachilla Lutheran College Tatachilla Lutheran College is a R-12 non-government school in the Australian state of South Australia located in the suburb of Tatachilla. It was officially opened on 29 January 1995 by Rev. Garrie Fischer. From 1995 until 2001 Tatachilla was ...

until year nine, when they took up online schooling.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gore, Nikki Christies Beach Football Club players South Adelaide Football Club players (Women's) Living people 2000 births Adelaide Football Club (AFLW) players Australian rules footballers from South Australia Fremantle Football Club (AFLW) players