Emma Katelyn O'Driscoll (born 22 April 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er playing for the

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers or colloquially Freo, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represen ...

in the

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

(AFLW).

AFLW career

O'Driscoll was drafted by Fremantle with their fourth selection, 51st overall, in the

2019 AFL Women's draft The 2019 AFL Women's draft consisted of the various periods when the 14 clubs in the AFL Women's competition can recruit players prior to the competition's 2020 season. At the conclusion of the period clubs were required to have 27 senior-lis ...

after playing for

Swan Districts The Swan Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Swans, is an Australian rules football club playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). The club is based at Bassendean Oval, in Bassendean, an eastern suburb ...

in the

West Australian Women's Football League The West Australian Women's Football League (WAWFL) was the governing body of women's Australian rules football in the state of Western Australia from 1987 until its dissolution in 2021. It organised the premier women's football league in We ...

(WAWFL). O'Driscoll was named in the

22under22 The 22 Under 22 team (stylised as 22under22) is an honorary representative Australian rules football team created by the AFL Players' Association that seeks to recognise the best young talent in the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Wome ...

team during both the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

and 2022 season 6. O'Driscoll was again named in the 22under22 team for her third consecutive season following 2022 season 7. O'Driscoll had a career best performance in Round 6 of the

2023 AFL Women's season The 2023 AFL Women's season was the eighth season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 1 September to 3 December, ...

against , collecting 28 disposals, 14 contested possessions and 15 intercept possessions. She was named at centre half-back of the AFLW All-Australian team at the season's end, and finished runner-up in Fremantle'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. O'Driscoll was also the league leader in intercept possessions, totaling 85 across 10 rounds. O'Driscoll was elevated to Fremantle's leadership group ahead of the

2024 AFL Women's season The 2024 AFL Women's season was the ninth season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 30 August to 30 November, com ...

. She was named at centre half-back of the

2024 AFL Women's All-Australian team The 2024 AFL Women's All-Australian team represents the best-performed players of the 2024 AFL Women's season. The team was announced on 25 November 2024 as a complete women's Australian rules football team of 21 players. Selection panel The ...

at the season's end.

Personal life

O'Driscoll grew up in Northam,

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Both her brothers are

ers; her younger brother

Nathan Nathan or Natan may refer to: People and biblical figures *Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name * Nathan (surname) *Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible *Nathan (son of David), a biblical figu ...

was also drafted by

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

with the 27th selection in the

2020 AFL draft The 2020 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) could trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2020 AFL season. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nati ...

, and her youngest brother, Aiden, was drafted to the for the

2024 AFL season The 2024 AFL season was the 128th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 7 March to 28 September, comprising ...

, but medically retired on 14 May 2024 without playing a game after suffering a head injury during the pre-season.

References

External links

* * Living people 2000 births Fremantle Football Club (AFLW) players Australian rules footballers from Western Australia {{AFL-bio-2000s-stub