FOR TASMANIA'S Mia King, there's nothing better than bursting clear of a pack and leaving opponents grasping at thin air.
A hard-nosed midfielder, King is aligned to North Melbourne through the club's allegiance with Tasmania and looks set to be a Roo in 2020, having nominated for her state's portion of the October 22 draft.
"I just see the ball and want to get it, there's nothing else," King told womens.afl.
"I'm a ball-winner, I'm not really that sort of 'take a speccy and kick amazing goals', more those get the little handballs out and work around the field.
"It's quite exhilarating out there when you're in the midfield, because obviously everything is happening around you, I just love it.
"I love the contest, getting past them, you feel good coming out of it. Also laying tackles are really exciting too. The whole crowd cheers and you get to take [the free kick] back."
King, who was named the Eastern Allies' MVP at July's NAB AFLW Under-18 championships, says she has benefited from the indigenous player development programs she has been involved in, including AFL Tasmania Kickstart and the Woomeras (national).
"We had one Woomeras game up in Darwin, but it was so hot. I played a game and I was dripping with sweat, I jumped out of the shower dripping in sweat, it was just so hot. I don't know how people play footy up there," she said with a laugh.
"I had (Essendon VFLW's) Courtney Ugle as my coach, she was amazing. Her story was really inspiring to hear, [as well as] a lot of the girls coming through. I really enjoyed those trips too."
AFLW footy came to Tasmania for the first time in 2019, and King loved the opportunity to watch top-level women's matches in her home state.
"I watch AFLW all the time, but when the first game came on, I was like 'oh my god'," she said, putting her hands to her face.
"I watched a lot of North Melbourne with the Tassie connection, seeing Daria (Bannister), the Haineses (Chloe and Libby), Emma Humphries play, there's a lot of Tassie talent.
"It's been really exciting to see the development from the first season, you can see the young talent coming through, it's great to watch. AFLW is growing really big and I can't wait to see what happens 10 years from now."
King first pulled on the boots for East Launceston youth girls after a teacher at her school, Scotch Oakburn College, asked if she wanted to play.
From there, she won two flags in two years before progressing to playing seniors with Launceston in the state league, where she's been for the past three seasons.
She's also represented Tasmania and the Allies/Eastern Allies for three years, named All Australian this year.
"Two years ago, I never thought of being drafted, but now having seen a lot of my friends go through it, it's an actual thing. I really want to be at that elite level," she said.
"I still want to enjoy the game, because obviously I don't want to go to that mindset of just doing it for drafting and everything else that comes with it.
"If I doesn't happen, footy won't be done because I didn't get drafted. I'll work on my school, just play club and see what happens."
The 2019 NAB AFL Women's Draft will be live streamed on womens.afl, the AFLW App and the AFLW Facebook account from 10.40am AEDT on October 22.
