‘Pretty unreal’: Tripodi keen for more after AFLW debut
An interview with North Melbourne Women's footballer, Ruby Tripodi.
This article was first published on the now-defunct news website, House of Footy.
It’s been a little over a week since Ruby Tripodi made her AFLW debut. With the major milestone in the books for her, she’s now looking forward to what’s to come in her rookie season.
The 22-year-old spoke exclusively with House of Footy following North Melbourne’s win against St Kilda, about being drafted through making her debut at North Melbourne.
“It’s been honestly pretty unreal I have to say, [it’s been] quite a surreal experience. Coming into the club, [North Melbourne has] been just so welcoming and they’re such hard workers,” Tripodi told House of Footy.
“It’s been definitely challenging in the sense that it’s the AFLW. But the quality of people at the club, I’ve just absolutely loved it and they make it so much fun. It’s such a great environment. I’ve honestly loved it so much.”
The midfielder shone on debut in Round One, finishing the afternoon with seven disposals, a tackle and a goal.
With her AFLW game coinciding with Father’s Day, it wasn’t a surprise that the wholesome video footage of her family celebrating her goal whilst in the stands, went viral on social media.
She shared that having her family at the game was one of her favourite moments of the day.
“Kicking the goal on debut was a really special moment,” she said.
“I had my family there and obviously it was Father’s Day, they were just so excited and just being able to see them after the game and celebrate with them was really special.”
Honestly, the whole experience was just amazing [and] I think to have a win on debut, I don’t think you could ask for much more.”
Tripodi opened up on her mindset whilst she was lining up to take the goal. She admitted that in her routine, she ‘tries to pick a spot’ to aim her kick to. On debut, her approach was no different.
“I was pretty nervous,” she admitted with a laugh.
“I think a set shot can be nerve-racking anyway, but for it to have been a 50 metre penalty, having to run over to inside [the forward] 50 and know ‘yep, you got a shot on goal pretty close, you should be kicking it’.
“It’s funny, I think I said after the game that when I was lining up to kick the goal, I was trying to pick a spot to aim for.
“When I looked up in the stands, it was Bay 19, so I just took it as a really good omen I think.
“I don’t know if that’s what got me over the line [but] I was really nervous, seeing that [19] kind of calmed me a little bit.”
Five months on since the AFLW’s supplementary draft, Tripodi is still thinking about the night. She had received the opportunity to prove herself after North Melbourne had selected her at Pick 23. It was a moment that she herself had admitted she wasn’t sure would happen.
“I was kind of emotional actually,” Tripodi admitted.
“I came into footy late [and] I’ve been playing since 2019, so it’s been a bit of a journey. I probably wasn’t expecting to be as emotional as I was, but [it] definitely kind of hit me quite quickly when it happened.”
Tripodi knew that she always wanted to play football. But due to the restrictions, which prevented young girls proceeding with the sport past their early teens, it saw her gravitate towards basketball.
The childhood Collingwood supporter suggested AFL captain Scott Pendlebury as someone who she looked up to. But went on to further explain that because of how the sport looked for women at the time, there wasn’t anyone that she could properly look up to at the time.
“Growing up, I never really aspired to be a footballer because I didn’t really know that I could be and I think that is a very similar story for like a lot of women playing AFL now,” she said.
“It’s so great with the AFLW, that actually gets to change for young girls to have those role models that they can actually look up to who are playing at the highest level.”
The formation of the AFLW competition slowly began shifting attitudes of women’s football, which lead to football clubs around the country introducing women’s teams across the country.
Williamstown CYMS was one club that introduced a women’s team, which was what helped to kick start her journey into Aussie Rules.
“My brother’s local team [Williamstown CYMS] were doing a training session to get some interest and he was like ‘you have to come, you’ve always wanted to do it’,” she recalled.
“He was really encouraging me when [the women’s team was introduced]. He even came to training with me just to get me involved. I’ve had some really great support from my family.
“But then even the Williamstown CYMS, they were awesome support locally to get me started, give me an opportunity to play footy and then eventually get picked up to play some VFL.”
When Tripodi first began playing with the team, she was still a newcomer to the sport. However, she continued to impress, working her way to the Western Jets in the NAB League. It wasn’t long before she cemented a spot in the VFLW with Williamstown.
Her arrival at the Seagulls was where she really started to flourish. Throughout her tenure at the club, she was named a club best and fairest twice (2021 and 2022). She was also named to the leadership group, being appointed as a vice-captain.
Tripodi went undrafted previously. She shared that it wasn’t the first time she nominated for the AFLW draft, although she emphasises that there are no hard feelings for not getting picked up earlier.
“I’m not upset that I didn’t get picked earlier,” she admitted when asked whether going undrafted fuelled her motivations.
“I have such a great relationship with [the Seagulls] and the people there. I’ve made some amazing friends and I got to know some incredible people. They’ve been a been a massive reason to why I did end up eventually getting picked up.
“When I got into footy, because I was so late, AFL probably wasn’t something that I really expected to end up playing. But I think with my footy, like I just wanted to continue to improve, get better and kind of see where it took me. If that was just playing VFLW at Williamstown, I was just so happy to be doing that.
“To have the opportunity to play at the highest level, I’m just so incredibly grateful that for opportunity.”
For the young footballer, she shared that she was “excited” to eventually make an AFLW. It had all worked out in the end, with Tripodi having high praise for “the calibre of people and players” at North Melbourne.
“I just honestly couldn’t be more thankful that I’m [at North Melbourne]. I think it’s just the best place.”
With the competition hitting the third week mark, Tripodi is just happy for the opportunity to play the sport she loves.
She shared that prior to her debut, a few of her other teammates told her to “not get swept up in the pressure of it all”. Tripodi intends to do just that for the remainder of the league’s eighth season.
“I just feel so lucky and so grateful to have this really special opportunity. I think with sport you never really know how long it’s gonna last, or whether you do get that opportunity to do it. So I think I just really want to take it all in and enjoy every moment with the girls. Honestly, I’m just so lucky to be at the club with the people there, they’re just the best,” she said.