Imogen Trengove in action for Woodville-West Torrens in the R2 match against Central District on March 29, 2025. Picture: Cory Sutton/SANFL

DRAFT prospect Imogen Trengove has always been a high achiever.

Currently studying medical science at university, with the goal of becoming a doctor, she also captained South Australia throughout this year’s Marsh AFL National U18 Girls Championships and is hoping to be drafted to the AFLW come December 15.

Sitting in the stands of the MCG, taking a brief break from her Draft Combine schedule, Trengove nurses her wrist.

Wrapped up in a splint, Trengove underwent surgery on a broken bone and injured ligaments suffered in SA’s narrow loss to Queensland in August. But it wasn’t before she recorded 22 disposals and four inside 50s for the game, playing as a damaging high half-forward.

Georja Davies is tackled by Imogen Trengove during the Marsh AFL National U18 Girls Championships match between South Australia and Queensland at Prospect Oval on August 3, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

Instead of viewing the injury as an inconvenience, she has used it as a learning experience.

“I love the body, it’s very interesting, and biology was one of my favourites in school,” Trengove told AFL.com.au.

“When I was at the physios and the doctors and the surgeons, I got to listen to them and that was interesting. No one wants to be injured, but that was a positive.”

Trengove might only be 18 years old, but she is mature, self-possessed and confident. Part of that is her innate personality, but it can also be attributed to the fact that she moved out of home when she was just 15.

Hailing from a farming family on the Yorke Peninsula, she and her siblings boarded in Adelaide to complete their schooling.

“You have to be independent and sort through things yourself. I’ve definitely been through the troubles of being away from home, and obviously everyone gets homesick and that’s not a nice feeling,” Trengove said.

Imogen Trengove during the Marsh AFL National U18 Girls Championships match between South Australia and Victoria Metro at RSEA Park on June 22, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

“I feel like I’ve had those challenges early on and have built independence now.”

Having graduated high school, she now lives with her older sister in Adelaide.

“We’re 16 months apart. I graduated last year, she graduated in 2023, so we’re very close and we live together at the moment … the whole cooking and cleaning and doing all the house things that you have to do, it’s so annoying,” Trengove laughed.

The move, time spent boarding, a switch from tennis to footy in her later teenage years and being named a prefect in school, Trengove oozes leadership. The confluence of all those experiences, despite her youth, makes her an impressive prospect who will no doubt impress clubs ahead of the Telstra AFLW Draft.

Imogen Trengove during the AFLW Draft Combine at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 1, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

“I was also fortunate to be a prefect at school, so I have had those experiences as well. But I think through the challenges and living with other people and meeting so many different people, being from the country and then to the city … I’ve been able to be exposed to different things, to then be able to handle different situations and have a very broad perspective on life even though I’m 18,” Trengove explained.

“I think that being around a team and being around people has helped me also be the leader that I am, because just caring for people is something that I love doing, being there for people. So I think that’s my empathy.”

Building that emotional intelligence has been one thing, but developing her understanding of footy, despite only picking up the game at 15, has also been an important step along the way.

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Trengove played for Woodville-West Torrens in the SANFLW for the past two years where she is coached by women’s footy pioneer Narelle Smith, and she has used that time to soak up everything she possibly could.

“(Narelle) is amazing. She knows so much about football, and when I was boarding, I was younger, so I didn’t have my license, so she picked me up, so we spent a lot of time in the car together,” Trengove said.

“I was very fortunate; she’s a great mentor and I’ve learned a lot about footy and the game and how to think about it and all of those things. My footy IQ has definitely improved because of her.”