{"id":276976,"date":"2025-11-11T05:30:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T05:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/276976\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T05:30:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T05:30:25","slug":"match-practice-the-key-for-determined-janschek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/276976\/","title":{"rendered":"Match practice the key for determined Janschek"},"content":{"rendered":"

ASPIRING AFL Women\u2019s footballer Yasmeen Janschek<\/a> is under no illusions she has a long way to go to succeed at the top level. The former netballer spoke to Rookie Me Central about her journey recently, with part one of the two-part series looking into her background and decision around choosing the code. Part two will focus purely on her football game and looking ahead to the future.<\/p>\n

>> FEATURE Part I: Janschek puts netball \u201con hold\u201d to chase footy dream<\/a><\/p>\n

The first part of Janschek story ended with the talented Giants Academy ruck telling of her desire to see just how far she could take her football, and though she admitted she did miss netball, was getting her \u201csport fix\u201d through the new venture.<\/p>\n

While her footballing skills are still developing, the athletic tall was pleased some of her attributes from the netball court were transferable onto the footy oval. In particular her ability to \u201cmove for her height\u201d and being \u201cone of the tallest\u201d out on the ground compared to among the taller players in netball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis (size) also helps in the ruck, with my body work because I guess even though netball\u2019s non-contact\u2026 it is kind of a kinda contact sport, but I learned a lot there in terms of body positioning and contest work,\u201d Janschek said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though I got sort of put straight into the ruck because of my height and because that\u2019s where Giants needed me coming into a AFL I\u2019d been told by a lot of people, because I was a defender in netball, that\u2019s probably where I would end up in AFL so that\u2019s still something I\u2019m looking to develop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t played much, anywhere else other than ruck. I haven\u2019t played much, period. But I definitely see that ability to make contests and intercept and read the ball as something that I would\u2019ve taken from netball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally the skill component was a big test for Janschek, especially initially with the talented athlete giving a brutal assessment of her game in part one by declaring at first \u201cnot being able to kick to save my life\u201d. However she has made inroads off the back of a lot of hard work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean that was the goal initially is really like hone in on the skills, and that\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been working on really hard and it\u2019s actually becoming a strength, which is great,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

However work with ball in hand was not the only required improvement for Janschek, finding the sheer distance to run also a wake up call from her days on the netball court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen there\u2019s also that endurance side, far out coming from netball, like the court is 30 metres long, and then my first step onto a footy field, first session, like conditioning, running, round and round the field,\u201d Janschek said. \u201cI\u2019ve gone, \u2018oh my God, I\u2019ve got to build an engine for this, like I\u2019ve gotta work on my fitness for this\u2019, which I\u2019ve also been doing lots of work on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose were the top two things for me. Then obviously there\u2019s the footy IQ and that\u2019s just playing for me. \u201cI\u2019m hoping to go back into the VFL next year just looking at how to figure out what I\u2019ll do for uni, and then maybe even play in Northern Territory over the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking up to the top level, Janschek looks to model her game on two of the top rucks in the competition in Port Adelaide\u2019s Matilda Scholz and Sydney\u2019s Ally Morphett because she can see how their physicality and ability to play as \u201cextra midfielders\u201d is something that the aspiring AFLW player wants to do.<\/p>\n

However if Janschek ends up as a key defender, then Cambridge McCormick is her pick to model her game on, having trained with the hard-running defender when with the Giants.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt training, she just takes all these marks and just runs like half the field,\u201d Janscheck said. \u201cI think that intercept marking and run off half-back game is what I would love to model my game off. But they\u2019re just incredible. I love watching it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sydney Roosters fan has been converted to AFL through her dealings with the Swans and Giants Academy, and even converted her family. However picking between the two New South Wales sides is a completely different story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started at Swans, and so Swans are my team,\u201d Janschek said. \u201cBut now that I\u2019ve crossed over to Giants, I feel a bit caught between. I would say I go for both, but I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s allowed. I like those two when they\u2019re playing. Those are the ones that I\u2019m like, \u2018oh yeah, let\u2019s watch this game\u2019 and want them to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her family has been a great source of inspiration for her football journey, with her dad in particular helping her take the first steps towards the new code.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that first year, and even now when I was learning footy, he was my point of call to teach me how to kick,\u201d Janschek said. \u201cEvery time I would ask \u2026 there was some points where it was like every day, I\u2019d be like, \u2018Hey dad, like let\u2019s go to the park, let\u2019s have a kick\u2019 and you know, he\u2019d always be up for it. He\u2019s the one who taught me to kick in the first place and he\u2019s just really loves following my journey.<\/p>\n

\"\"Yasmeen Janschek warms up before the Allies-Vic Country clash. Image credit: Scott Sidley\/AFL Photos<\/p>\n

Both her parents have really dived deep into following \u201cthe \u2018W\u201d and alongside their support and development, Janschek thanked all the coaches who have had a part in teaching her new skills along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had some awesome coaches, especially coming into Giants, those coaches there,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I think a lot of people assume that I knew things because everyone who comes into those Academies has been playing for heaps of their life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came in really not knowing much at all. They were the ones who were like, \u2018Okay, Yas let\u2019s just like teach you the basic fundamentals\u2019. That\u2019s like what really kind of got my head in the game. Super grateful to them for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to the future, football is the code of choice for Janschek. Though it has hardly been easy, the talented NSW\/ACT tall has a dream that she is chasing, but most importantly is just loving the journey along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I was a little girl, my dream was always to put sport first and to make it professionally in sport,\u201d Janschek said. \u201cAt that point, it was netball or there was a big sprinting part in there as well, and now it\u2019s footy and that\u2019s still what I want more than anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I guess it\u2019s just to get to the highest level that I can, and to play at the highest level and just love doing it. I mean, part of the reason that I love sports so much is because I love the challenge, and so keeping moving forward and up in the pathway is just the best feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo get drafted would make my life, that would be the best thing ever, so that\u2019s definitely the end goal, but as long as I just keep loving what I\u2019m doing, I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ASPIRING AFL Women\u2019s footballer Yasmeen Janschek is under no illusions she has a long way to go to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85,160644],"class_list":{"0":"post-276976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-yasmeen-janschek"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}