![\"Kelli](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/727717a57ea501b90557fadd41b4308392ebe46cf43986a02e0dff37541ddc45.png\")
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September 18, 2026 \u2014 3:43pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Matilda Scholz is a towering presence.<\/p>\n At 189 centimetres she\u2019s the third-tallest player in the AFLW.<\/p>\n Throw in a ruthless streak on the footy field \u2013 and she can spell trouble for opponents.<\/p>\n Former Port Adelaide coach Lauren Arnell<\/a> recalled having to step in at training to separate Scholz and her veteran teammate Gemma Houghton.<\/p>\n Arnell had encouraged the players to bring their physicality to the session. Scholz started throwing her giant athletic frame around and Houghton took exception. Just as the scuffle began to escalate, Arnell rushed in to pull them apart. Neither was about to take a backward step.<\/p>\n The coach described the fiery wrestle as a positive moment because the players found a greater level to challenge each other within training. It sparked an eight-game winning streak that led the Power all the way to the 2024 preliminary final.<\/p>\n Scholz\u2019s mum Peta has also had some nervous moments watching her eldest daughter play.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was so much taller than anyone else when she was younger, and all the coaches were \u201cI would often stand there with my hands to my eyes and not be able to watch, fearful that Matilda would accidentally hurt someone. I just hoped all the other players would walk off without an injury. It was definitely hard to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n Peta Scholz (nee Squire) played netball for Australia. As a hard-working, smart wing defence, she won a World Cup and Commonwealth Games gold medal alongside champions of the game, including Liz Ellis and Sharelle McMahon.<\/p>\n \u201cI miss playing netball. I wanted to win, I wanted to beat my opponent and I wanted to be the best there was as well,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Matilda has inherited her mother\u2019s white-line fever.<\/p>\n Her dad, David, recalls a game when she was just 10 playing for the Mitcham Hawks under-14s.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a game against the Henley Sharks. She was going OK in the ruck, and they just got into her. It was pretty brutal. They literally were targeting her, jumping into her, running into her to stop her getting the ball. Anyway, she reacted in a way which I feel like we see a fair bit today \u2013 where it actually fires her up a bit. It was almost like a moment for me watching her and suddenly seeing a different kid. When she was pressed physically, she found another gear.\u201d<\/p>\n Scholz now bats away opposition players the way a cowboy swats flies. She has mastered the Dusty Martin \u201cdon\u2019t argue\u201d. In season 11, she\u2019s on the cusp of becoming the game\u2019s best player. She\u2019ll need to dethrone Kangaroos champ Jasmine Garner to get there.<\/a><\/p>\n The running ruck won her first All-Australian blazer last year. And at the halfway mark of the season, she\u2019s on track to go back-to-back. On Saturday, she\u2019ll be up against one of the AFLW\u2019s most in-form talls, Swans ruck Ally Morphett.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just Scholz\u2019s footy attributes that stand out. It\u2019s her marketability as well. Last month, the Power star graced the front cover of Women\u2019s Health magazine. And she\u2019s a social media darling, attracting the most followers on TikTok of all AFLW players. She\u2019s in the top five on Instagram. Melbourne\u2019s Tayla Harris is at No.1.<\/p>\n She is outgoing, vivacious and self-assured. And a proud feminist. She\u2019s gone from the reserved kid who bawled her eyes out before going on year 7 school camp to embracing life as a role model, visiting schools to educate kids about respectful relationships, domestic violence and gender equality.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the last few years, she\u2019s developed a lot of clarity around what she wants to stand for. What\u2019s important to her outside of football?\u201d says David.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have these sorts of conversations about the Andrew Tates of the world and about the influence that him and others are having on Gen Z males. For example, our parents have a lot of antiquated ideas about females and what they should and shouldn\u2019t do. But what we\u2019re seeing now is being amplified in another generation. What I love about Matilda is she wants to be a role model to girls, but also to boys as well.\u201d<\/p>\n And the Scholz family is quite the modern, blended family.<\/p>\n David and Peta separated when Matilda was in year 5. Peta, a police officer, has been with her partner, Kate, for 10 years. They married in January. David has also re-partnered and has a three-year-old son, Ned. He\u2019s the apple of Matilda\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n At Alberton home games, they sit together along with both sets of grandparents.<\/p>\n And of course, there\u2019s Poppy, Matilda\u2019s younger sister, who was drafted to Carlton as a key defender but has made a name for herself kicking goals in the navy blue this year.<\/p>\n They are very different people and players but the best of friends.<\/p>\n For now, their parents agree they\u2019re better off playing at different clubs.<\/p>\n \u201cI think, in time, definitely they\u2019d love to play in the same team, and I\u2019d like to see that too, maybe not now, but definitely in the future,\u201d Peta says.<\/p>\n This week Matilda signed a three-year extension that will see her remain at Alberton until the end of the 2030 season.<\/p>\n At just 21, Matilda is settled, maturing and finally working out how best to use her physicality. <\/p>\n Related Article \u201cI\u2019m so extremely proud of her. I feel like she\u2019s already exceeded all my expectations,\u201d Peta says. \u201cShe has really embraced who she wants to be. She\u2019s 100 per cent true to herself all the time. I love her with every part of me.\u201d<\/p>\n Get around our AFL finals coverage<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Matilda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/52b2b794cc13edbcba5e8f66080debca7ca266df.jpeg\")
Matilda Scholz is a formidable physical presence. AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n
yelling out, \u2018stop the big girl, stop the big girl\u2019. Matilda had no idea how strong she was.<\/p>\n![\"Peta](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/47a725a2d7f4763fdaec19b7f98ecc938a1cc97d.jpeg\")
Peta Squire (left) in 2003 playing netball for Australia.Steve Holland<\/p>\n![\"Scholz](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/8a1add8f4e87687e52bff08920e330caf516e0c9.jpeg\")
Scholz takes a mark.AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Port](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/34d2b1f69bca7f398487e04f42df10c73c01918b.jpeg\")
Port star Matilda Scholz is unashamedly a feminist footballer.AFL Photos via Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Poppy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/921dd3c9ef780c04fb51a79355f71719437db7b3.jpeg\")
Poppy Scholz plays for Carlton. Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789710616_54_c21b5b29ffab7285b7a3b7474f9fe2364a5fbf21.jpeg\")
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