West Coast Eagles AFLW star Sophie McDonald treasures Albany return for Sportsperson of the Year awards

West Coast Eagles AFLW star Sophie McDonald gave glowing praise for the Great Southern Football League Women’s competition after her nomination for Albany Sportsperson of the Year. McDonald finished in the top five of the Eagles’ best and fairest count last year to earn a nomination in Albany’s most prestigious sporting honour announced on Thursday, February 15. The 23-year-old defender said she takes extreme comfort in knowing that the GSFLW is providing a platform for players to pursue their football dreams in Perth. Such is the story for former GSFLW guns Taylah Orzel and Laura Cinanni, who were both nominated for the Senior Albany Sportsperson of the Year and have been part of Claremont’s WAWFL preseason squad. “I’ve been paying close attention to the league and all the girls coming through as the years have gone by,” McDonald said. “I will go to a match to watch my old club Royals and over the summer I went to a couple of training sessions with them. “It’s nice to get around those girls again and be back at that club which kick-started it all for me. “Since training with them for a bit and just seeing how the skill level has improved so much in such a short amount of time, it’s comforting knowing that we’ll be in really good stead with girls who will eventually move up to Perth again and follow that pathway. “It’s nice that they have something to kind of aim for now and knowing they can go to Claremont and play there and then maybe get drafted.” Despite being pipped by Collingwood premiership ruckman Darcy Cameron for the top gong, the 36-game AFLW player expressed nothing but appreciation in her return to Albany. “It’s always really nice to be recognised, especially by people that you may not have even seen in ages while being based up in Perth,” she said. “So to have that external recognition is really nice and I’m very thankful for it. “I always love coming back down here. It’s the place where I grew up and I still call it home to this day.”