When she first received a phone call from Tasmanian women's coach Deb Reynolds, Jenna Griffiths thought she was being dropped.
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However, the 18-year-old Bridgenorth player was met with the good news that she'd been selected to represent Tasmania against Queensland at North Hobart Oval on Saturday.
"When I did get a call from her, I was like 'oh, here we go' but she said 'congratulations, you're in the team on a wing rotation'," Griffiths said.
"My first words were just 'yeah, thanks', it's just really awesome and I'm really grateful. The first reaction was 'yeah, wicked - let's go play some footy'."
Despite being a younger member of the side, Griffiths, who is a zookeeper at Tasmania Zoo, has packed plenty of experience into her career so far.
She started playing at 12 years of age with the Tamar Valley Demons and outside of a year at George Town in 2019, was there right until playing her first year of seniors at Launceston last season.
During her time at the Demons, the former Exeter High School student played NTJFA representative football and represented Tasmania in the under-15 Devils before transitioning into the senior ranks.
Griffiths' introduction into senior football has been smooth, winning the flag with Launceston and sitting at 9-0 with new side Bridgenorth this season - which she described as "awesome".
At an age where players' AFLW dreams are being decided, Griffiths knows what a strong performance on Saturday may do for her career.
"I'm hopeful that it might open a door or two to maybe even a VFLW game to start me off," she said.
"If it ends up in drafting, then obviously, I'll take every opportunity but I'll just see how I go and see how the game goes.
"Any girl that plays footy, I think that's the major goal. It would be wicked to play [AFLW] but if not, I'm happy to just keep playing club [footy], but the ultimate goal is to get drafted."
Football isn't the only sport Griffiths takes part in, competing in statewide horse-riding events throughout the summer.
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