Heads was drawn to the Port Adelaide brand of footy and the obvious connection shared between the players on the field. Image: Matt Sampson.

As Ella Heads watched Port Adelaide progress to a Preliminary Final in its maiden AFLW finals campaign, she saw something in the exciting brand of footy the Power played and the connectedness of the group that she wanted to be part of.

So, when the opportunity arose to switch the hustle and bustle of Sydney for the historic streets of Alberton, she jumped at it.

Three months on from the four-club trade that saw Heads sign with Port Adelaide, the reliable defender has made Adelaide home and is enjoying getting to know her new teammates.

“I think it's very handy how close everything is,” she told portadelaidefc.com.au. “It's so nice to drive 10 minutes to the beach or 10 minutes to see someone on the other side of town like it's pretty insane and I'm not used to that

“A lot of the girls live around the area that we train and play which makes it a lot easier. It’s just so handy to be able to catch up and have a coffee with someone - you don't have to organise it in advance. You can decide on the day, so that definitely helps with getting to know everyone.

“Having my partner Zac in Adelaide has also helped with the transition.”

After playing every game since her debut in 2022 – 33 consecutive games – the inaugural Sydney Swan and 2023 Rising Star nominee admits some envy watching Port Adelaide embark on an eight-game unbeaten run on its way to last season’s Preliminary Final.

Heads comes from the Sydney Swans, where she was a mainstay in their lineup. Image: AFL Photos.

“Playing finals footy is what you want to play for so it's definitely a big thing,” she said. “But I think it was more the footy that the girls played.

“It was an exciting brand of footy that really drew me in and then also you could tell the connection they all have with each other on the field instantly and that was something that I really value and it was so evident, so those two things were really huge and what I could see from watching them last year.”

Having made the move to Adelaide the 21-year-old is eager to form a partnership in the backline with fellow New South Wales product Teagan Germech, 22, who she played underage representative footy with, and 20-year-old Amelie Borg, who has helped her settle into her new surrounds.

And there is another new teammate she can’t wait to play with.

“I’ve just felt so comfortable in transition,” Heads explained. “All the girls are so welcoming and that's one thing I love about the club and why I really wanted to move over as well, just the culture at Port and I've experienced that since being here for like the past month or so.

“I was so excited to meet everyone but I'm really excited to play in the backline with Amelie Borg and she's been really there for me and so friendly with me moving over, which is so nice.

“And then obviously playing with Matilda (Scholz) for example. She's such a dominant ruck so that would be really cool to play with her but I could name so many of the girls. I'm just so excited to get stuck in playing with all of them to be honest.”

Heads named Amelie Borg and Matilda Scholz as two players she is particularly excited to work with. Image: Matt Sampson.

From Rugby-mad Sydney, Heads came to Aussie Rules late compared with many, only trying out the sport aged 15 after watching her younger brother Archie play.

“I played netball and did little athletics and touch footy and tried every other sport I could when I was younger growing up and then my brother played local footy and representative footy so I would just come down to training sessions with dad and kick the footy on the side,” she explained.

“They had a junior footy team going at that point and the coach of the women's and the juniors came up to me and said ‘come to training’ so I kind of started from there.

The interior architecture student enjoys coaching young footballers through the online platform PlayBook in her spare time, hoping to see others follow in her footsteps.

With a couple of months until the official start of pre-season training, Heads is enjoying getting to the club for optional informal group sessions and can’t wait to be part of Lauren Arnell’s side in 2025.

“I know a lot of the girls find that it's so much nicer running in a group and doing skills with each other instead doing it by yourself,” she said.

“It's nice to have that option there and so many people have turned up. It’s obviously a bit off from the start of pre-season but it's a good time to get better and put the hard work in now so then you can only go up in preseason.”