Lily Paterson is not what you would call a “footy head”.

She’d been to one AFL game growing up but can’t remember who was playing. In fact, all that she recalls is that it was raining.

“I do watch some footy now, but I’m pretty guilty of not knowing any of the players,” she laughs.

“I admit I have never been invested in a team and until recently only had a basic understanding of how the game worked.”

That all changed last year.

While she initially took up football three years ago to play with friends and have some fun, a year of playing league football with Swan Districts in the WAFLW while completing her year 12 studies made her consider taking her hobby more seriously.

But she did not realise just how determined she would be to succeed.

“I played league footy for a year, graduated school and then I thought ‘I've got a year off, I don't know what to do with my life’,” Paterson explained.

“I realised I love footy, I love hanging out with friends, so I decided I was going to give this a real crack, just work hard and make the most of a year off.

“It also happened to be my draft year, which was very fortunate because obviously being in the last year of high school and trying to get drafted too comes with a lot of pressure so having the year off really helped me gain a love for the sport that I never had before.”

Speaking with the 18-year-old in her new surrounds at Alberton Oval, it is evident Paterson’s laid-back nature belies her true determination to succeed.

So focused and self-motivated was she in her 2024 gap year that she changed her diet, sought advice from teammates about professionalism and consulted Google and Youtube to come up with exercise regimes.

“Suddenly, I loved doing the hard work whereas before, I was just doing what I was told,” Paterson smiled.  

“With my year off, I was like ‘I've got so much more time, I might as well do some extra stuff to try and get better and see how far I can go’.

“I did it all on my own. It’s something I’m really proud of, how I managed to do it. I just did a lot of research on exercises through Googling and on YouTube and all sorts.

“Then I would ask for advice from my teammates who had been through the system like Demi Liddle and Eliza Gelmi who have been playing footy for a while and they were my co-captains.”

And junk food was definitely off the menu.

“It's more mental than physical,” the teenager says of her commitment to eating right.

“Mentally if you can do that it's easier to do other things. For me, eating good was harder than running, so my mentality was that if you can eat good, it's easy to run.”

At a time when most teenagers are celebrating the end of their school journey, Paterson continued learning, particularly about herself.

“I've learned that I'm very determined and very disciplined, to an extent that I never thought I would be,” she explains.

“I don’t think many 18-year-olds can say no to peer pressure and stuff like that.

“I was pretty lucky I knew what I wanted, and nothing was going to distract me from that.”

Paterson also counts herself lucky to have a supportive family.

While her Scottish migrant parents may not understand football all that well, they have always wanted the best for her and given her the best opportunities in life.

“Scotland is beautiful but it’s probably not the best place to bring up kids so we’ve been lucky because our life is probably so different here to what it would have been,” the talented ball-winner said.

“I think the biggest blessing for me was probably my parents not being footy heads because it meant that they just let me do my own thing.

“I wasn't getting pressure from them; they were just supportive which really helped.

“Dad is trying to understand footy, but Mum's just like, ‘yeah, go Lily!’.

“They’re getting into it a bit now because obviously it’s something I’m passionate about.

“Mum and Dad can’t actually stand together games because they get so stressed and then I think my mum is a cheerer and my dad is just one of these people who likes to stand quietly with their arms crossed.

“They can't sit together at games, but they love to watch.”

While she came to the game late, Paterson has made up for lost time. In her 15 WAFLW games last season she averaged 24.2 disposals to be the leading disposal winner in the entire competition.

She also finished as Swan Districts’ runner-up Best and Fairest.

After being claimed by Port Adelaide with its first pick (pick 19) in the AFLW’s inaugural national draft in December, she has settled in well to life in Adelaide, living with fellow draftee Chloe Gaunt.

She has developed a strong friendship with neighbour and fellow West Australian Gemma Houghton and is being mentored by Sachi Syme.

“Sachi has made me feel so comfortable straight away,” Paterson said. “She's probably the best buddy I could have been given.

“She's so funny, and she likes to nag me to come to every single event. She's just amazing.

“I’ve been going swimming with Julia Teakle as well and I literally get along with everyone at the club.

“I've also become really close to Gemma (Houghton). We hang out heaps. I think she'd say she’s taken me under her wing, but I've taken her under my wing as well.”

Paterson and her new teammates will start pre-season training next month as they gear up for the 2025 season.