Deni Varnhagen (born 26 October 1992) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football league for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the league ...

competition.

Early life and state football

At the age of nine, Varnhagen started playing Australian rules football with the boys' team at the primary school in Happy Valley, where she was raised. Her coach was Phil Harper, who later on became the General Manager of Football Administration at

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

while Varnhagen played for them. Varnhagen continued playing junior football with the boys' team at

Plympton Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to P ...

, captaining them and winning the best and fairest award. Having to stop playing football due to her gender, Varnhagen played soccer and softball instead, representing South Australia in them, before returning to football, joining Morphettville Park. With Morphettville Park she won three premierships in a row. While playing for Morphettville Park, she represented South Australia in an exhibition match against NSW/ACT, which was played at

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby le ...

as a curtain-raiser to an regular season match between

and St Kilda. She was named among South Australia's best, leading them to a two point victory while topping the disposal tally with 20

kicks A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of atta ...

and five handballs. Varnhagen played 10 matches in 2018–2019 with the NT Thunder in the

VFL Women's VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football L ...

AFL Women's career

Varnhagen was drafted by

with their fourth selection and twenty-sixth overall in the

2016 AFL Women's draft The 2016 AFL Women's draft consisted of the various periods when the eight clubs in the AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football league for w ...

. Phil Harper, the General Manager of Football Administration, who had coached her at Happy Valley said that "she was a bit of a star all along." She made her debut in the thirty-six point win against Greater Western Sydney at

Thebarton Oval Thebarton Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia currently used for a variety of sports including Australian rules football. It was the home ground of South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club West Torrens between 192 ...

in the opening round of the 2017 season, kicking a

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

, tallying twelve disposals, and catching a team-high four

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. She helped Adelaide claim their first premiership, scoring a goal in the club's six point victory over

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Metricon Stadium Carrara Stadium (known commercially as Metricon Stadium) is a stadium on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara. The stadium is primarily used for Australian rules football, serving as the home ground of th ...

in the AFL Women's Grand Final. She played every match in her debut season to finish with eight matches. Adelaide signed Varnhagen for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, Varnhagen helped Adelaide became a dual premiership player, helping Adelaide claim their second premiership. She won Adelaide's Best Defensive Player award, averaging a career-best 11 disposals, 2.1

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

and 1.9 rebound 50s per game. As well as her defensive pressure, she also kicked four goals and delivered 45 inside 50s. In 2021, Varnhagen was the source of some controversy after refusing to be vaccinated for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. At the time, the league did not have a vaccination policy. After the league released its policy, stating that all players and staff must receive their first vaccination by 19 November and be fully vaccinated by 17 December, Varnhagen and the club mutually agreed to place her on the inactive list. She returned to playing for Adelaide in 2023, after the league dropped the vaccination requirement.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Varnhagen, Deni 1992 births Living people Adelaide Football Club (AFLW) players Australian rules footballers from South Australia