Tyla Hanks (born 15 February 2000) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er playing for in the

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

(AFLW). An inside midfielder, she played junior football in the TAC Cup Girls and

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

, and competed at four

AFL Women's Under 18 Championships The NAB AFL Women's Under-18 Championships are the annual national Australian rules football championships for women players aged 18 years or younger. The competition is seen as one of the main pathways towards being drafted into a team in the p ...

. Hanks was recruited by Melbourne with pick 6 in the 2018 AFLW draft and debuted in the opening round of the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

Early life

Hanks's junior football began when she was four or five years old; attending the Nar Nar Goon

Auskick Auskick is a program designed to teach the basic skills of Australian football to children aged between 5 and 12. Auskick is a non-contact variant of the sport. It began in Australia and is now a nationwide non-selective program. It has incre ...

program. She also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

as a junior. Hanks played in boys football competitions in

Cora Lynn, Victoria Cora Lynn is a locality in Victoria, Australia, 68 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Cardinia local government area. Cora Lynn recorded a population of 220 at the 2021 census. History The ...

, but moved to

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

after finishing under-13s to continue with a girls team. She attended St Francis Xavier College and graduated into 2016.Hanks represented Vic Metro in the 2015 and 2016

, but switched to Vic Country after selection zones changed for the 2017 competition. She was named in the 2017 All-Australian side in the

forward pocket In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the gro ...

. After the championships Hanks was named in the 2018 AFLW Academy squad as one of twenty-nine seventeen-year-old prospects. As part of this squad she could attend development camps and train with

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

clubs. In 2018, Hanks began studying

exercise science Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical exercise. It is one of the allied health professions, and involves the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise. Exercise physiologists are the highest qualified exercise ...

at the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamation ...

. She co-captained the

Gippsland Power The Gippsland Power is an Australian rules football team in the Talent League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. Honours *Premierships (1): 2005 *Runners-up (3): 1999, 2010, 2012 *Minor Premiers (3): 2005, 2007, 2 ...

in the TAC Cup Girls and was named in the league's Team of the Year. Hanks placed third in the league's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

with 15 votes, one vote behind joint winners

Nina Morrison Nina Morrison (born 13 December 2000) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). A midfielder who won multiple accolades at junior level and played in the VFL Women's (VFLW) as a teenager ...

and

Madison Prespakis Madison Prespakis (born 2 November 2000) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for the Carlton Football Club from 2019 to season 6. A midfielder who won multipl ...

. Hanks attended the

and was again named in the All-Australian team, this time as a follower. She played for Carlton in the

(VFLW); on debut against

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

GMHBA Stadium Kardinia Park (also known as GMHBA Stadium due to naming rights) is a sporting and entertainment venue located within Kardinia Park, South Geelong, in the Australian state of Victoria. The stadium, which is owned and operated by the Kardini ...

in round 4, she amassed 19 contested possessions and 11 clearances – besting all players – and a team-high 20 disposals.

Aasta O'Connor Aasta O'Connor (born 21 June 1987) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played as a ruck for and for in the AFL Women's competition. She is also a member of the Darebin Falcons' VFL Women's team. Early life O'Connor was born in Br ...

, who oversaw the AFLW Academy program, believed Hanks would eventually captain an AFLW club. She tested at the 2018 AFLW draft combine and set a record in the agility component with a time of 8.788 seconds, also finishing fifth in the yo-yo test. For the 2018 AFLW draft, prospects were required to nominate a state or region they wished to play in; Hanks was to nominate the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

metropolitan area, preventing Geelong from recruiting her.

AFLW career

Hanks was recruited by Melbourne with pick 6 in the 2018 AFLW draft, their first selection. She injured her knee in a practice match against Melbourne's VFLW affiliate

Casey Demons The Casey Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, Victoria, Cranbourne East. The club, which was previously known as the Springvale Football Club (1903–2005) ...

, resulting in bone bruising but no muscle or ligament damage. The injury interrupted Hanks's pre-season but did not prevent her from making her AFLW debut in the opening round of the

; a loss to at

Casey Fields Casey Fields is a $30 million, 70 hectare multi-sports complex in the City of Casey at Cranbourne East, a southeastern suburb of Melbourne. The complex is home to Australian rules football, cricket, netball, soccer, tennis, cycle spor ...

. She played all seven matches in her first season.

Statistics

:''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2021 season.'' , - style="background:#EAEAEA" , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , 28 , , 7 , , 3 , , 1 , , 37 , , 21 , , 58 , , 9 , , 15 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 5.3 , , 3.0 , , 8.3 , , 1.3 , , 2.1 , , 0 , - , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , 28 , , 7 , , 0 , , 3 , , 44 , , 29 , , 73 , , 9 , , 33 , , 0.0 , , 0.4 , , 6.3 , , 4.1 , , 10.4 , , 1.3 , , 4.7 , , 0 , - style="background:#EAEAEA" , scope="row" text-align:center ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , 5 , , 11 , , 2 , , 5 , , 109 , , 97 , , 206 , , 28 , , 52 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 9.9 , , 8.8 , , 18.7 , , 2.5 , , 4.7 , , 8 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3 , Career ! 25 ! 5 ! 9 ! 190 ! 147 ! 337 ! 46 ! 100 ! 0.2 ! 0.4 ! 7.6 ! 5.9 ! 13.5 ! 1.8 ! 4.0 ! 8

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanks, Tyla Living people 2000 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Gippsland Power players (Talent League Girls) Melbourne Football Club (AFLW) players