SOUTH Adelaide defender Esther Schirmer had goals like every player coming into the 2024 season, but unlike many, the South Australian exceeded them, and then some. At the start of the year, Schirmer kept her focus simple, to essentially take her game to another level, play every national championships game, and taste team success with the Panthers.

“I want to have progressed in my football and be another level up from what I was playing last season,” Schirmer said at the SANFLW Preseason Testing. “I want to be able to play in all of the Under 18s national games and put a really good foot forward in that, and then obviously for South, winning as many games as possible and holding up the backline.”

Little would she know that less than 12 months later, Schirmer would walk away as a SANFLW premiership player, South Australian MVP and 2024 AFLW Under 18 All-Australian following a consistent carnival for the Croweaters.

AFLW UNDER 18 CHAMPIONSHIPS STATS: 2024 vs 2023

As outlined in the table, Schirmer’s increased across the board. She found more of the ball, used it at a higher efficiency, took more marks, laid more tackles and provided greater rebound from defensive 50, all while remaining accountable on her opponent.

The South Australian described her 2023 campaign as a “really good experience” that she enjoyed.

“As a bottom-ager I pushed myself hard to get up into that team, but very excited for this year to really set myself apart from others,” Schirmer said.

Then looking to 2024, her goals for her own game were clear.

“I want to become a more attacking defender,” Schirmer said. “I obviously was more defensive in the role that I played at South. I’m looking to elevate my running side of the game and really get involved in the play a lot more.

Schirmer noted 2024 was her sixth season of football, having started at Christies Beach, and gradually worked her way into the South Adelaide program. Becoming a crucial player under coach Rick Watts, Schirmer would develop from being a lockdown defender into a two-way offensive threat, providing greater run from the back 50 than in previous seasons.

SANFLW STATS: 2024 vs 2023

Schirmer’s clear work up the ground in 2024 was evident in her statistics. While her rebound 50s and tackles remained around the same mark – keeping accountable – she upped her disposal tally, efficiency and most notably her marking, almost tripling her tally from one year to the next.

That confidence to back herself in the air and clunk those marks rather than opt to spoil or purely focus on her opponent is what has helped her develop her game so effectively. In one match against Glenelg back in Round 5, Schirmer had a ridiculous 12 marks from 17 touches, and surpassed five or more grabs in six games, including the grand final.

“I believe i’m quite good at being composed and so I can the ball and figure out what I’m going to do with it,” Schirmer said of her strengths in the preseason. “I’m getting better at my marking, I’m good under pressure and I like a good lockdown defender so I can shut people down and then working on actually getting the ball into my hands and playing on from there.”

Schirmer said she has been fortunate to follow in the footsteps of her older sister Gypsy Schirmer, a past AFLW Academy member, South Australian representative and South Adelaide premiership player.

“It’s amazing having siblings who have done it before,” she said. “Just to know what I’m expecting, get different experiences and have that person to talk to after games and after that type of stuff to figure out what I can improve on, and what I do well and just unpack stuff especially playing in the same team which is nice.

“[My sister] the one who got me into football in the first place. “I saw her play and thought that’s something I want to do, and she’s always been whatever she’s done, I’m like I want to do that. It’s inspired me to get as high as I have.”

Unlike a lot of her peers in the South Australian team, Schirmer actually barracks for Carlton in both the men’s and women’s elite level competitions, following in the footsteps of her father.

“My dad was a Carlton supporter when he was a kid, so I got raised up,” she said. “My sister goes for Port, so it was Port or Carlton and I went Carlton’s way. Very big on the men’s and then when the women’s team came in I was very keen on watching them, it’s very inspiring being able to watch people you know in the AFLW, but also see the women playing which is pretty cool.”

Schirmer’s season has her one step closer to following in the footsteps of those players running around, earning a National Draft Combine invite, one of just 47 players to achieve the honour. Regardless, it has been quite the year for the defender who emerged from being a reliable lockdown defender to a flourishing two-way back who not only stops her opponent, but provides run for her side.