Aasta O'Connor (born 21 June 1987) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played as a ruck for Western Bulldogs and for Geelong in the AFL Women's competition.[1] She is also a member of the Darebin Falcons' VFL Women's team.[2]

Aasta O'Connor
O'Connor with Geelong in February 2020
Personal information
Date of birth (1987-06-21) 21 June 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth Brisbane
Original team(s) Darebin Falcons (VWFL)
Draft No. 12, 2016 AFL Women's draft
Debut Round 1, 2017, Western Bulldogs vs. Fremantle, at VU Whitten Oval
Height 182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Ruck
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2017–2018 Western Bulldogs 12 (3)
2019–2021 Geelong 20 (1)
Total 32 (4)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2021 season.
Source: AustralianFootball.com

Early life

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O'Connor was born in Brisbane[3] and raised on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.[4] She attended Immanuel Lutheran College throughout her upbringing and began playing football for the Northshore Jets under 10s mixed team in the local Sunshine Coast junior league.[5] At the age of 18, O'Connor moved to Brisbane and began playing top level QAFLW football for the Logan Cobras. Her stint with Logan included four premierships, five Queensland state representative appearances and three All-Australian honours.[6] In 2010, she decided to relocate to Victoria and began playing for the Darebin Falcons in the VFLW. Her time with Darebin included a further four premierships and state representative honours for Victoria.

Achievements

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O'Connor is a four time premiership player with the Darebin Falcons, four time premiership player with Logan Cobras FC (QLD), Lisa Hardman medallist, 2 time Cath Wotton medallist, Vic rep at the first female AFL AIS squad in 2011.[2][7] She was also the twelfth draft pick for the AFLW,[8] but was limited to four games in the 2017 season due to a knee injury.[9]

The Western Bulldogs signed O'Connor for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017.[10]

In May 2018, O'Connor accepted an offer from expansion club Geelong to play with the club in the 2019 AFL Women's season.[11] In March 2021, O'Connor announced her retirement.[12]

Personal life

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Off the field, O'Connor is manager and coach at the AFL Women's Academy[13][14][15] and lives in Abbotsford, Victoria with her partner, fellow AFLW player Kate Tyndall.[16]

Statistics

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Statistics are correct to the end of the 2018 season[17]
Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
H/O
Hit-outs
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
2017 Western Bulldogs 4 4 1 0 9 14 23 4 6 24 0.3 0.0 2.3 3.5 5.8 1.0 1.5 6.0
2018 Western Bulldogs 4 8 2 0 40 23 63 21 16 82 0.3 0.0 5.0 2.9 7.9 2.6 2.0 10.3
Career 12 3 0 49 37 86 25 22 106 0.3 0.0 4.1 3.1 7.2 2.1 1.8 8.8

References

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  1. ^ "Australian Football - Aasta O'Connor - Player Bio". australianfootball.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b "#3 Aasta O'Connor - Victorian Women's Football League - SportsTG". SportsTG. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  3. ^ 2023 Queensland Football Hall of Fame – Aasta O’Connor 23 June 2023
  4. ^ "Bulldogs star Aasta O'Connor to take on old-love Lions". theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Aasta's excited by inaugural AFL women's league". sunshinecoastdaily.com.au. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  6. ^ "The long road travelled for Aasta O'Connor". sportstg.com. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  7. ^ "Darebin Falcons fly high to claim grand final glory". 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  8. ^ Marsden, Matt. "Meet all 145 members of the AFL Women's Draft class of 2016". girlsplayfooty.com. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Four big inclusions for road trip to Brisbane - westernbulldogs.com.au". westernbulldogs.com.au. Western Bulldogs. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  10. ^ "AFLW: All the clubs' full lists after trade period - AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. Telstra Media. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  11. ^ Oates, Alex. "Boyd pulls on hoops for AFLW team". www.geelongadvertiser.com.au. p. 37. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  12. ^ Oates, Stacey (25 March 2021). "O'Connor Calls Time". Geelong. Telstra.
  13. ^ "Women's AFL: A League of Their Own - Melbourne Press Club". Melbourne Press Club. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  14. ^ Colangelo, Anthony (13 April 2017). "AFLW Academy prospect Monique Conti eyes professional football and basketball career". The Age. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  15. ^ Hill, Adam (24 April 2017). "Academy prospect". The Stawell Times-News. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  16. ^ Miller, M. "Inner Sanctum", Herald Sun, Weekend, 30 September 2017, p. 4.
  17. ^ "Aasta O'Connor–player stats by season". Australian Football. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
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