Just one year into her football career, 21-year-old Hannah Martin has already made it to the big stage, being drafted to the Crows for the 2019 AFLW season.

Growing up, Martin tried her hand at a number of sports, from netball to basketball, soccer to tennis.

Football wasn’t one of them, however, as growing up on the Yorke Peninsula meant she lacked opportunities to play women’s football

That all changed when the speedy midfielder moved to Adelaide in 2017 with her sister, Rachelle.

Now in the city, the pair decided to explore their passion for the game, adding Aussie Rules to their long list of sports.

“We always kicked the footy in the backyard with my brother and being a Crows fan ever since I was little, being members, I always loved the game,” Martin said.

“I enjoy the aggressiveness, the fact you get to tackle is a highlight for most girls and a big one for me.”

Martin started in the amateur league with West Adelaide and impressed, quickly moving up to the SANFLW side for the 2018 season.

The winger broke the lines with her elite speed and averaged 15 disposals per game in the SANFLW.

On the back of a stellar year, she was selected on the wing in the SANFLW team of the year and took out the 2018 best and fairest.

Winning the award was “surreal” for Martin, who couldn’t believe the success she was experiencing after being in the sport for such a short amount of time.

“Winning it was pretty unexpected,” she said.

“The SANFLW was good fun and I’m so grateful to the West Adelaide Football Club and the playing group there because they’ve been a huge part of my development.”

After her award-winning season, Martin was invited to train with the Crows AFLW side during the off-season and her work ethic stood out.

It wasn’t long before the 21-year-old was taken at Pick No. 51 in the 2018 draft.

Having already had a taste of what it was like to train with an elite side, Martin said she knew what areas of her game she needed to work on.

“Being so new to the game, I’ll mainly be working on the development side of things,” Martin said.

“I’m excited to see where I can go, I’m obviously working with some of the best coaches around, so it’s very exciting.

“Chelsea Randall is a big role model to look up to and [helped me out] early on when I was doing some train-on work with the Crows and Jess Sedunary, because she is from the Yorke Peninsula as well, she also had me under her wing a bit.”

It’s been a big few weeks for Martin, who has celebrated a number of milestones.

Before being drafted, she got engaged to her long-term boyfriend Karl and graduated from her teaching degree at the University of South Australia.

“It’s all happening for me at the moment!”