After being named as the latest Crow to make her debut, it’s a good time for fans to learn more about Marijana Rajcic in another BHP Down to Earth video.

While Rajcic will be running onto the field for the first time in an AFLW match on Saturday, most weekdays you will also find her out on the field in her job as a physical education teacher.

Previously, she spent a lot of time on a soccer pitch, having represented South Australia and Adelaide United in the sport.

Fans will see that 28-year-old Rajcic simply loves sport.

“I was at school and I think it was year 10 and 11, it was kind of like, ‘What are you going to do for the rest of your life?’” Rajcic said.

“And I looked at my PE teachers and said, ‘They play sport every day, and get paid for it, what better job?’”

Rajcic has played soccer since she was 14, going through the South Australian Institute of Sport, and even captaining the State in under 17’s as well as Adelaide United in the W-League in 2015.

Though she loved soccer, Rajcic couldn’t say no when given the chance to play football.

“AFLW came around and the opportunity kind of arose and it was one of those things that I couldn’t really knock back,” Rajcic said.

“I went through a bit of a phase where I just needed something new, refreshing.”

Despite not playing football before, Rajcic quickly picked up the sport and won a premiership with Norwood in the inaugural SANFL Women’s competition, before being drafted to Adelaide with pick No.32 in the 2017 AFLW draft.

She said her ability to pick up the sport is thanks to her background in soccer.

“Coming from soccer, you’ve got that transferable skill even if it’s just game knowledge or game sense,” Rajcic said.

“Spatial awareness is probably one of the biggest ones, knowing when to run, timing, where to run. Any sport, it’s all about movement.

“When you’re looking at a lot of sports, even the kids I teach doing touch footy, it’s all transferrable.”

The BHP Down to Earth videos will be released during the 2018 AFLW season on the AFC website, social channels and app, to give fans greater insight into the lives of Crows AFLW players. 

BHP – through its South Australian Olympic Dam operation – is a co-major partner for the Crows AFLW team for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 AFLW seasons.