Former Calder Cannon, now Richmond livewire forward Emelia Yassir is the Round 7 AFLW Rising Star nominee.
Yassir kicked a career-high three goals in the Dreamtime clash against Essendon on Saturday night, including the opening major of the game within the first 20 seconds of play.
In addition to kicking the bulk of the Tigers’ score, she also had four score involvements and laid four tackles, the 20-year-old impressing with her energy and work-rate around goals.
A fierce competitor, Yassir has been in fine form all season, averaging a goal a game in the opening seven rounds of the season.
The 20-year old was selected by the Tigers with pick No. 16 in the 2021 AFLW Draft and was named the Club’s best first-year player in her debut season.
The 20-year-old has played 26 games and kicked 14 goals for the Tigers, including two goals in the Season Seven Semi Final against North Melbourne.
Yassir was drafted from the Cannons and played juniors with the Pascoe Vale Football Club in the Essendon District Football League
“We are hurting, we’ve been hurting for a few weeks but it’s another reason to get up and going the next week,” Yassir said following the loss to the Bombers.
“We’re just hungrier and hungrier to get back and bounce back up to the Richmond way.”
While the result didn’t go as planned for Yassir or the Tigers, she was happy with how she was able to contribute.
“I’m proud of the group, there’s no individual goal, it’s everyone combining.
“I was able to execute, which I’m absolutely stoked about.”