Dot Jenkins Medal 2024: Ally O'Connor

South Warrnambool netballer Ally O'Connor speaks after winning her third Hampden league Dot Jenkins Medal.

Transcript

00:00All right, I'm joined by South Warrnambool's Ali O'Connor. Ali, you've just won your third

00:03Dodge Jenkins medal. How are you feeling after that?

00:06Very, very overwhelmed. It's a pretty surreal feeling. I definitely did not expect this.

00:12The team that I've been a part of is just so incredible and you could probably see throughout

00:15the vote count that we just kept taking votes off each other because, again, like I said,

00:20the team that I'm in is just nine strong and, yeah, so I'm very overwhelmed.

00:24It's been another great season for you guys as well, into the grand final on the weekend.

00:28Have you enjoyed the season?

00:29Yeah. One of my favourite seasons, absolutely, by far. We're luckily lucky enough to head

00:36into the grand final this year. We've worked really hard for it as well, I think, this

00:40year especially, knowing that we've got a little bit of a target on our back that it

00:43is the third one. So I think this year is the hardest year that we have been working,

00:47so it's exciting to see what we can do.

00:49And playing alongside your sister this year, Jen, she finished third, I think, equal third.

00:53You must have been proud of her as well.

00:55Yeah, I said earlier, I'm so, so proud of her. She is the biggest workhorse. She is

01:01so dedicated. She drives to Melbourne every single week, comes three hours down, trains

01:05with us, stays for the weekend and she just dominates. And like I said, she hasn't played

01:09in about five years and the ability of her to get back into peak fitness and get back

01:13into the skill and come equal third is so impressive. And I love playing alongside her.

01:17She's my best friend, so it's so, so good.

01:20That's good. And for yourself, back yourself, three Dodge Jenkins medals in the last three

01:24seasons here. That must feel pretty special to you.

01:27Yeah, I can't really believe it, to be honest. Yeah, it's, again, it's not about me. I'm

01:34just in the centre. I'm just connecting the ball. It's everyone else that's doing their

01:37job and, yeah, it's not really a me award. It's more so the team.

01:40And you said out there this season has been a bit different. You've had to move back home

01:45for a bit.

01:46Yeah. So, yeah, really exciting. I've been living in Geelong the last three years, studying

01:50and playing netball up there. And then I've moved home. I've got a job at the Warrnambool

01:55base next year in the hospital as a nurse. So I'm really excited for that. So it's just

01:59creating new opportunities back here, which is exciting, which means I get to stay with

02:02the Roosters a little bit longer.

02:03And a three-peat on the weekend would be pretty special for you and the club.

02:07Yeah.

02:08It's the first one, but it's still special for the club.

02:10Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, we've wanted it for so long. I've been a part of

02:15this Open team for 10 years or so. And, you know, we've seen the wooden spoon a few years

02:21in a row and now climbing up, it's good to be there, but just maintaining it and then

02:25hopefully we can get the win.

02:26Sounds good. Well, good luck for the weekend.

02:27Thank you so much.