Poppy is the twelfth winner of the annual NAB AFL Auskicker of the Year competition, where 22 lucky Auskicker of the Year nominees get an unforgettable AFL experience! Weekly nominees were announced during the Seven Network’s Friday night match broadcast. Poppy was announced as a nominee during the Round 2 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season match between Geelong Cats and Brisbane Lions.

From the 22 nominees, Poppy was selected as the winner, and announced as the 2021 NAB AFL Auskicker of the Year at the 2021 Brownlow Medal Count! As part of her prize as the 2021 NAB AFL Auskicker of the Year, Poppy will receive $5,000 from NAB plus Geelong Football Club captain, Joel Selwood, and AFLW star Katie Brennan, as her personal footy mentors in 2022.

We asked Poppy the big questions about the amazing experience!

KZ: Hi Poppy! Congratulations on winning the 2021 NAB AFL Auskicker of the Year competition! Have you met Geelong Football Club captain Joel Selwood and AFLW Richmond captain Katie Brennan?

P: I got to do a quick interview with Joel Selwood on the Sunrise breakfast show but haven’t had much of a chance to talk to him yet. Katie Brennan FaceTimed me last week and she is so nice. She has convinced me to support her AFLW team (which is Richmond) until the Hawks girls team starts in another year. She said she will help me to learn how to kick cool goals like a banana and a snap.

Poppy receiving the award at the 2021 Brownlow Medal Count

KZ: Joel and Katie will be your personal footy mentors for 12 months! What do you hope you’ll gain after the mentorship experience?

P: I have been practising footy a lot during lockdown and I pretty much kick the footy every day with my family. I hope Joel and Katie can teach me how to run and bounce the ball properly and how to kick a long way.

KZ: Why should other kids enter the competition?

P: It has been the most amazing experience to meet so many famous footy players and famous television people. Everyone has been so nice to me and I feel like the luckiest girl in Australia. I even got to go to the Brownlow and have a kick of the footy with my favourite player, Chad Wingard. It was good winning the $5000 from NAB but the best bit was meeting the players. It is an awesome competition and if you love footy you should definitely go in it.

Want to read more of our interview with Poppy? Grab the December 2021 issue of K-Zone, on sale now!