Lauren Wakfer opens up about ACL injury before draft, debut, Rising Star and twin sister Zoe

Yet despite missing her entire debut season, West Coast saw a rising star.

One they simply couldn’t pass up.

The South Fremantle product has made a triumphant return to football in 2023 and was justly rewarded with the round five AFLW Rising Star nomination following a career-best outing in West Coast’s win over Port Adelaide. Wakfer had 14 hitouts, 14 contested possessions, seven tackles and six clearances in the six-point win.

But Wakfer’s resilience is arguably her greatest quality, overcoming a year on the sidelines to make an instant impact in her debut season.

“I remember taking an intercept mark and playing on and as I went to kick the ball, someone came across to smother but unfortunately missed the ball and landed on top of my leg,” Wakfer told CODE Sports. “It was pretty awful.

“That’s the most pain I’ve been in for a while. The siren went soon after it happened so I was able to get off and even when they were doing all the tests I was like, ‘Get me back on I’m ready to go.’

“I didn’t really understand at the time what an ACL injury was and the time on the sidelines I was facing.”

Wakfer had only just started playing WAFLW a year earlier and was balancing footy with state league netball at the time. But after emerging as one of the best junior rucks in Australia at the AFLW National Championships, Wakfer had set her sights on the draft.

“It probably would’ve only been last year (that I envisioned an AFLW future),” Wakfer said “It wasn’t really until the draft combine rolled around that I thought I could be a chance.

“I was a bit nervous after I did my knee. I decided to put my name in anyway but I didn’t really know if I was going to get picked because I obviously couldn’t play. My mindset going in was if I got drafted then ‘let’s do this’ but if I didn’t I’d keep working hard.

“I’m super grateful the Eagles picked me up and they did everything to help me while I was stuck on the sidelines for a year. I got to understand football from a different perspective.”

Wakfer’s euphoria was only matched when twin sister Zoe, who was in Melbourne to support Lauren at the AFLW draft event, unexpectedly got drafted herself. The pair have played three games together this season after Zoe made her debut in defence in round three.

“Not a lot of people get the opportunity we’ve been given,” Lauren said. “Not many people get to play with their sister let alone at the elite level.

“It’s really special and I’m grateful we have that opportunity. We’ve played together our whole life anyway. We’ve rarely been apart.”

Just don’t expect the sisters to be entirely supportive of one another.

“It’s definitely competitive but it’s a good competitive,” Wakfer said. “We’re all pushing each other to get better and we’re each other’s biggest critics.

“If something doesn’t work or something isn’t good enough, we’re the first to call each other out on it and get better at it.”

Wakfer’s determination to debut was evident in the final six weeks of pre-season training ahead of round one. After taking some time to adjust to the tempo, the 19-year-old declared her intentions to coaches in the closing stages of West Coast’s 2023 preparations.

“I was having meetings with the coaches and I was telling them, ‘I’m good to go now. It’s time for me to step up and show the girls what I can do’,” she said. “A lot of the girls had never really seen me play before.

“I just thought, ‘You know what? If I want to debut, I need to step up and show everyone what I can do.’ It was really good for my confidence as well.”

The Eagles had one more surprise up their sleeve. In the days leading into round one, rehab physio Alex Chin, who had guided Wakfer through 12 months of rehab, read out a poem in a team meeting to confirm her debut.

“I was definitely shocked,” she said. “We were a bit confused when he got up in front of the group. But he has worked very closely with me across my entire rehab so it was pretty special when he read the poem.

“I started crying straight away. I don’t think I could imagine a better way to debut.”

Wakfer has played every game this season and exceeded expectations, forced to lead West Coast’s ruck division in the absence of the injured Sarah Lakay. Despite punching above her weight against the likes of dominant talls Breann Moody (Carlton) and Ally Morphett (Sydney) earlier this season, the 180 centimetre Wakfer credits a mental shift for her breakout performance against Port.

“It’s really tricky because sometimes I go in 10cm smaller which isn’t ideal,” she said. “Sarah has been incredible and really helped me out and given me the confidence I need to find my feet in this competition.

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“She’s helped me out on the track, given me advice and showed me replays and stuff like that. I’m grateful to get the opportunity to show what I’m about.

“Sometimes you just have to back yourself in. For me, I shut myself down really quickly and go, ‘Oh she’s tall I can’t win this.’ But the last couple of weeks, I’ve gone in thinking, ‘I don’t care. I’m just going to compete and if I lose, I lose and I’ll try again and again.’

“We’ve got some new tactics under our belt now and not everything is about size anymore. I don’t care how tall my opponent is I’ll back myself in.”