Adelaide AFLW Premiership star Caitlin Gould is a footy nut.
When the 24-year-old isn’t playing a key role in the Crows’ ruck or forward line, she is watching Aussie rules.
“I absolutely love footy,” Gould told AFC Media.
“When I wasn’t playing, I always found myself at footy games analysing players and getting excited about the future of women’s footy.”
The love of the game sparked an interest in talent scouting and got Gould thinking about a career in recruiting.
With the support of Crows Head of Women’s Football Phil Harper and AFLW List Manager Katrina Gill, Gould asked to be put to work.
“l started really taking a keen interest in recruiting at the start of this year with Kat and Phil and they have been awesome to learn from,” Gould said.
“They have been super supportive in this new area of work and I have really been enjoying it.”
This weekend, Gould will be sitting alongside Gill and Harper at the South Australian AFLW Draft Combine, as the trio look towards adding the next best talent to an already strong Crows squad.
“I went to the majority of SANFLW games earlier this year to identify football talent, which involves efficient analysis, tracking and reporting of players we think are exciting individuals coming through, and who will add extra depth to our AFLW squad,” Gould said.
“I was at the Victorian AFLW Draft combine last weekend in Melbourne, which revealed some awesome results.
“I’ll be at the SA draft combine this coming weekend observing and hopefully interacting with the players during the day while they’re put through their paces, before the AFLW Draft in December.
“It's super exciting to see the growth and there’s always so much to learn and develop as a recruiter, which is what I love about it.”
But before casting her eye over the talent this weekend’s Gould’s focus is on Adelaide’s clash with the Western Bulldogs on Friday night.
The Crows are looking to claim a seventh-straight win in the first week of Indigenous Round.
“Our form so far has been great and beating Melbourne last week was incredible, but there’s still so much work to be done,” Gould, who booted the goal to seal the win against Melbourne last weekend, said.
“The whole squad is so connected and so driven to be the best team out there, so we are not going to stop working until we get some more success.
“It’s the first week of our Indigenous Round, so we are also looking forward to finally wearing the amazing guernsey Danielle Ponter’s aunt designed and we hope to see as many Crows fans at the game as possible.”
Adelaide takes on the Bulldogs at Norwood Oval on Friday at 6.45pm.
Tickets available here.