Adelaide AFLW recruit Lily Tarlinton says she has settled well into life in Adelaide since making the move at the beginning of February, taking key lessons from her new roommate on how to approach life as an elite footballer.
Tarlinton is now living with two-time Club Champion midfielder Ebony Marinoff and is learning plenty from the three-time Premiership midfielder's professionalism.
“She (Marinoff) doesn’t explicitly tell me what to do but I do like learning off her and I do feel very lucky that I did end up living with her," Tarlinton said.
“We have Zoe (Prowse) in there with us now, so it’s good to have a younger head as well.
“The way she goes about prepping to train, how she manages her time with footy and also her balance outside of footy she is really big on.
“I’m just trying to learn from her because obviously she has been doing it for a good while, now, so it has been really good.”
Adelaide selected Tarlinton, an agile tall forward, from Bond University QLD with Pick No.34 at the 2023 AFLW National Draft.
The moment was made even more special for the 22-year-old, who grew up supporting the Crows.
“It is still very surreal, a bit of imposter syndrome I think,” Tarlinton said.
“Every time I walk into the club, I get reminded of how cool it is that this is what I do now.
“Never really thought that would be my reality, so I just feel really lucky to be able to do it everyday and it has exceeded my expectations.”
Ahead of the 2024 AFLW season starting, Tarlinton has been plying her trade in the SANFLW for Woodville West-Torrens and marked a significant achievement last weekend after kicking her first SANFLW goal, in a five-point win over Norwood.
“It was good to finally get one, a bit of a monkey off the back,” she said.
“I really wanted to feel like I could contribute to the SANFL because it is great that we get the opportunity to get a bit of footy under our belts and get in with the SANFL clubs.
“I was very happy to finally get one and I have really been enjoying my time at the Eagles.”
The transition to footy life in South Australia has been made easier by the chance to lace up the boots with Crows teammate Taylah Levy each week, who is also playing for the Eagles.
“It has made it easy to make a good connection with someone in the team already,” she said.
“We are obviously doing the same things on the weekend, and we get to talk about the games and the club together which has been good.
“That has helped me feel a little bit more comfortable.”
Adelaide's 2024 AFLW season will kick off during the final week of August, while pre-season training will start on Monday, June 3.
The fixture for the 2024 NAB AFLW Season, including the Grand Final, will be announced at a later date.