One game was all it took. Deanna Jolliffe never looked back!
21/07/2026
We know and love her, the one and only Deanna "Deejay" Jolliffe, a legend at the Sandringham Zebras and our VFLW Vice-Captain! Something you may not know about her, though, is that she actually started playing basketball at a very young age - and played quite a lot of it.
So why the change to football?
As the start of the inaugural season of AFLW was approaching in 2018, it sparked a new interest for Deejay, who was really interested in trying the sport. She reached out to friends who were playing football at the time to see if she could get down and play a game for them.
“I wanted to see if I liked it or not”, she said.
Not long after, she got to play her first game at Bayswater Football Club, about an hour drive from Frankston, where she lived. During her time there, she not only won many games, she also won her first Premiership in her first time playing football.
“From that first game, I just obsessed over it! I found it a lot of fun,” she explained.
From this point, Deejay knew that this was where she belonged and that she wanted to pursue football. She decided to find a club in Mornington, closer to home, to start doing a few training sessions while still playing basketball. Surprisingly, and unexpectedly, she received a text from the VFLW Head Coach at the time, Peta Searle, asking her to come down and train with the Southern Saints VFLW. This is where her football career really took a huge leap.
If you didn't already know, Deejay has been part of the Zebras since 2019 (then known as the Southern Saints), so she has seen the playing and coaching group change many times over the years. When she first started VFLW, St Kilda were leading into having an AFLW team in the competition. They were training not only at Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval, but also down at RSEA Park in Moorabbin.
At the end of the 2022 VFLW season, the opportunity came for Deejay to play in the AFLW competition when she was drafted to St Kilda alongside VFLW teammate Hannah Stuart and then VFLW Head Coach Dale Robinson!
She reflected on the difference in level between VFLW and AFLW: “The demands and the time you are required to put in are more at the top level with contracted hours.”
“As someone who loves a challenge, and being pushed outside my comfort zone, I took the challenge with two hands, to see what I was capable of!”
“The intensity was definitely higher, and the skills are elite,” Deejay said of the jump to AFLW level.
Over her years at VFLW, Deejay has not only become an important player, but has also held many leadership roles within the club, such as Captain and, last year, a playing backline coach. Even though she was a quieter player in her first year of football, she then became more comfortable, and before she knew it, became an integral part of the leadership group, an aspect of football that she loves; her teaching background helps.
“Leadership just came naturally to me, in terms of, I just went about my business and didn’t try to be anyone I am not.”
“I loved the game so much [I] got invested in it”
As a defender, she said she loves looking at every aspect like: “how are they getting their goals?” and “where can we shut it down?”
Even after being delisted from St Kilda, Deejay was offered the opportunity to help with development coaching for the AFLW team as well as being the runner last year. There was even an academy there to help the newer players adjust to the AFLW environment; she assisted with reiterating the structures and what the club was putting in place for the program, such as demands, expectations, game style and setups.
"Through preseason, they go pretty quickly over information about their setups, which for new players can be challenging", she emphasised. Through these extra sessions she was able to create a safe environment for these new and younger players to talk through anything they needed clarification on.
"It was a safe place where they didn't feel out of place asking questions."
Some lessons she has learnt from her basketball background, compared with her football experience, are things that could help most people looking to take that leap.
“In basketball, if the ball is turned over or you made a mistake, you were often benched! In football, mistakes happen often, and it's what you do after to make up for it that counts.”
It led to not wanting to take risks due to the expected outcome, but football put a twist on that perspective.
This is reflected in how Deejay plays her game - she is consistent and gives it her all every week. She is a role model for anyone who gets to play with her, or against her, and a strong force in our Zebs team!
Written by Jess Holland - Sandringham FC Media