Imagine being a 17-year-old walking into a professional sports setting, having been a highly touted junior footballer and cricketer, who is the daughter of an Australian fast bowling legend and former elite netball champion.
You are the second selection in the 2022 Victorian draft, being selected by the team that you had followed all of your life.
Add in that you’re one of the first players to pull on one of the most famous and successful guernseys of the past 60 years, heading to a club where premiership success has occurred regularly in your lifetime and receiving the number worn by club legends Peter Crimmins, Daniel Harford, Andy Collins and Sam Mitchell.
That pressure would be absolutely immense (almost crippling, for someone in their first season of AFLW, who had still not had their 18th birthday).
Jasmine Fleming, however, has shown that in just her fourth game of football at the highest level, she is an absolute star in the making and is going to forge an amazing career at the Family Club that she has supported since birth.
In her first four games, Jasmine recorded double-digit disposals through the midfield, showing her composure and class against the likes of Sarah Hosking, Monique Conti, Ellie Blackburn and Maddie Prespakis.
Over the first four games, she has averaged 14.8 disposals, three tackles and four clearances a match, while playing in front of a sellout crowd at Punt Rd and also playing in the debut game in front of over 12,000 fans.
Her breakout game came on the weekend in torrential rain in front of a small but passionate crowd at Box Hill City Oval.
Last weekend, against the undefeated Bulldogs, Jasmine was sensational, showing all the tricks in her arsenal, as well as her incredible work rate against an impressive midfield lineup.
She recorded 25 disposals for the game, with six clearances and three tackles as she continued to put her skills to good use, selecting the right options with the ball in hand to hit her trademark low pinpoint kicks to her teammates’ advantage.
Throughout the course of the season, Jas has spent the majority of the time playing through the middle, plying her trade as a first-rate midfielder.
Out of the 52 centre bounces that Hawthorn has contested, Jasmine has been at 41 of them and the most amazing thing about this is that Jas only had a short preseason with her new teammates.
After the Victorian draft, there were only six weeks before the draft, meaning that Flem will only improve as she continues to build her endurance and skills at the top level.
Her classy work through the congestion of the midfield defies belief. It shows that as the season continues, we can expect to see some more amazing performances from Jasmine as she continues to show why she is one of the favourites to take out the NAB Rising Star Award.
In Hawthorn’s first win in the AFLW against the Swans, she led the Hawks for disposals (16) and laid ten tackles, second only behind the skipper.
For those Fantasy players out there, your frustration after scores of 51, 47 & 42 would be eased by 81 against the Dogs (second for the Hawks) and a team high 88 on the weekend.
Under the tutelage of Hawthorn coach Bec Goddard, and with the experience of captain Tilly Lucas-Rodd helping to guide her on the right path in the midfield, we will be seeing plenty of highlights from Flem throughout her storied career at Hawthorn.
