From WA to Punt Road, Olivia Wolmarans has wasted no time bringing her swagger and X-factor to Richmond.
Selected as the number one pick in the 2025 AFLW Draft, Wolmarans has made an instant impact at the Tigers, with her on-field talents on full display in the Round 1 win over Collingwood, where she kicked her first goal in the yellow and black.
However, the 18-year-old didn’t have the pre-season she had planned for, suffering from lower back stress, forcing her off the field and into the gym for rehab.
“I remember the first thing I asked was, 'how long will it be?’. I just remember I was driving home on a call with my mum, just crying,” Wolmarans said on Richmond's In Their Words podcast, hosted by Bec Miller and Issy Bacon.
“I'm here to play footy. This is not what I want to be doing, and this was my first injury, so it was very like, ‘what do I do here?’
“I spoke to Katie Brennan, and she was just telling me how much I'm going to learn from this experience, and how much I'm going to learn about my body, what I'm eating and literally everything to do with a new injury.
“I woke up the next morning just so positive about it, and at this point I got to meet Lmac (Laura McClelland) and Ally Dallaway. That's what helped me a lot. I've learned so much from that injury.”
Upon arriving in Melbourne from Western Australia, Wolmarans was welcomed by Richmond’s forward coach, Brendan Fevola, who took the draftee into his family home whilst she transitioned to life as a full-time footballer.
“Fev helped me a lot with the transition. I think I was already prepared to move to Melbourne because mum always told me, 'you can only control the controllables',” she said.
“I was always going with the flow. When I got told that I'm living with Fev, it helped me so much. Moving from a family to a family.
“I remember I was so nervous, but then once I sat in his car, he just went around telling his jokes. I got to his house, and his three daughters were a very arms-open family.”
The key forward is looking ahead with optimism, aiming to continue to make an impact for her team, and help lift her side up the ladder, after last year’s disappointing season.
“I was so keen, and I remember thinking, 'I don't really care that you guys were on the bottom of the ladder' or what everyone was saying about this Club,” Wolmarans said.
“We can bring it up. I came from Subiaco being on the bottom, being talked about like we don't have these resources, we don't have this, but last year we almost won a flag.”’
Richmond will face the Western Bulldogs this Saturday at Mission Whitten Oval, from 2:05pm (AEST).
