When J’Noemi Anderson was pulled aside and told she was going to be named as an emergency for last fortnight’s game against Narrm, Nick Dal Santo says it was impossible to wipe the smile from her face. 

So much so, that Head of AFLW Tessie McManus, who happened to be coming by seconds later, had to make certain the overly eager 17-year-old knew she was just a reserve and – in all likelihood – wasn’t actually going to be pulling on the guernsey that weekend.

“Yeah, I don’t care,” Anderson said, grin filling the room and cheeky eyes sparkling with delight. “I’m just so happy.”

Wind the clock forward another two weeks and the infectious smile was again just as wide. This time around though, it was accompanied by irrepressible, touching tears of joy.

The news of her impending debut, relayed by captain and Saintly mother figure, Hannah Priest, yesterday evening was the final validation in the highly rated draftee’s long-held dream to play footy at the highest level.

She’d seen her brothers Joe and Jed make it there in the men’s competition, as too older sister Jasmine who was listed as a rookie ahead of Adelaide’s inaugural AFLW season, but now her time had come.

The outpouring of emotion at that moment was something no words can ever do full justice to.

Completely caught off-guard, Anderson – who thought she was filming a video about AFLW players doing Year 12 at the time – was utterly lost for words as her eyes (and everyone’s around her) started to well up upon realising her debut was at hand.

Barely another word was spoken between Anderson and Priest as they choked on their tears, barely able to sputter out half-sentences which stuck in their throats before being overtaken by even more emotion.

In a word, it was beautiful. But the context behind it gives so much more.

Anderson has been a boarder at Melbourne Girls Grammar as she nears the end of her secondary school education, leaving behind her mum, Libby, siblings and all she loves from up North in pursuit of her AFLW ambitions.

A proud Warlpiri Warumungu woman through her paternal grandfather rom near Tennent Creek in the Northern Territory, she will make club history this weekend by becoming St Kilda’s first AFLW Indigenous Player.

Her Indigenous heritage is significant to her, and one that she is continuing to learn more about. Anderson’s grandfather was a part of the Stolen Generation, with she and the family discovering more of their family history and the hardships they have faced.

Earlier this year, Anderson was gifted the club’s famed No. 7 guernsey by St Kilda legend and proud Noongar man Nicky Winmar, who came to RSEA Park to present her with the jumper a week after being drafted.

Anderson was taken at pick No. 7 in the Victorian Pool of this year’s draft class (pick No. 16) overall, joining fellow first-round selections Georgia Patrikios, Tyanna Smith, Ella Friend and Ash Richards at the club.

Her highlights reel jam-packed with the extraordinary. A powerful contested mark, a fierce tackler and a natural around goal, the midfielder/forward is sure to pack her punch in the many seasons to come for St Kilda.

She’s been knocking down the door for senior selection physically and verbally since day one, and while hasn’t quite had the patience of a Saint in that regard, her infectious enthusiasm has come “in spades” according to her coach, Nick Dal Santo.

“Love who you are, never stop being that person,” he said to her in closing during last night’s team meeting. And what a person that is.

A bit of cheek, a hint of flair. A ton of resilience, an abundance of courage. A lot of heart.

They’re brilliant traits to have off-field.

But on-field this Thursday night is where they will truly shine.