Ella Friend makes a great coffee in her part-time job at St Kilda’s Linton Street Café, but her real talent lies on the football field.
The top-tier talent – the second youngest player of her draft class – made her debut against the Eagles not long after graduating from Ballarat Grammar, taking up a role as an intercepting half-back as opposed to her normal position up forward or on the wing. Friend showed glimpses of her potential in her seven games last season, with her powerful marking and penetrating left foot sure to be a valuable commodity – at either end of the ground – in the not-too-distant future. Leading into Season 7, the Horsham recruit is again likely to fill a key post down back, adding to the Saints’ intercepting fleet of Bianca Jakobsson and Hannah Priest.
