Season 2020 really has been the stuff of dreams for Busselton’s Demi Liddle.

The 21-year-old probably thought life was pretty good when she was hoisting the WAFLW premiership cup with her Peel Thunder teammates in September.

But little did she know things would get even better two months later when West Coast came knocking, offering her a spot on the club’s AFLW list.

The Eagles officially recruited Liddle yesterday after placing inaugural defender Ashton Hill on its inactive player list.

The club, in consultation with Hill and her family, decided to give the 25-year-old more time to recover from the knee injury she suffered during West Coast’s season opening clash with Collingwood in February.

Hill ruptured her ACL in the second quarter of the historic fixture and although she has been working diligently to return to full fitness, club doctors recently recommended she take a longer, more conservative approach to rehabilitate her injured left knee.

Liddle told westcoasteagles.com.au that she intended to make the most of her unexpected opportunity.

“I had a few conversations with the club after the draft about being a train-on player, but due to COVID-19 restrictions I wasn’t able to train with the group, so I went away and trained with the state academy,” Liddle said.

“And then we really only spoke about the possibility of joining the team earlier this week, so the last couple of days have been absolutely crazy. There’s been a lot of paperwork, but everyone at the club has been awesome.

“It’s something that I’ve always wanted, to play at the highest level. Unfortunately it has come about due to unfortunate circumstances, with Ashton having to miss the season.

“I know I’ve got really big shoes to fill. I just hope I can go out there, do the best that I can and do Ashton proud.”

Liddle’s rise through football’s ranks has been a quick one.

The former state representative basketballer only took up the game three years ago, starting her journey with local side Busselton Football Club.

But it didn’t take long for her to appear on scouts’ radars and Peel Thunder inquired about her desire to play league football following her debut season with the Magpies.

“Basketball was absolutely everything to me; I played from when I was about 10 years old,” Liddle said.

“I was 16 when I got my first State Basketball League contract with the South West Slammers and I played it very seriously at the highest level in WA.

“But when Busselton got its first community footy side I gave it a crack and I fell in love with the game. It was always something that I’d been interested in, but there weren’t any opportunities down that way beforehand. Once that opened up and I got the opportunity to play I absolutely loved it.

“The following year Peel asked me to play with them and I got to play a full season at league level. That was awesome and in our third year we won a premiership.”

Now that she has arrived on the AFLW scene, Liddle is keen to take her game to the next level alongside her new defensive colleagues.

“I’m a defender and I’ve always been defensively minded,” Liddle said.

“I really have a passion for locking down on my opponent and being a leader in the back line. I like to get the ball in my hands, take on the forwards – small or tall – and then take a controlled kick out of the back line.

“Having joined the amazing program that West Coast have got here I’m keen to extend on my skills. I want to tie those down and work on my game sense.

“This will be my fourth year of football, so it will be good to learn off all the talented players and coaches at the club.”