Sarah Perkins (born 26 July 1993) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Hawthorn Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She previously played with the Adelaide Football Club, Melbourne Football Club, and Gold Coast Suns. Early life and state league career Raised in Melbourne, Perkins played netball and soccer before playing Australian rules football. At thirteen, Perkins was told she would no longer be able to play contact sports due to a spinal disc herniation, so she concentrated on netball for the next three years. However, she decided to start playing Australian rules football at sixteen, joining the Eastern Devils' youth side in 2009 and becoming a two-time Victorian under-18 representative before playing in the Devils' senior side in the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) in 2012. In 2016, she kicked fifty-two goals and finished third in the leading goalkicker award, behind Moana Hope and Katie Brennan, and was named in the VWFL team of the year. In the eighteen months before being recruited, she lost to fulfill her dream of playing AFL football, reducing her BMI from 45.1 to just 31.7. AFL Women's career After being overlooked in the 2016 AFL Women's draft, Perkins was recruited by the Adelaide Football Club as a free-agent. She debuted in the thirty-six point win over at Thebarton Oval in the opening round of the 2017 AFLW season. Labelled as the league's first cult hero by the ABC, she recorded eight disposals, three marks and a long-range goal, and earned the nickname "Tex" after The Cruel Sea lead singer, Tex Perkins. In addition, her performance in the match drew comparisons to Adelaide captain and full-forward, Taylor Walker, who is also nicknamed "Tex". In her second match, she kicked two goals to help Adelaide defeat the at VU Whitten Oval by twenty-five points; her skills in the match led to Herald Sun journalist, Eliza Sewell, writing "she leads well and takes a strong grab...she uses her body well and a set-shot goal from forty-five metres impressed even the Bulldogs fans," Furthermore, Fox Sports Australia journalist, Sarah Olle, wrote "Perkins' leading patterns are terrific. She’s quick off the mark, uses her size to great effect, has a monstrous kick and loves a celebration" and the Australian edition of The Huffington Post said she is a player people need to know about and she is as strong as she is inspirational. Perkins kicked