When Shannon Nolan strode to the stage to accept the prestigious Emma Zielke Medal as the QAFLW best and fairest on Sunday night, she completed a journey that began in heartbreak back in 2023.
Nolan still remembers sitting in the sheds after the 2023 season with two medals hanging around her neck – and she wasn’t content.
She had played a handful of great games in the seniors that year but was dropped on the eve of the finals. Rather than wallow, she responded with a best-on-ground display in the reserves’ premiership win over Coorparoo.
“She played well against weaker teams, but tended to fumble against the stronger, more contested sides,” Bond University Director of AFL Andy Lovell said.
“It was tough for her, but I think the way she responded over that finals series in the reserves was a sign of the player she was going to become.”
But even that victory came with a sting. Watching the seniors win the QAFLW premiership over Aspley burned deeper than her own triumph could soothe.
“I had heaps of anxiety going into the 2024 season because I knew how I felt in 2023,” Nolan admitted.
“I didn’t usually do a lot in the pre-season, because I played so many different sports I was always pretty fit, but I went to the gym and worked my butt off, to be honest.
“And I focussed on my craft. Being quite small, I believed I had to build skills that would take away any disadvantage I might have against bigger opponents, so I worked really hard on ground balls.”
In the weeks after the 2023 grand final, Nolan sat down with Lovell and asked the tough question: what do I need to do to be a regular senior player?
The answer was blunt – get stronger in the contest and add a defensive edge.
“Andy mentioned I had to think about my defensive running, not so much tackling, but my awareness around the ground,” she said.
“I’ve always had an attacking mindset, so that was a shift for me.”
It was the turning point. While teammates celebrated a golden spring, Nolan got stuck into the grind. She built strength, sharpened her contested game, and embraced the challenge of becoming a two-way midfielder.
By the time she returned for 2024, Lovell says she was “a completely different player”. That season she won the Bull Sharks’ Blue and Gold award as best and fairest.
On Sunday night at The Gabba, her transformation was complete when she was crowned the 2025 Emma Zielke Medallist as the QAFLW’s best player, polling 18 votes to finish clear of the field. She is now the red-hot favourite to claim back-to-back Blue and Gold awards at this year’s Bond Sport function on Friday.
Known for her speed, bravery and relentless work rate, Nolan was named in the Bull Sharks’ best players 11 times across 16 matches.
“I have found Shannon to be such a great player to coach,” Lovell said.
“She may get disappointed, and we’ve had plenty of tough conversations, but she always goes away, thinks things through and commits 100 per cent to improving.
“And she always comes back better.”
Nolan said that feedback loop has been central to her rise.
“I have a lot of respect for Andy. I know that when he is telling me something it is in good faith and I love feedback because it is the only way to get better.
“And I like to be able to prove that I did listen, so whenever I get any feedback, I work very hard on that area. You can always get better.”
This year she added state league honours to her resume, being named in the QAFLW Team of the Year alongside teammates Skye White and Kendra Blattman, who booted 40 goals to take out the competition goal-kicking award. Reserves skipper Georgia Hamilton made it a Bull Sharks clean sweep by being named the QAFLW Reserves Player of the Year.
For Nolan, though, the individual accolades are still fuel rather than fulfilment and she has already mapped out three key areas to focus on over the summer – contested marking, goal kicking and disposal efficiency.
“When I didn’t get picked for Queensland the feedback they gave me was that I was really good at lots of things, but not great at anything,” she said.
“So this summer I want to really elevate a few areas. Taking a contested mark is something I really want to improve on – I’m not a big player but adding that to my bow would be a point of difference to other smaller midfielders.
“I can always be cleaner around the ground, and I want next season to have a disposal efficiency of 80 per cent every time I play, so my teammates and coaches know that eight out of ten times, I’m going to hit the target.
“And I want to improve my goalkicking, so I can be more of a threat when rotating through the forward line.”