Saturday morning, Joanna Lin found herself at the Holden Centre warming up for a VFLW practice match. But come Saturday afternoon, she was warming up ready to make her AFLW debut.

Lin came into the Pies' side to face Geelong as a late change for second year Magpie, Jordyn Allen who sat out of the match due to illness. 

“I was in the lines meeting for the VFLW game that happened (Saturday) morning and Steve tapped me on the shoulder and I thought he was just checking I was all good to go,” Lin told collingwoodfc.com.au.

“He took me outside of the rooms and told me what happened with Jal (Jordyn Allen) and he said you’re playing your first (AFLW) game and I said, oh that’s nice,” she laughed.

Lin was selected by the Pies with pick 26 at the 2020 AFLW Draft.

The 18-year-old made the switch from basketball to football just two years ago having been encouraged by her friends to give it a shot.

She went on to join the Oakleigh Chargers where she polled the highest votes for the club in the league’s best and fairest – all in her debut season.

Having played a role in the Pies’ 29-point win over Geelong on Saturday, Lin showed some excited signs of what’s to come from the midfielder.

“After the second half we just made saw we were first to the contest, we put pressure on all the other players and the play went our way,” Lin said.

Collingwood assistant and midfield coach, Scott Gowans was impressed with Lin’s first performance and is excited to see her development throughout the season.

“Jo is going to be a very good footballer,” he said.

“To be able to have composure coming in as a late change which isn’t very easy for an experienced player was really good.”

Back in the rooms after the game, Lin was still buzzing and said she’d need some time to digest the fact she’d lived out a childhood dream of debuting for the team she grew up supporting.

“My 10-year-old self would be jumping all over the place right now. Actually, I’m jumping all over the place right now,” she laughed.