Best Finals Player - 2021
U/23 State Team - 2023
Born in 2001 to parents Bronwyn Davey and Kelvin Maher, Tesharna Maher initially pursued soccer as a junior despite the football pedigree of both her parents. Her mother was a pioneer within women’s football and the sister of former Melbourne and Essendon players Aaron and Alwyn Davey, whilst her father was named in the top 40 AFLNT players of the century in 2016.
In 2015, Maher took up football and spent her junior career at West Adelaide and SMOSH West Lakes.
In 2018, whilst a year 11 student at Mt Carmel College, Maher was a member of the Port Adelaide Women’s Aboriginal AFL Academy where she was selected to be a member of the leadership group. That year, Maher also travelled to Melbourne as a part of the AFL Woomera’s and Medleys camp. This camp was the next phase of the AFL Indigenous and multicultural programs, with players being selected from the 2017 National Championships held last year in Byron Bay. At those championships in October, Tesharna was awarded the Most Valuable Player for the South Australian Kickstart team. Her year was also highlighted by her selection in the Central Allies – a combined SA/NT team at the AFLW u/18 National Championships.
In 2019, Maher changed clubs and made her SANFLW League debut with the Eagles. In April that year, Maher and her mother Bronwyn made history as the first ever mother-daughter combination to play in the same SANFLW team.
From 2018-2022, Maher supplemented her club football in the SANFLW with games for NT clubs including Alkamilya and St Mary’s.
In 2021, Maher joined Norwood as a small midfielder with pace to burn and was awarded "Best Finals Player" in that season.
In 2022, she was a dominant midfielder and despite playing only 8 of 13 games, her impressive statistical averages of 16 disposals and four tackles per game saw her awarded the Best and Fairest that year.
In 2023, Maher played her 50th SANFLW game in the Preliminary Final and also designed the Indigenous Guernsey worn by the women and the men during the Indigenous Rounds that year and again in 2024. (see further details below). Maher was also selected as one of eight players to ‘train on’ at Port Adelaide with their AFLW team.
2024 was a season that peaked when Maher was selected alongside her team mates Tahlita Buethke and Jade Halfpenny in the first SANFLW State Team that travelled to Perth and defeated Western Australia. Maher kicked two goals that day. However, later that year she was omitted from the Norwood League team and did not return for finals. At the conclusion of the season, Maher obtained a clearance to transfer to Central District for the 2025 season.
Chris Brown, December 2024
Maher told the story behind her design of the Indigenous guernsey to www.norwoodfc.com.au in June of 2023.
“I am a Western Aranda, Yankunytjatjara Pitjantjatjara , Yamaitji (fathers’ side), Kokatha and Gurrinji (mothers side) woman,” she said.
“I was born in Darwin on Larrakia Land and regularly travel through Alice Springs (Arrernte Land) to spend time on my homelands before eventually arriving back on Kaurna Land – my final destination in my journey so far.
“My family moved to SA because my dad was playing footy down here so I have lived most of my life in Adelaide, but I have a strong connection to the Northern Territory.
“I go back to the NT three or four times a year to connect back with my land, culture and family – I love to go back up to Darwin and Alice Springs, going out bush.”
Maher said she enjoyed the process of designing the guernsey, with the help of her family, Maxima and Apelle.
“I was approached by the club to design the guernsey which was an exciting opportunity, and I got my family from the Northern Territory to help me design it,” she said.
“It meant a lot to me and my family to design the guernsey, and to run out in it will be something that I won’t forget.”
The design includes the story of her journey from Darwin to Adelaide as a child, her totem (the Willie Wagtail), the Norwood Football Club and the other SANFL clubs.
“My totem dreaming is the Willie Wagtail,” she said.
“I come from a long line of cultural knowledge that was passed down from my grandmother’s country – Ntaria (Hermannsburg). When we are born we are assigned an animal that depicts our spiritual knowledge to the country (Pmarra).
“As a child I showed and still do show significant resemblance to the Willie Wagtail, its movements and traits. Showing these traits shows how powerful my culture is.
“My totem is known to travel a lot and is a highly spiritual bird that has strong connections to Uluru, where my great great grandmother Auguste was born. I have been told many stories from my grandmothers, that I would show up to their houses and tap on their windows to let them know I was outside.”