When the AFL announced a game to be comprised of the best 50 women players in Australia, a lot of people applauded this decision.
The game will coincide with Women’s Round and is a great initiative that both the Melbourne and Western Bulldogs Football clubs should be proud of.
The teams will play for the Hampson-Hardeman Cup, which recognises Barb Hampson and Lisa Hardeman, pioneers in developing the first women’s championships in 1998.
It’s a step forward for the AFL which is trying to grow the game among the female community, with the game being a stepping stone to a national competition for the women which is hoping to be launched in 2020.
Until then hopefully an annual game during women’s round should be a fixture so that the best female footballers can showcase their talents.
The players involved will benefit greatly from the exposure this will give them.
The Melbourne Demons players will be trying to get sponsorships, with the money raised going directly to the players involved in the game.
The first women’s draft was a great success with a toss of the coin before the start of the draft deciding who would pick first (with the Demons winning).
The occasion was marked by AFL commissioner Linda Dessau announcing the top 10 players to the crowd and an audience around the country via an online stream.
Of the 50 players selected 10 are from a team known as the Darebin Falcons, this includes highly talented first draft pick Daisy Pearce who is no stranger to the spotlight.
Pearce leads the way for female athletes of the sport and her record speaks for itself. She captained the Victorian U/19s at the AFL Women’s National Championships in July 2007.
She was named in the All-Australian team and was also applauded for her efforts during the week-long carnival with the joint-player of the tournament award, as she led the Victorians to a State championship with a 47-point rout of South Australia.
She also played in an EJ Whitten Legends game in 2007 and recently she led Victoria to its 12th consecutive state title with All Australian honours once again.
Her team Darebin is currently undefeated in the Victorian Women’s Football League with a percentage of 542.65, they sit a comfortable 12 points clear of second-placed Diamond Creek.
Courtney Gum from NSW won the Debbie Lee Medal for Division One best and fairest at the recent Women’s State Carnival, seemingly an underrated player who was taken at pick 25.
Youngster Alexandra Price also gets the nod, playing for Port Adelaide under 18’s her goal kicking feats are not to be underestimated.
Currently she is the second highest goal kicker in Australia behind Aaron Purcell; Price has put through an astounding 89 goals in nine games at just under 10 goals a game.
This includes her run of six games straight where she kicked 10 or more goals; the youngster was a bargain pick for the Demons at pick 47, although because she is younger she may not feature as heavily, she surely does have a future.
Of the 50 players selected, 13 of them made the All Australian squad at the recent championships held in Cairns. With all of the top 10 gaining All Australian honours bar one, with pick eight Katie Loynes being unfortunate not to get the nod.
Being a curtain raiser before the men’s game and will give most of these players their first opportunity to play in a big stadium, with plenty of talent on display the game will surely be of a high standard and will be a great advertisement for the women’s game.
Gaining knowledge from AFL players Jack Grimes and Shaun Higgins, who have both thrown themselves in the ring for an assistant coaching spot, will be a valuable resource to the development of the players.
The game should be an interesting one with the Bulldogs team comprising of a core group of Darebin Falcons players, however Melbourne has the countries best female footballer at their disposal and an All Australian ruckman.
It will be interesting to see how the group of players’ gel together; surely having a majority of players from the countries best team would have to help the Bulldogs?
Predicting this one will be tough, so either team to win it by under 10 points is what I am going with. Find below the entire list of players in draft order and what club they are from.
2013 AFL Women’s Game – Draft
Number 1: Daisy Pearce (Darebin Falcons, Vic) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 2: Steph Chiocci (Diamond Creek, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 3: Chelsea Randall (Swan Districts, WA) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 4: Aasta O’Connor (Darebin Falcons, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 5: Kara Donnellan (Swan Districts, WA) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 6: Karen Paxman (Darebin Falcons, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 7: Kirby Bentley (East Fremantle, WA) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 8: Katie Loynes (Diamond Creek, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 9: Lou Wotton (Eastern Devils, Vic) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 10: Emma Kearney (Melbourne Uni, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 11: Mel Hickey (Darebin Falcons, Vic) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 12: Lauren Arnell (Darebin Falcons, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 13: Ellie Blackburn (Beaconsfield, Vic) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 14: Rebecca Privitelli (Darebin Falcons, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 15: Mel Caulfield (East Fremantle, WA) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 16: Elsie O’Dea (Darebin Falcons, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 17: Jasmine Garner (St Kilda Sharks, Vic) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 18: Nicola Stevens (Melbourne Uni, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 19: Kiara Bowers (Coastal Titans, WA) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 20: Natalia Thomas (Yeronga,Queensland) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 21: Madeline Keryk (VU St Albans Spurs, Vic) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 22: Katie Brennan (Darebin Falcons, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 23: Bree White Club (VU St Albans Spurs, Vic) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 24: Leah Mascall (Coastal Titans, WA) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 25: Courtney Gum (UNSW-ES, NSW) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 26: Louise Stephenson (Melbourne Uni, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 27: Alicia Eva (Melbourne Uni, Vic) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 28: Kate Lukins (Yeronga,Queensland) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 29: Emma Swanson (Peel Thunderbirds, WA) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 30: Lauren Spark (Melbourne Uni, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 31: Brooke Whyte (Coastal Titans, WA) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 32: Kira Phillips (Peel Thunderbirds, WA) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 33: Bianca Jakobson (Berwick, Vic) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 34: Sarah D’Arcy (Eastern Devils, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 35: Jennifer Lew (Sydney Uni, NSW) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 36: Ally Anderson (Zilmere,Queensland) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 37: Leah Kaslar (Palm Beach Currumbin,Queensland) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 38: Courtney Cramey (Morphetville Park, SA) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 39: Kaitlyn Ashmore (Melbourne Uni, Vic) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 40: Jenna Brunton (Ballarat Youth Girls, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 41: Rene Forth (Coastal Titans, WA) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 42: Penny Cula-Reid (St Kilda Sharks, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 43: Stephanie Walding (East Fremantle, WA) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 44: Emily Bates (Yeronga,Queensland) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 45: Amy Catterall (St Kilda Sharks, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 46: Jess Dal Pos (Darebin Falcons, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 47: Alexandra Price (Port Adelaide, SA) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 48: Kellie Marie Gibson (Swan Districs, WA) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Number 49: Bronwyn Davey (Greenacres, SA) drafted by Melbourne FC
Number 50: Natalie Wood (Darebin Falcons, Vic) drafted by Western Bulldogs
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
Australian rules as we know it, being played on 190mtr by 130mtr (ish) grounds can't be played successfully overseas. The great initiative of AFL9's and a woman's competition is showing the world that our game can be played overseas with passion.
TW
Guest
Had to really dig in the archives to find this article however we can confirm AFLNZ have indeed got a womens AFL team up and running. It will be initially an U18 team and will play several games against an Aussie womens team later this year in NZ. It is planned for the Kiwis to play at the 2014 International Cup in Melbourne. AFLNZ will conduct talent searches and camps all this year at various High Schools where the game is played and this opens up another pathway for the girls to represent their country. Yes Australia is an overseas country to the New Zealanders and they will get involved albeit in small numbers. Its all good for the future.
Brent Ford
Roar Guru
Yeah that's awesome news, gonna sit back now and watch Daisy go to work! :)
TW
Guest
Here is a link to a Youtube Video of the match. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlCJPrqv7_w The US Women along with several other international Womens teams will be back in Melbourne in August next year for the 2014 International Cup (No expats allowed). The Kiwis "may front up" as well for the first time with a very young team which would be drawn from the Girls High School comps - But probably the 2017 series more likely.
jimbo
Guest
Indeed, that is the name of the game, many women have got involved through a program caller 'footy for mums' which the West Perth district has every year, Mums and older sisters etc sign on for a few weeks to learn the rules, kick the ball etc to better understand the game that their sons and daughters play at junior/auskick level. Quite a few take it a step further and join the womens teams because of it. Fear not, their is always next week, and another junior canteen to test the egg and bacon roll. Cheers, BTW heard you are kicking a few sausage rolls yourself at the moment. :)
Brent Ford
Roar Guru
No doubt if a couple of the U.S women's soccer/football players defect, they could surely adapt to the game as there is surely a depth of talent to look at.
JR Salazar
Guest
I'll pay more attention to this...when the USA dominates this competition.
Brent Ford
Roar Guru
For the record the Demons won and Daisy Pearce got 28 touches. Haha
Brent Ford
Roar Guru
Haha unfortunate to hear about the rolls Jimbo! So from what I am hearing a lot of multicultural inclusion on the part of the women's game?
Jimbo
Guest
I have watched the womens albeit a couple of years ago, when my daughter was involved, there is a bit of inequity in the league with the Coastal Titans (alligned with Subi , i think)seemingly very strong, but there is 2 or 3 divisions and the league is growing nicley from all reports. On Brighton football Club up in the far northern suburbs, the club is primarlly a English club, with many of the junior players having that background, in fact all clubs in the northern suburbs have a good % of kids from British, Irish, Saffa and Kiwi backgrounds, and there are some very big clubs up this way, Whitfords, Joondalup and Sorrento junior clubs have about 3,000 kids playing between them and they are all within 10 minutes of each other, not to mention Ocean Reef, Waneroo, Quinns etc etc and other fairly big junior clubs close by. We actually played Brighton last weekend (junior footy) and whilst we got away with a win, i must admit i was dissapointed, the last time we were up there the egg and bacon rolls were unreal, this time not so good :)
Brent Ford
Roar Guru
That's good to hear guys, I for one am happy to hear of the game's development from a female perspective.
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
Well said TW. I'm involved in the WPJF and have heard about the woman's team West Perth are doing plenty in developing the game in the Northern districts
TW
Guest
Off topic but related -- In Perth`s far northern suburbs the Migrant population is as high as 40% in some localities. Included in the mix apart from the usual suspects there is an African population. The Suburb of Butler has seen AR mens/boys teams from the UK and South Africa formed. Now a Womens team from originally mainly the Sudan has been formed recently - Sponsored by the WAFL Joondalup Falcons and other organisations. A couple of the girls in the team come from a Soccer background but have adopted the local code. (They do know about Majak Daw the AFL North Melbourne Sudanese recruit who is in his first season at the senior level.) The Captain of the team is a mad Dockers fan and has been in Perth 10 years - Which highlights the fact that not all of the the newcomers will automatically go to Soccer football on arrival. They will wear the well publicised "International design Falcons jumper". This jumper was created to cater for a push into the local Butler migrant community and features a Union Jack design. The team will play several Girls High School teams this year and in 2014 hope to enter the WA Womens Football League at a lower level. We wish them well. Ref to the above article - The sooner the National Womens comp officially starts the better before the likely 2020. Something will be up and running before then hopefully.