AFLW champions Adelaide have signed Olympic beach volleyballer Becchara Palmer for next season.
A six-time national champion, 28-year-old Palmer recently quit professional volleyball after more than a decade of international competition including the London Olympics.
The Adelaide product has been signed by the Crows as a rookie for the 2018 AFLW season as she has not played football competitively in the last three years.
“Growing up I was always playing or watching sport – including attending Crows games at Football Park with dad – so to be able to join the club and have a go at playing football professionally is really such an honour,” Palmer said in a club statement.
“While it’s going to take a lot of hard work to successfully transition from volleyball to football, I think my base fitness and the experience I have in preparing for sporting campaigns will go a long way.”
Adelaide have re-signed 20 members of their history-making AFLW premiership team for next season including co-captains Erin Phillips and Chelsea Randall.
They are joined by South-Australian based teammates Sarah Perkins, Courtney Cramey, Ebony Marinoff, Jenna McCormick, Talia Radan, Anne Hatchard, Dayna Cox, Jess Sedunary, Justine Mules, Rhiannon Metcalfe, Rachael Killian, Deni Varnhagen, Georgia Bevan and Sarah Allan.
Northern Territory players Abbey Holmes, Stevie-Lee Thompson and joint-vice captains Ange Foley and Sally Riley have also signed new deals.
northerner
Guest
I wonder why code hopping is such a big issue in women's football and not in men's? Women's teams bring in a volleyball player with a background in the game, and it's some sort of symbolic failure. Men's teams bring in rugby players, league players, basketball players, some of whom have never even seen a game of Aussie Rules - all good.
Haydos
Guest
C'mon guys Beach Volleyball is just like AFL. There's a ball, an umpire. Ummm, you have to try and win. There's seagulls flying around. It's pretty much the same.
Mickyo
Guest
Dear oh dear, no one is forcing anyone here and if you bothered to read the article it is pretty clear she has a background in Australian football. Just like Erin Phillips. You do understand that plenty of girls who have played and loved the game who have had to move onto other sports are now able to play it with the possibility of eeking out a living. I am guessing you don't understand.
Mike
Guest
I really can't see the benefit of getting players that have played no, or little, actual aussie rules. The biggest problem with the ladies comp was the atrocious standard of play. Surely they need the best, most experienced, players from the existing leagues to lift the dreadful level of play.
Cat
Roar Guru
And yet here you are once again all worried and threatened by it.
TomC
Roar Guru
The $8500 non priority players get? You're kidding. They have to meet expenses like insurance out of that too. When you consider all the time and effort they go to they're better off working any other job they could get.
duecer
Guest
Bondy - you're assuming they grew up never wanting to play AR - as AD states, there was never an opportunity or pathway to play AR until very recently. I wonder, being a RL fan, if you'll say the same thing when or if the NRL ever gets a Women's comp. running. It's not like the rightly derided Folau experiment. Handballing skills would be excellent, kicking will need work.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
"Mickey mouse gimmick pre seasn comp" That's a new one, spelling mistake and all! Never change, guys. Never change.
jeff dustby
Guest
congrats on getting a no name player from another sport to play in the mickey mouse gimmick pre seasn comp that no one will watch next ear
jeff dustby
Guest
um TOmC - maybe its the $.
J.T. Delacroix
Guest
Oh my gosh, that Bondy fellow again. What are we going to do with him?
TomC
Roar Guru
These delusions I'm having may be contributing to my paranoia. Ah, code warriors. What a disappointing segment of humanity.
Bondy
Guest
Dont be so paranoid and defensive ...
TomC
Roar Guru
Well, they've chosen to play it now, so it certainly seems as though it's something most of them have wanted to do. It may interest you to learn that relatively few of these players have been forced to play in the AFLW.
Bondy
Guest
How do you know that you're assuming they always wanted to play aussie rules , you're delusional ...
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Perhaps think about it from the other point of view: for the longest time, all these athletes didn't have the oppurtunity to play AFL, thus they went into other sporting pursuits, but now top-level opportunities are opening up so they're finally able to fulfil what they wanted to do?
Bondy
Guest
Women's aussie rules wouldn't exist without girls coming from other sports it must feel strange scabbing off other sports for their participants ,how long will it actually survive .....