User:Teratix/AFL Women's draft

Nicola Barr was the first player selected at an AFLW draft.

The AFL Women's (AFLW) is a national Australian rules football league recognised as the sport's premier competition for women. The league holds an annual draft where its clubs select prospective players for the next season's squads. Initially, clubs' selections follow a sequence determined by their previous season's performances, with the worst-performing club receiving the highest selection. Clubs may exchange their selections as part of the AFLW's trade period.

The AFLW is a semiprofessional competition and its players only participate at their clubs for six months per year. To prevent players from needing to move long distances for a part-time contract, potential draftees nominate the region where they wish to be recruited, often their home state.

The first national drafts for women's football were held from 2013 to 2015 to select squads for the Hampson–Hardeman Cup, a series of exhibition matches between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs. Following the Australian Football League's announcement that its women's competition would stage its inaugural season in 2017, the league held its first draft in October 2016. Nicola Barr, recruited by Greater Western Sydney, became the first player selected in an AFLW draft.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 drafts were both exclusively staged as online shows.

History

The Australian Football League, the national men's competition for Australian rules football, has held its own drafts since 1981. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Daisy Pearce was the first player selected at a national draft for women's Australian rules football.

Pre-AFLW drafts (2013–2015)

The Hampson–Hardeman Cup first national draft for women's football was held on 15 May 2013, [12]

Journey to the draft

Combine

In sports, a combine is an event where prospective draftees undergo standardised physical testing. Club recruiters normally observe and evaluate players' performances to help their clubs decide which prospects to draft.

AFLW Draft Combine records

Test	Record	Player	Year
Standing vertical jump	Example	Sarah Lakay	2021
Running vertical jump (right foot)	Example	Jess Allan	2017
Running vertical jump (left foot)	Example	Sarah Lakay	2021
20-metre (66 ft) sprint	Example	Maddison Levi	2020
Agility course	Example	Zimmorlei Farquharson	2020
Three-kilometre (1.9 mi) time trial	Example	Nina Morrison	2018

[13]

[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] [28][29]

Rules and procedures

Abbie McKay was the first AFLW player selected under the father–daughter rule.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the year's draft, prospective players must turn 18 before 1 January the next year. Following the 2021 draft, it appeared that seven draftees whose birthdays were in December, notably top-10 selections Ella Friend and Zali Friswell, could play AFLW matches before turning 18, since the 2022 season was set to begin in December 2021. The AFLW ruled the draftees would be permitted to play; however, the season's commencement was later moved to January, rendering the decision moot.

As in other sports, whether transgender women are eligible for the draft has been a contentious question. In 2017, the AFL ruled Hannah Mouncey, a former handballer, was ineligible for the the year's draft because she would have had an "unreasonable physical advantage".

Father–daughter rule

[30][31][32] Prospective players whose fathers played at least one match for an AFL club may nominate

A mother–daughter rule has Erin Phillips

List of drafts

Drafts

Draft	Date	Host city	Venue	Players selected
2016	12 October 2016	Sydney, New South Wales	Hordern Pavilion
2017	18 October 2017	Sydney, New South Wales	Hordern Pavilion
2018	23 October 2018	Melbourne, Victoria	Marvel Stadium
2019	22 October 2019	Melbourne, Victoria	Marvel Stadium
2020	6 October 2020	Melbourne, Victoria	Marvel Stadium
2021	27 July 2021	Melbourne, Victoria	Marvel Stadium

Other drafts

A rookie draft was held in 2017.