AFLW Draft 2025: Every pick and all the reaction from emotional night
From a special Lappin family moment to a pile on at a local footy club and a surprise pick 1, the 2025 AFLW Draft had it all. See every selection and all the video celebration.
Richmond kept everyone in the dark including its new gun forward Olivia Wolmarans before kicking off the AFLW Draft with a big surprise on Monday night.
The Tigers’ decision to bring Wolmarans, a 181cm key forward, across from Western Australia was a bold move on a night where rivals played it safe and chose not to foil North Melbourne’s plans to take Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner.
The former No. 1 pick made her way to the Kangaroos at pick 37, as the reigning premier had promised her in the wake of her failed trade from the Western Bulldogs.
Interest from several Melbourne-based clubs had wilted away by the day of the draft after they had been unable to meet with the eight-game forward following the trade period.
Wolmarans was still unsure of the Tigers’ plans as she went tenpin bowling with her family in Melbourne to kill time before the draft.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE EVERY PICK AND ALL REACTION AS IT HAPPENED
Richmond left two top Victorian prospects on the table – Scarlett Johnson and Chloe Bown – to bring in the high-marking Subiaco teenager as the future of its forward line.
“Mum wanted to take us to see an art gallery (before the draft) … no chance,” Wolmarans said with a broad smile after shaking hands with AFL boss Andrew Dillon and receiving her Tigers jumper from Gabby Seymour.
“Mum and dad – they’ve been at every single game … they just believe in everything that I can do. That belief they give me (means) I believe in myself so much, so I just love my parents.
“I’m very proud of myself, and hopefully I can be an inspiration to the other girls in WA that this is possible and they can do it.”
Most clubs felt the Tigers had Johnson or Bown in mind when they traded with the Suns to move up from pick four to pick one earlier this month, but even without a coach or football boss following the dramatic fallout of their external review, Richmond kept its real plan secret.
GWS pounced on Johnson at pick two, but took a local talent in Sydney academy player Kiera Yerbury with the third pick before Bown made her way to Adelaide at pick five.
Wolmarans, a junior track and field star in the heptathlon, said she was eager to move to Melbourne as soon as possible to settle in before pre-season training begins in June.
Who she will have at the helm at Punt Road is up in the air after the departures of Ryan Ferguson and Kate Sheahan, but there will be two experienced key forward targets to develop alongside in All-Australian duo Katie Brennan and Caitlin Greiser.
“I’m so keen to move to Melbourne. I’ve always loved Melbourne, coming here through footy, I did little athletics and I came here for nationals … it’s just amazing to move to this wonderful state,” she said.
“I know I have support with my family and I know I have some WA girls here, so it’s just going to be very good to live here.
“I think I’ve always known since I was little that I wanted to play AFLW. Seeing the girls on TV, I just wanted to be just like them, and here I am, standing here as pick one. It’s amazing, and probably my best achievement yet.
“Seeing little boys and little girls yell out my name will mean everything to me.”
The Bulldogs called out the biggest draft bolter of the first round when they went for Mornington Peninsula defender Mizuki Brothwell, while Collingwood swooped in on Sandringham Dragons winger Amy Smith at pick 23 when clubs including Essendon had hoped to land her in the third round.
Originally published as AFLW Draft 2025: Every pick and all the reaction from emotional night
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