AFLW list lodgement 2021-22: Every club’s final playing list and draft hand
Erin Phillips has put pen to paper in a huge boost for the Crows. And, in a warning to the rest of the AFLW, says she has plenty of good footy left in her.
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Across the country, AFLW clubs are finalising their lists ahead of the draft, which will take place from 6.45pm (AEST) on Tuesday, July 27.
Each club is able to sign up to 27 players, leaving at least three spots on their list open for draft picks.
AFLW hopefuls will be able to nominate for the draft from Monday.
The AFL’s head of women’s footy, Nicole Livingstone, said the talent available in the 2021 AFLW Draft would make for an exciting sixth season of the league.
“What we’re seeing year on year is great talent coming through women’s football pathways across the country, and I can’t wait for football fans to witness the next generation of talent to impact the NAB AFLW Competition.”
Clubs must finalise their lists, including any delisted free agency signings, by Friday.
CHECK BACK HERE AS WE TAKE A LOOK AT EVERY CLUB AHEAD OF THE JULY 27 DRAFT
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ADELAIDE
One of the greats of women’s football, Erin Phillips, has shunned retirement and will pull on the footy boots for at least one more year, after re-signing with the Crows for the 2021-22 season.
In the same week as she was awarded an OAM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to women’s basketball and football, Phillips revealed she’d been given the go-ahead from her surgeon after undergoing an arthroscopy on her knee after Adelaide’s AFLW grand final loss in April.
She said she certainly wasn’t ready to retire and hoped to play on beyond next season.
“I’m not going into this season thinking it’s my last,” she said.
“Hopefully there’s a couple of years still left in me.
“I’ve been given the green light by my surgeon and medical staff at the Crows after my knee arthroscopy earlier this year and I feel confident that my body still has good footy left in me.
“I’m really excited to have signed on with this incredible team for another year. We fell heartbreakingly short last season and I want to have another go at getting back there.”
Phillips won her third AFLW All-Australian honour in 2021, selected at full forward, after playing 11 games and kicking 14 goals, her largest season career-haul to date, despite persistent knee soreness.
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Crows head of women’s football, Phil Harper, said Phillips was leading the club’s best and fairest count midway through the 2021 season, until the issue with her knee limited her output for the second half.
“We look forward to seeing her at her best again in her sixth season for the Crows,” he said.
In five seasons, she has become a champion of the game, a two-time AFLW premiership winner, two-time AFLW grand final best on ground medallist, two-time league best and fairest, three-time All-Australian.
Earlier this week, Phillips revealed to The Advertiser, what playing women’s football and basketball meant to her.
“Sport has let me be who I am. That’s where my confidence was … I never felt out of place when I was playing sport,” she said.
“I was a kid who never really truly felt comfortable in my skin until I was out there competing and those two sports have meant everything to me.”
Adelaide delisted Renee Forth last month, while placing Jessica Sedunary on the inactive list as she pursues cycling ambitions and traded forward Chloe Scheer to Geelong.
So far, the 2021 grand finalists have re-signed 14 players, and will announce its other re-signings by Friday.
Current 2021-22 list: Hannah Button, Chelsea Biddell, Ailish Considine, Dayna Cox, Caitlin Gould, Ebony Marinoff, Rachelle Martin, Hannah Munyard, Madison Newman, Erin Phillips, Marijana Rajcic, Chelsea Randall, Lisa Whiteley, Ashleigh Woodland.
Draft picks: 17, 20, 34, 47
Carlton
The Blues were busy during the recent trade period, losing seven players to either delistings or trades, with high-profile stars Tayla Harris (Melbourne), Jess Hosking (Richmond) and former captain Katie Loynes (GWS) finding new homes.
But the clubs head of women’s football, Brett Munro says the club has now secured an impressive number of high-end draft picks, and the Blues have already commenced the process of interviewing their potential draftees.
Munro said he was looking forward to the opportunity the club has with its four picks in the first two rounds.
“Top 10 picks are gold: we have interviewed some of the draft pool already and are quite excited by some of those players,” he said.
Current 2021-22 list: Lauren Brazzale, Jess Dal Pos, Grace Egan, Georgia Gee, Serena Gibbs, Maddy Guerin, Kerryn Harrington, Charlotte Hammans, Mimi Hill, Courtney Jones, Vaomua Laloifi Lucy McEvoy, Abbie McKay, Breann Moody, Elise O’Dea, Natalie Plane, Gabriella Pound, Maddy Prespakis, Nicola Stevens, Paige Trudgeon, Brooke Vernon, Darcy Vescio, Brooke Walker, Daisy Walker, Charlotte Wilson.
Draft picks: 10, 11, 23, 26, 40
COLLINGWOOD
Collingwood has finalised its re-signings ahead of the 2021-22 AFLW season, with the prized signatures of cross-code champion Ash Brazill and five-season captain Steph Chiocci.
Both players have signed two-year deals, joining reigning AFLW joint best-and-fairest winner Brianna Davey in black and white until at least 2023.
Brazill, who also pays for Collingwood in Super Netball, returned from a serious knee injury this year, playing four games and played a key role in the Magpies’ finals campaign.
The stars’ signatures cap off a re-signing period that’s seen the Pies retain the majority of their talented list, which made it to this year’s preliminary final, narrowly losing to eventual premiers, Brisbane.
The club will take three second-round picks into the draft.
Collingwood’s head of women’s sport, Jane Woodlands-Thompson, was thrilled with today’s display of commitment.
“The program’s stability is exemplified through the two-year commitment from our leaders in Steph and Ash,” she said.
“Their guidance will usher through the next wave of talent.
“In 2018, we heavily invested in the draft and the new wave of young talent.
“To see these women embark on their fourth and fifth seasons as elite athletes is a true testament to our program and our players’ commitment to their development and the club.”
Current 2021-22 list: Sophie Alexander, Jordy Allen, Brittany Bonnici, Ash Brazill, Tarni Brown, Lauren Butler, Mikala Cann, Sophie Casey, Stephanie Chiocci, Brianna Davey, Alison Downie, Erica Fowler, Sabrina Frederick, Jaimee Lambert, Joanna Lin, Stacey Livingstone, Jordan Membrey (inactive), Chloe Molloy, Abbi Moloney, Aliesha Newman, Ebony O’Dea, Alana Porter, Imogen Purcell, Sarah Rowe, Ruby Schleicher, Aishling Sheridan, Bella Smith, Amelia Velardo.
Draft picks: 29, 32 and 33
GOLD COAST
Gold Coast will head into the July 27 draft armed with a new coach, the No. 1 draft pick and 15 of their inaugural players re-signed and ready to head into their third season with one thing in mind: to turn around their winless 2021 season and jump off the bottom of the ladder.
Those 15 inaugural Suns include club champion winners Lauren Ahrens and Jamie Stanton, the team’s 2021 captain Hannah Dunn and 2020 All-Australian Kalinda Howarth.
Goal-kicking fan favourite Sarah Perkins has also re-signed, with the Suns’ head of women’s footy Fiona Sessarago saying it was a testament to the club’s direction to see the core of the list committed for next season.
“We’re thrilled to have the buy-in from the playing group in what is a really exciting period for our women’s program,” she said.
“This group has played a lot of football together over our first two seasons of AFLW which is really important and has set a fantastic foundation for our third season as a club.
“With a new coach Cameron Joyce coming on board there is a real buzz at the moment and we can’t wait to finalise our list through the draft before looking ahead to the pre-season.”
Current 2021-11 list: Lauren Ahrens, Janet Baird, Lauren Bella, Annise Bradfield, Daisy D’Arcy, Alison Drennan, Hannah Dunn, Tori Groves-Little, Cheyenne Hammond, Ellie Hampson, Dee Heslop, Kalinda Howarth, Bess Keaney, Maddison Levi, Sarah Perkins, Britt Perry, Emma Pittman, Jade Pregelj, Wallis Randell, Vivien Saad, Lucy Single, Jamie Stanton, Kate Surman, Serene Watson, Claudia Whitfort, Jacqui Yorston
Draft picks: 1, 6, 8, 30
GWS
Irish recruit Brid Stack’s inaugural AFLW season with Greater Western Sydney ended before it began, when she broke her neck during a practice game against Adelaide in January.
But the All-Ireland Gaelic football star remains determined to play Australian women’s football and has signed a one-year contract extension with the Giants that will hopefully see her make her long-awaited AFLW debut in the 2021-22 season.
Stack, 34, collided with Crows champion Ebony Marinoff in the final minute of their AFLW trial game on January 17, suffering a stable fracture of her C7 vertebrae.
Marinoff was suspended for three games — the harshest penalty handed down in AFLW history — after being found guilty by the AFL Tribunal of forceful front-on contact, but successfully had the charge quashed on appeal.
Stack wrote at the time that she was “extremely lucky not to be paraplegic after the injury”, and she was sidelined for the remainder of the season as she began the long rehabilitation road.
But it has done little to quash her desire to play AFLW, and Stack has signed a one-year deal alongside fellow Irish Gaelic football star Cora Staunton, who has also signed a one-year extension.
Staunton, who turns 40 in December, will return for her fifth season of AFL after debuting in 2018.
Other players to re-sign with GWS include two-time club champion Alyce Parker, who finished equal third in the AFLW best-and-fairest count in 2020.
Current 2021-22 list: Nicola Barr, Rebecca Beeson, Chloe Dalton, Alicia Eva, Tarni Evans, Georgia Garnett, Emily Goodsir, Libby Graham, Jas Grierson, Tanya Hetherington, Annalyse Lister, Katie Loynes, Tait Mackrill, Erin McKinnon, Alyce Parker, Emily Pease, Rebecca Privitelli, Pepa Randall, Katherine Smith, Bríd Stack, Cora Staunton, Lisa Steane, Louise Stephenson, Haneen Zreika
Draft picks: 37, 56
North Melbourne
Kangaroos AFLW list and performance manager, Rhys Harwood, says North achieved a key goal during the recent sign and trade period: keeping the core group together, with 24 of last year’s list re-signing for at least one more season.
“We’ve been really clear about where we want to go and the team we want to become over the coming seasons from both a personnel and on-field system point of view,” Harwood said.
“Fundamentally our primary objective was to keep our core playing group together, and to be able to retain 24 players for the 2022-23 season and beyond is a testament to the environment, connection and feeling at the club.
“While retention has been a critical pillar of our strategy, we are also mindful that change is necessary to continue to grow and improve as a team.
“We were deliberate in our approach to take the opportunity to significantly strengthen our position for the 2021 AFLW Draft, and to hold three selections in the first two rounds, including two inside the first 12 Victorian selections, gives us a great scope to bring in some elite talent.
“The culture we’ve built here at North is obviously one the players want to be a part of and the girls are already working hard to best prepare themselves for the upcoming pre-season.”
Current 2021-22 list: Sophie Abbatangelo, Kaitlyn Ashmore, Daria Bannister, Daisy Bateman, Nicole Bresnehan, Brooke Brown, Jenna Bruton, Grace Campbell, Jess Duffin, Bella Eddey, Jas Garner, Ellie Gavalas, Britt Gibson, Aileen Gilroy, Dani Hardiman, Emma Kearney, Elisha King, Emma King, Mia King, Alice O’Loughlin, Tahlia Randall, Ash Riddell, Amy Smith, Sarah Wright
Draft picks: 13, 19, 28, 45
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