South Adelaide’s speedy midfielder Hannah Munyard has made a very strong case to be drafted by the Crows next week
Hannah Munyard has been playing football for a couple of years, but her lightning speed and athleticism are raising the eyebrows of AFLW recruiters across the country.
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SHE’s been playing footy for only a couple of years, but speedy South Adelaide midfielder Hannah Munyard is raising eyebrows ahead of the AFLW draft on Tuesday.
Described by AFLW talent scouts as “one of those players who does not waste a disposal” the 18-year-old was voted by her teammates to be vice-captain of the Central Allies (a composite SA/NT side) in the Under-18 AFLW National Championships, which earned her an invite to the AFLW Draft Combine earlier this month.
Of the four SA players selected for the Combine, Munyard was the only one who had not received an under-18s All-Australian nod.
But this didn’t phase her. Instead, she further pushed her draft case with blistering Combine form, finishing in the top 5 in three key areas: standing vertical jump, 20m sprint and agility (no other South Australian finished the top 5 in any other category).
The dual Panthers SANFLW premiership player said she’d even shocked herself with the Combine invite: “I can’t believe it — I’m stoked I’m even here,” she said. Known as “Munny” to her teammates, the 163cm midfielder was spotted two years ago playing for Mt Barker after she’d decided to do away with netball and given the chance in the SANFLW.
“I played one season with the boys when I was eight and that was at McLaren Vale where my dad was a coach,” she said. “I didn’t really like it with the boys, just because they were boys, so I stopped playing after that one season and started playing netball for seven years.
“I picked up footy again two years ago and decided that I loved it … Knowing that the boys were the main reason I stopped playing, knowing there was a girls team, I was so excited.”
Her rise in the sport has been rapid and she credits her original Panthers coach Krissie Steen and teammate — and Crows youngster — Nikki Gore as footy mentors who’ve taught her how to make sure she never wastes a single disposal.
“Nikki’s always been there encouraging me, reminding me that whatever happens, it’s more about who I am as a person … she’s just really encouraging and saying that this year is not the be-all and end-all,” Munyard said.
Following the Combine, AFLW talent manager Aasta O’Connor described Munyard as a “late bloomer” with loads of “X-factor”.
“We have watched Hannah from afar, and she was probably a bit unlucky not to make the AFLW Academy,” O’Connor said.
“She can do things on the field that only a few can, she’s quite a silky and smooth mover with pace and all those things us football lovers get excited about.
“I don’t know her draft prospects because the Crows are such a strong unit.
“(But) wherever Hannah lands, if it’s this year or next year I have no doubt she will play AFLW.”