AFLW National Draft a resounding win for non-Victorian clubs

The AFLW’s biggest equalisation measure was in action for the first time on Monday night, and Eliza Reilly writes the national draft was a resounding win for non-Victorian clubs.

Non-Victorian clubs have emerged as the clear winners of the first AFLW National Draft.

Since the competition’s inception, a smaller talent pool has handicapped the likes of New South Wales, South Australia, and Western Australia.

Now, the playing field will forever more be equal.

On face value, the first round of the AFLW draft differed little from the 2023 edition, which allowed draftees to opt-in to a national pool.

This year, 12 of the 20 players picked in the first round got to remain in their home state with eight called upon to pack their bags. It was a direct five home and five away split when it came to the top 10.

Compare that with last year’s draft where 12 first-rounders were local selections and nine headed interstate paired with a five-and-five split in the top 10 and the introduction of a national draft didn’t appear to have much effect.

Zippy Fish will move from WA to NSW next season to join the Swans. Picture: Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/Getty Images.

But to understand the full impact of the AFLW’s latest equalisation attempt, you need to consider where the clubs sourced their talent from.

Between them, Victorian clubs held 12 of the 20 first round selections. In total, 10 of those selections were Victorian products with only Melbourne (Molly O’Hehir, pick two) and Carlton (Poppy Scholz, pick six) looking interstate.

Non-Victorian clubs had the remaining eight picks. Just two of those selections were local products, including Gold Coast matching a bid for Academy graduate Havanna Harris. The other six were interstate picks.

Last year, Victorian clubs looked local with nine of their combined 13 first-round selections. Non-Victorian clubs had seven selections resulting in a three home and four away split although two of the former were Brisbane Academy linked players.

Talent experts have long said that the Coates League is the best breeding ground for young AFLW talent in Australia.

Bendigo’s Lucia Painter was drafted by the Eagles in the top 10. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Queensland is right up there but the best players are tied to Brisbane or Gold Coast. South Australia has almost single-handily produced three Adelaide AFLW premierships. And WA talent was spread across the competition in the AFLW’s infancy because it was feared that a pure Western Australian team would be too powerful.

Now, the entire competition will benefit from equal access to top-end talent from around the country, including Victoria’s talent tap.

It’s a win for clubs who’ve previously been limited to their own backyard, searching high and low to find diamonds in the rough.

And it’s a win for draft hopefuls who may have previously been overlooked because they don’t fill a need or don’t quite make the grade in the eyes of their local clubs. A fresh set of eyes could see things very differently.

There were fears of the ‘go-home’ factor given several players are understood to have communicated to clubs their preference to stay home in pre-draft interviews. But players who did end up interstate spoke glowingly of the opportunity ahead. Time will tell whether that attitude prevails.

The big shock was South Australian star India Rasheed who slid to Adelaide at pick 13 after being linked to Sydney in the top five. While a bid for Carlton father-daughter prospect Sophie McKay didn’t eventuate until pick 17.

Originally published as AFLW National Draft a resounding win for non-Victorian clubs