Darebin Falcons working hard to get players drafted after season cancelled
Darebin Falcons president Sarah Brady says the club is well placed financially despite the season being cancelled and is working hard to ensure players are front of mind for AFLW recruiters.
Local Footy
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Darebin Falcons have reacted swiftly to AFL Victoria’s decision to cancel the proposed VFL Women’s Super Series.
Combined with the decision to call off the rest of the NAB League Girls season, it means there will be no football played before this season’s AFL Women’s draft.
Falcons president Sarah Brady said the club was working over-time to ensure its players were front and centre in recruiters’ minds.
DUDDED: VFLW SUPER SERIES AN AFTERTHOUGHT
LEADER: GET YOUR VFL WOMEN’S NEWS HERE
OFF: NAB LEAGUE SEASON SCRAPPED FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
“It’s disappointing but we all understand and now we need to find some creative ways to help the girls that were going to play in that series to get drafted,” she said.
“We have all our stats and video footage from last VFLW season so we’ll put together some packages.
“Our VFLW coaching staff have some really good connections and a lot of our past players have gone on to play at AFLW clubs.
“We’re really lucky, our coaching staff don’t do it for the money or to get into an AFL club – if that happens then great – they do it because the club means a lot to them.”
The Falcons’ production line is unparalleled in women’s football, having had the likes of Daisy Pearce, Karen Paxman, Mel Hickey, Darcy Vescio and Katie Brennan come through the club.
Annalyse Lister, Gabby Colvin, Sarah Sansonetti and Nell Morris-Dalton were drafted out of the Falcons last season.
Brady said it was disappointing to have the Super Series cancelled but was confident the club was well placed to ride out the year and return in good shape on and off the field in 2021.
“Financially we’re OK, we’re pretty lucky with all the support we have,” she said.
“We haven’t had (sponsors) drop off and we’ve tried really hard to provide other avenues to support them.
“They’re all our sponsors not purely for signage or anything like that but to support women’s sport.
“We were pretty close to having our team locked down and we actually had quite a few girls that didn’t play with us last year thinking about coming back.
“Retention wasn’t going to be an issue for this year, so I can’t imagine it will be for next year.
“Our No.1 priority is making sure women and girls have the opportunity to play and get better.”
Brady hopes the VFLW can survive the COVID-19 storm as the AFL and its clubs grapple with the financial ramifications of no crowds and fewer memberships.