Madison Prespakis shines at national championships to confirm herself as top AFLW draft prospect for 2018

AFL Women’s clubs will be clamouring to draft Madison Prespakis after the Calder Cannons on-baller dominated the Under-18 National Championships.

Madison Prespakis is a top prospect for next year’s AFLW draft. Picture: Jerad Williams.

AFL Women’s clubs will be clamouring to draft Madison Prespakis next year after the Calder Cannons on-baller dominated the Under-18 National Championships.

Prespakis was pivotal in Vic Metro’s two wins of the carnival against Queensland and NSW/ACT.

The 16-year-old was only warming up when she had 20 disposals, three clearances and four inside-50s against Queensland, delivering a 29-possession and two-goal game against NSW/ACT to finish the championships.

“The fact that she has still got another year in the competition, it surprises me, the level she is playing at,” Vic Metro coach Andrew Shakespeare said.

“She looks so accomplished already.”

Madison Prespakis celebrates a goal for Vic Metro. Picture : George Salpigtidis.

A tenacious midfielder with an eye for goal, Shakespeare said Sunbury’s Prespakis was ready to play in the VFL Women’s competition.

“With a continued hunger for the game and continued growth, I could not see why she wouldn’t be able to make that transition (to AFLW),” he said.

Prespakis, Georgia Patrikios and Molly Warburton were recognised with All-Australian selection after shining on the national stage.

Shakespeare said Warburton, a half-back flanker from Gisborne, was ready to emerge as a star of women’s football.

“Molly is really going to come into her own in the next couple of years,” he said.

“Her ability to defend and then breaks lines with her kick and her run is going to stamp her as a player of the future.”

Despite only being 16, Patrikios was one of the faces of Essendon’s bid for an AFLW licence and the Pascoe Vale junior backed up her reputation.

“We know she has got her outside run, carry and a beautiful kick but she is starting to learn about the contest,” Shakespeare said of the pacy winger.

The Vic Metro coach was also impressed with Calder TAC Cup Girls premiership captain Lauren Caruso, who adapted to a role as a small defender with aplomb.

“Her game really developed as she started to get her hands on the football and provide some run and carry,” he said.

Shakespeare said Sarah Dargan (Pascoe Vale) played “strong football”, while fellow Cannons Carla Rendelmann (Aberfeldie) and Eleanor Cornish (Assumption College) were part of the Vic Metro squad which finished the carnival with consecutive victories.