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The Unlucky 22

  • Nov 7, 2016
  • 6 min read

The inaugural AFL Women's draft saw the dreams of 145 players across the country come true. However, chance was never going to be kind to all and it was quite cruel to many players whom no one would have begrudged selection. Here's 22 of the best - and unluckiest - VFL Women's players...

NORIEUL KINROSS (Darebin Falcons)

It is an indication of how fierce the competition for ruck selections was at the draft that Kinross missed nomination despite the season she had. Filling the void left by Aasta O’Connor’s injury, Kinross starred as Darebin’s premier ruckman. Her height and strength were particularly prevalent around the ground as she serviced the best midfield in VFL Women’s.

KIRBY HICKS (Diamond Creek)

The versatile Hicks was one of the injury-cursed Diamond Creek’s most dependable defenders and off-field leaders in 2016. A freak neck injury saw her miss the last four matches. It proved a fatal blow to her draft chances: although she passed medical examinations at Melbourne and the Bulldogs to put her in the running for free agency at both clubs, selection passed her by.

TANYA HETHERINGTON (Diamond Creek)

Hetherington was one of Victoria’s premier defenders when she ruptured her ACL in Diamond Creek’s 2015 preliminary final win over Melbourne Uni. She missed the 2016 season, taking over as the Creekers’ inaugural VFL coach, and made a strong case for selection as she had resumed full training by season’s end. In the end, Hetherington drew the short straw as clubs were careful about how many players with reconstructions they were prepared to take: her fate was effectively sealed when Carlton selected Cranbourne’s Danielle Hardeman, another key defender coming off an ACL.

STEPH CARROLL (Eastern Devils)

Carroll couldn’t have done much more to earn a nod on draft day. In the absence of injured stalwart Devils’ defender Meg Hutchins, Carroll took on the opposition’s best forwards week in and week out and was a crucial part of the Devils’ rise up the ladder. No less an expert than AFL Victoria Women’s Academy coach Graham Burgen described her as “the unluckiest” player to not be selected.

JESS TREND (Eastern Devils)

Trend is the archetype Devil midfielder, packing plenty of punch when the ball is to be won but highly polished when disposing. An ACL injury in Round 16 cost her an almost certain jersey, having played every match up to that point and represented the Western Bulldogs in their clash against Western Australia in June.

BETH KEARNEY (Eastern Devils)

Of all the ruckmen who went home empty handed on draft day, Beth Kearney would vie with Norieul Kinross as being the most glaring omission. In her three years at the Devils, Kearney has moved beyond the ruck’s role as she has also proved adept at both winning hard ball and becoming a marking target around the ground.

ALICE RYAN (Eastern Devils)

In her second season of football, the bullocking Ryan became an integral part of the hard-ball dominance that saw the Eastern Devils leap into the finals. Her playing style is similar to that of draftees Natalie Plane (Carlton), Millie Barden, Mel Kuys (Collingwood) and Devils’ teammate Hannah Scott (Western Bulldogs).

KRISTA WOODROFFE (Geelong Magpies)

By season’s end, Geelong had made a name for themselves for asking no quarter at contests but the ball still spent a lot of time in their backline. Krista Woodroffe was the player they turned to when the going got tough. The powerful Woodroffe stuck like glue to her opponents and refused to allow reputation to dictate her playing style.

BEC GORING (Melbourne Uni)

The incredibly versatile Melbourne Uni defence had no fewer than four representatives on draft day. Bec Goring, having been a performer both consistent and infallible in the crunch time for several seasons now, was the hard luck story. Had she played in any other side she may well have stood out enough to receive the attention a draftee requires.

KARLY TAPNER (Melbourne Uni)

Rough, non-discerning and without a smooth surface in her game… but if you were in the market for a specialist enforcer you couldn’t have done much better. Tapner has few peers for pure fearlessness: the pugnacious on-baller’s ferocious attack on both ball and player in 2016 was pretty damn scary.

HANNAH IBRAHIM (Melbourne Uni)

In and out of the Mugars’ side early in the year, Ibrahim set about cementing her place as a midfielder/forward in the lead-up to the finals. Tough and smart with the ball in hand, if Ibrahim can carry her late season form across all of 2017 there will be more than one club approaching her with a paper and pen.

ALICIA JANZ (Melbourne Uni)

Melbourne Uni had arguably the best ruck combination in VFL Women’s, so both Alicia Janz and her comrade Catherine O’Bryan can consider themselves very unlucky to have slipped through the cracks. Janz’s strengths are her attack on the ball and her athletic prowess but a niggling hand injury limited her output in 2016.

CATHERINE O'BRYAN (Melbourne Uni)

O’Bryan is an adept tap-ruckman but what really sets her apart from her peers is her ability to dominate around the ground to the extent that she could effectively play as a fourth on-baller. O’Bryan was another victim of clubs who looked for just the one ruckman on draft day.

LAURA CROFT (Melbourne Uni)

Another Mugar defender overlooked on draft day. It was a regular sight to see Croft and Brisbane draftee Nicole Hildebrand sweeping out of defence and making space with accurate switching disposal. Anyone looking for proof of Croft’s worth to her team need only consider this: despite the competition for places in the Melbourne Uni backline, she played 18 of a possible 21 matches.

DANI LAWRENCE (Seaford Tigerettes)

2016 was Lawrence’s first season of senior football and the Seaford midfielder proved a natural. The Tigerettes impressed in their first VFL season with their intensity at contests and confident ball movement forward – they had the highly consistent Lawrence to thank for much of that. At just 24, she has a high ceiling to reach for.

KATE THOMPSON (Seaford Tigerettes)

A wily defender. Working in tandem with eventual Bulldog draftee Kim Ebb at Seaford, Thompson’s understanding of her craft meant she was equally capable of defending on the lead and in one-on-ones. Her opponents always had to work overtime for the ball. If Seaford can continue their rise up the ladder and garner more attention from AFL selectors, Thompson will be a great chance to play AFL in 2018.

RACHEL ACHAMPONG (St Kilda Sharks)

In her third season back following a lengthy break from footy, Achampong soldiered on in the ruck virtually unaided for St Kilda in 2016 and held her own. With just thirty names allowed on each list, clubs needed players who could perform in more than one role and Achampong offered potential as a marking key position target.

GEORGIA FISHER (St Kilda Sharks)

Fisher is a highly effective four-quarter performer who just puts her head down, keeps cool and boots the ball out of defence. With her game becoming increasingly cohesive late in the season, it was a shock to see her left out of St Kilda’s preliminary final side in a selection gamble. It cost the Sharks on game day and it may well have been a major missed chance for Fisher to star in front of selectors.

JESS FRANCKE (VU Western Spurs)

Basketballer Francke was one of the many players the Spurs picked up from other sports in the pre-season talent search and, with the exception of Melbourne draftee Alyssa Mifsud, she may well have been the best. Fast and athletic, Francke will no doubt push her name forward for the 2017 draft with another season’s worth of footy smarts under her belt.

AMY HARRISON (VU Western Spurs)

A dedicated team player who mastered several positions for the VU Western Spurs across 2016. Harrison was always going to be one of the Spurs’ leaders as they began their climb up the ladder and she delivered across all three lines. Such dependable players aren’t exactly dime a dozen: the odds on Amy Harrison being a high 2017 draft pick would be short.

ALEX QUIGLEY (VU Western Spurs)

It’s strange that with so many teams looking for small forwards in the draft, a 19-year old who gravitated to the role of key forward whilst still snapping plenty of goals at ground level was overlooked. Quigley topped the Spurs’ goal-kicking with 22; of all players who didn’t make finals, only three had more goals than her.

CAROLINE HARDEMAN (VU Western Spurs)

Yet another ruckman squeezed out of the team lists. Hardeman went from strength to strength this season for the Spurs as she found ways to outmuscle her opponents in the air before giving her side some extra firepower on the deck as she backed her speed in.

 
 
 

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