Ash is AFLW’s Centra of Attention
Collingwood picked a country Victorian star with the first pick in last night’s first truly national AFLW draft.
Sixty players were selected in the 2024 Telstra AFLW Draft, which was held at Marvel Stadium on Monday night.
This year’s Draft was the league’s first ever national draft, with all nominees available to be selected by any of the 18 clubs. Previously, players could nominate to be drafted within a certain state, given the part time nature of the league and athletes needing to manage their lives away from football.
Collingwood selected Ash Centra with the No. 1 pick, with the midfielder/forward becoming the first player from the Gippsland Power to be taken with the first pick in an AFLW Draft.
Centra also became just the second player in Collingwood’s history to be selected with the first selection in a Draft, following men’s player Josh Fraser in 1999.
There were two father-daughter selections made in this year’s Draft, including Sophie McKay, daughter of former Carlton skipper and premiership player Andrew, who joined her sister Abbie at Carlton after the Blues matched a bid from Geelong at pick 17. Meanwhile, Violet Patterson was selected by Collingwood, where her father Stephen played 96 matches.
Eight players were drafted from Northern Academies, with the Gold Coast Suns selecting five Academy products in Havana Harris, Heidi Talbot, Mia Salisbury, Nyalli Milne and Tara Harrington. The Suns matched a bid from Melbourne at pick 2 to secure Harris.
Lilly Baker (Brisbane Lions Academy) and Amelia Martin (Sydney Swans Academy) were also selected by their respective clubs, while Port Adelaide drafted Chloe Gaunt from the Brisbane Lions Academy.
Paige Scott (Richmond) and Alana Gee (St Kilda) found new homes, while North Melbourne selected Gaelic footballer Amy Gavin Mangan from County Offaly in Ireland.
Adelaide Crows recruited India Rasheed, the daughter of elite tennis coach and commentator Roger Rasheed. Roger’s former star player, Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt, is a well known Crows diehard fan.
With their first selection, Hawthorn selected Lavinia Cox, a talented multi sport athletes who is currently a WNBL development player with Bendigo Spirit, where she is training and playing alongside Opals Paris medallists Sami Whitcomb and Marianna Tolo. Sami took to Instagram last night to congratulate Lavinia, posting a caption “you little legend”, while Bendigo-based retired Opals captain Tess Madgen commented, “Go Liv!” Lavinia scored her first ever WNBL points two weeks ago in Bendigo’s win over UC Capitals.
Below are the Top 20 Picks:
1 Collingwood: Ash Centra Gippsland Power
2 Gold Coast Suns: Havana Harris GC Suns Academy
3 Melbourne: Molly O'Hehir South Fremantle
4 GWS Giants: Sara Howley Geelong Falcons
5 Sydney Swans: Zipporah Fish East Fremantle
6 Carlton: Poppy Scholz Glenelg
7 West Coast Eagles: Lucia Painter Bendigo Pioneers
8 Western Bulldogs: Emma McDonald Oakleigh Chargers
9 Essendon: Grace Belloni Eastern Ranges
10 Geelong Cats: Alexis Gregor Bendigo Pioneers
11 Richmond: Sierra Grieves Western Jets
12 Essendon: Holly Ridewood Northern Knights
13 Adelaide Crows: India Rasheed Sturt
14 Fremantle: Georgie Brisbane Eastern Ranges
15 Hawthorn: Lavinia Cox Bendigo Pioneers
16 Brisbane Lions: Claudia Wright Claremont
17 Carlton: Sophie McKay Sandringham Dragons
18 Geelong Cats: Sienna Tallariti Oakleigh Chargers
19 Port Adelaide: Lily Paterson Swan Districts
20 Richmond: Zoe Hargreaves Northern Knights