The 2016 AFLW Draft was not your typical draft. It was an exercise in building a squad from scratch.
The eight inaugural clubs had the entire female talent pool of their respective states available to them and were given the task of building a team that would take the field in the coming summer.
There were 145 players taken on draft day, ranging from talented 18-year-olds to savvy veterans and everything in between.
On top of that, each team had access to two marquee players, priority selections, rookies (athletes from other sports) and then were given another go at the draft pool in a free agency selection period later in the year.
On SEN’s The Boundary AFLW Podcast, we attempted a re-draft of this behemoth.
It was obviously complicated given the staggered nature of the draft and the sheer number of players available.
Collingwood star Chloe Molloy, The Age’s Daniel Cherny and I went into this re-draft with the intention of building a roster of 22 players, which meant drafting 66 of the near-200 players available.
The rules were straightforward:
- There were no state-based restrictions.
- Players who came into the 2017 season injured remained so, and that had to be factored into your selection. Eg: Kiara Bowers’ torn ACL.
- Snake draft rules. Daniel Cherny had pick 1, Chloe Molloy pick 2 and I had pick 3.
- Each team drafted TWO marquee players, TWO priority players, ONE rookie and ONE free agent before the main body of the draft.
- All marquee/priority/rookie/free agent players NOT taken before the draft WERE still eligible to be drafted.
- The aim was to draft a team for 2017 success, but also to remain competitive in 2021 and beyond.
- And we were drafting a best 22. Meaning you needed a balance of midfielders, forwards and defenders.
While the initial section – taking marquees, rookies, etc – was straightforward, the bulk of the draft was incredibly difficult given the sheer amount of talent available and the relative evenness of it, even after a sample size of five years.
Many players who are still stars of the competition went undrafted, which also highlights the depth.
You can listen to the full draft with Chloe Molloy, Daniel Cherny and Nic Negrepontis below!
FULL DRAFT ORDER
MARQUEE SELECTIONS
1 – Chelsea Randall (Daniel Cherny)
2 – Brianna Davey (Chloe Molloy)
3 – Ellie Blackburn (Nic Negrepontis)
4 – Daisy Pearce (Nic Negrepontis)
5 – Emma King (Chloe Molloy)
6 – Darcy Vescio (Daniel Cherny)
Marquee players now eligible for the draft: Kellie Gibson, Tayla Harris, Sabrina Frederick, Moana Hope, Kara Antonio, Kiara Bowers, Renee Forth, Emma Swanson, Mel Hickey, Katie Brennan.
PRIORITY PLAYERS
7 – Karen Paxman (Daniel Cherny)
8 – Emma Kearney (Chloe Molloy)
9 – Kaitlyn Ashmore (Nic Negrepontis)
10 – Ebony Antonio (Nic Negrepontis)
11 – Courtney Cramey (Chloe Molloy)
12 – Emma Zielke (Daniel Cherny)
Priority players now eligible for the draft: Angela Foley, Lauren Arnell, Meg Hutchins, Kirby Bentley, Maddy Collier, Alex Williams, Louise Stephenson, Phoebe McWilliams, Jess Dal Pos
ROOKIE PLAYERS
13 – Erin Phillips (Daniel Cherny)
14 – Harriet Cordner (Chloe Molloy)
15 – Libby Birch (Nic Negrepontis)
Sidenote: The snake-based nature of the draft coupled with the amount of picks unintentionally gave Daniel the first pick in almost every category.
Rookie players now eligible for the draft: Jasmine Anderson, Kate Deegan, Delissa Kimmince, Nat Exon, Kate Shierlaw, Kate Sheahan, Helen Roden, Gabby O’Sullivan, Kim Mickle, Ellie Brush, Cat Phillips, Romy Timmins
FREE AGENTS
16 – Gemma Houghton (Nic Negrepontis)
17 – Dayna Cox (Chloe Molloy)
18 – Meg McDonald (Daniel Cherny)
Players now eligible for the draft: Lots.
NATIONAL DRAFT
19 – Jasmine Garner (Daniel Cherny)
20 – Katie Brennan (Chloe Molloy)
21 – Jaimee Lambert (Nic Negrepontis)
22 – Dana Hooker (Nic Negrepontis)
23 – Kate Shierlaw (Chloe Molloy)
24 – Ebony Marinoff (Daniel Cherny)
25 – Lauren Pearce (Daniel Cherny)
26 – Stevie-Lee Thompson (Chloe Molloy)
27 – Kate Lutkins (Nic Negrepontis)
28 – Kiara Bowers (Nic Negrepontis)
29 – Breanna Koenen (Chloe Molloy)
30 – Brittany Bonnici (Daniel Cherny)
31 – Anne Hatchard (Daniel Cherny)
32 – Ruby Schleicher (Chloe Molloy)
33 – Jess Duffin (Nic Negrepontis)
34 – Tayla Harris (Nic Negrepontis)
35 – Lily Mithen (Chloe Molloy)
36 – Ally Anderson (Daniel Cherny)
37 – Sabrina Frederick (Daniel Cherny)
38 – Brooke Lochland (Chloe Molloy)
39 – Gab Pound (Nic Negrepontis)
40 – Jess Wuetschner (Nic Negrepontis)
41 – Breann Moody (Chloe Molloy)
42 – Kara Antonio (Daniel Cherny)
43 – Jamie Stanton (Daniel Cherny)
44 – Sarah Allen (Chloe Molloy)
45 – Alicia Eva (Nic Negrepontis)
46 – Tahlia Randall (Nic Negrepontis)
47 – Stacey Livingstone (Chloe Molloy)
48 – Kate McCarthy (Daniel Cherny)
49 – Kate Gillespie-Jones (Daniel Cherny)
50 – Shelley Scott (Chloe Molloy)
51 – Steph Chiocci (Nic Negrepontis)
52 – Nicola Stevens (Nic Negrepontis)
53 – Kirsten McLeod (Chloe Molloy)
54 – Cat Phillips (Daniel Cherny)
55 – Sarah Perkins (Daniel Cherny)
56 – Kirsty Lamb (Chloe Molloy)
57 – Emily Bates (Nic Negrepontis)
58 – Elise O’Dea (Nic Negrepontis)
59 – Rebecca Privetelli (Chloe Molloy)
60 – Hannah Scott (Daniel Cherny)
61 – Jess Dal Pos (Daniel Cherny)
62 – Sophie Casey (Chloe Molloy)
63 – Alison Downie (Nic Negrepontis)
64 – Sarah D’Arcy (Nic Negrepontis)
65 – Angelica Gogos (Chloe Molloy)
66 – Leah Kaslar (Daniel Cherny)
And that was the draft.
We all took different approaches. Daniel essentially reunited the 2017 premiership Crows and Chloe used the perspective of a player to make some savvy picks.
My plan was simply to throw together the best players available around a core of key position stars. Like in NFL Fantasy where my strategy is to leave drafting a quarterback until the last round, I waited until the end for a ruck.
Here’s how our teams ultimately ended up:
Chloe Molloy
FB: Breanna Koenen, Harriet Cordner
HB: Ruby Schleicher, Sarah Allen, Courtney Cramey
C: Lily Mithen, Kirsty Lamb, Sophie Casey
HF: Katie Brennan, Kate Shierlaw, Shelley Scott
FF: Stevie-Lee Thompson, Brooke Lochland
Fol: Emma King, Brianna Davey, Emma Kearney
INT: Breann Moody, Angelica Gogos, Rebecca Privetelli, Kirsten McLeod, Stacey Livingstone, Dayna Cox
Nic Negrepontis
FB: Gab Pound, Tahlia Randall
HB: Ebony Antonio, Kate Lutkins, Jess Duffin
C: Kaitlyn Ashmore, Jaimee Lambert, Steph Chiocci
HF: Daisy Pearce, Tayla Harris, Dana Hooker
FF: Jess Wuetschner, Gemma Houghton
Fol: Alison Downie, Ellie Blackburn, Kiara Bowers
INT: Emily Bates, Elise O’Dea, Alicia Eva, Libby Birch, Nicola Stevens, Sarah D’Arcy
Daniel Cherny
FB: Chelsea Randall, Meg McDonald
HB: Kara Antonio, Leah Kaslar, Kate Gillespie-Jones
C: Emma Zielke, Ebony Marinoff, Anne Hatchard
HF: Jasmine Garner, Darcy Vescio, Ally Anderson
FF: Sabrina Frederick, Erin Phillips
Fol: Lauren Pearce, Karen Paxman, Brittany Bonnici
INT: Jamie Stanton, Cat Phillips, Sarah Perkins, Hannah Scott, Jess Dal Pos, Kate McCarthy
Who do you think won the draft?
Listen to the full Boundary AFLW Podcast 2016 re-draft below