MELBOURNE has named five debutants to take on Fremantle in its Round 1 clash at Casey Fields on Sunday afternoon.
Maddi Gay, Chantel Emonson, Ash Woodland, Shae Sloane and Tyla Hanks are the fresh faces who will be pulling on the red and blue guernsey for the first time this weekend, and they were made to earn their spot.
Senior coach Mick Stinear had the luxury of choosing from a fully fit squad and believes his side is in a strong position to attack season three of the AFLW competition.
“We’ve got 30 available to choose from, so we’ve got the full list which is a great situation to be in,” Stinear told Melbourne Media.
“We’ve picked the best 21 to hopefully get us off to a great start.”
While the new arrivals are set to add some flare to the group, Stinear sees the stability of the side as a major advantage.
“Sixteen of the players have played before so I’m not sure how the other clubs are placed but I see that as a huge bonus for us,” he said.
“It’s a lot of consistency and a lot of experience.
“And then the five players coming in just improve us, so I think with the preparation and lead in they have had there’s just an excitement to watch them play.”
The buzz around the club this week has stemmed from the debutant’s announcements, with the five girls learning their fate on Tuesday.
“It’s always good to be able to deliver that news and it was good to be able to do it early in the week,” Stinear said.
“That was our plan, to set them up to have the best possible week they could have in terms of their preparation.
“And we had Daisy [Pearce] join me in letting them know. She’s been working closely with our 10 new players and five of them get to pull the jumper on for the first time.”
The Demons’ first game of the season kicks off at 3:05pm on Sunday.