MELBOURNE AFLW list manager Todd Patterson says the club was rapt to secure talented/elite players with AFL attributes from other sports.
Patterson said the women’s football talent pool was still emerging, so there were opportunities for elite players from other sports to make the crossover to football.
“There is still a lot of development to go, so we’ve looked for girls with elite AFL attributes and we feel like we’ve found them and now we’ll back our development team under [coach] Mick [Stinear] to build the rest of their game and get their fundamentals going,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“It’s been an interesting year. We spent 20 hours in the car visiting Eden Zanker twice up at her remote home, so it’s very rewarding and it’s really exciting to bring the group together now.”
Patterson said the club had worked extensively to recruit a blend of players since earlier this year.
“It’s been a really long year. It kicked off in the trade period, when we brought in [Bianca] Jakobsson and [Ashleigh] Guest. We’re really thrilled with that. And then our pre-listed rookies in Kate Hore and Erin Hoare,” he said.
“We only had two picks in the rookie draft today and we decided to elevate Kate Hore to our primary list, so she’ll be available for selection from round one.
“Then throughout this period, we’re really stoked to bring in [Eden] Zanker, [Maddy] Guerin, [Tegan] Cunningham, [Claudia] Whitfort and the two rookies [Anna Teague and Maddie Shevlin].
“So, there has been a lot of work from a lot of different people and [recruiting assistant] Anthony De Jong was instrumental in finding Claudia Whitfort. Then, through some great basketball connections, [we saw] Cunningham and the younger girls as well through the academy programs, so the future’s pretty bright we feel.”
On Friday, Melbourne finalised its list when it landed Anna Teague and Maddie Shevlin in the NAB AFL Women’s Rookie Draft. Patterson said the club was delighted to land the duo with its last two picks.
“The list is finalised. With our first pick, we chose an out of sport rookie from the Geelong VFLW team in Anna Teague. She’s had a tremendous basketball career and transitioned to football at the start of the year. She’s a key defender and adds some real depth to our side. She’s another outstanding character, so we were really thrilled she was available,” he said.
“With our final pick, we picked someone we discovered through our talent search. She’s from Canberra, so the one interstate trip we made, Mick [Stinear] and myself went up when it was snowing in Canberra and watched her play a night game and that was Maddie Shevlin. She’s 174cm, athletic and can play multiple positions. She’s a nice long kick and has good speed. She’s represented Australia in Oztag at the start of the year and was in the ACT team of the year, so we’re excited for what she can produce.”
