GIANTS announce inaugural VFLW squad
Originally published by GWS GIANTS Media.
The GIANTS have announced their inaugural 37-player squad for the 2019 VFL Women’s season.
The squad, that will play five invitational games across four months, has been training together for the past month and features a number of current and former GIANTS AFL Women’s players.
18 of the GIANTS’ 22 players signed for the 2020 AFL Women’s season are part of the squad while former GIANTS Melissa Freckleton, Rebecca Privitelli, Pippa Smyth will also pull on orange and charcoal once again.
Due to AFLW rules requiring squads to be reduced to 22 players ahead of this year’s NAB AFLW Draft, recently delisted Delma Gisu, Tait Mackrill, Ebony O’Dea, Britt Perry, Renee Tomkins and Lisa Whiteley will play to strengthen their chances of being re-drafted.
The VFLW program also gives a number of emerging New South Wales and ACT players the opportunity to play against some of the best players in the country.
GIANTS VFLW Head Coach Roger Moten said the fixtures are significant for the club’s overall women’s program.
“The program aims to retain female talent in NSW/ACT by reducing the likelihood of AFLW and local players wishing to move interstate to play state league football,” he said.
“It also provides talent development opportunities for local players aspiring to play AFLW and improves the game knowledge of squad members which will filter back to local clubs.
“The finalised squad, including the addition of 21 of last season’s AFLW players, has come together very well with a genuine understanding of the opportunities that lay ahead.”
Moten said the games give the GIANTS great opportunity to identify players that could join the AFLW team through the 2019 NAB AFLW Draft later this year.
“For many of the girls, this is the perfect stepping stone to gaining a spot on our AFLW list for 2020,” he said.
“We will experiment with player positions in a bid to identify new opportunities, yet the expectation will be to deliver strong on field performances with an eye on achieving positive results.”
The GIANTS’ VFLW team will play its first game against Williamstown on Saturday, May 11 at 12:00pm at Williamstown’s Downer Oval. Click here to see full 2019 fixture.
2019 GIANTS VFLW Squad
Jessica Allan (GIANTS)
Jacinda Barclay (GIANTS/ UNSW-ES Bulldogs)
Elle Bennetts (GIANTS)
Ellie Brush (GIANTS/ Macquarie University)
Jessica Dal Pos (GIANTS)
Taylah Davies (GIANTS)
Alicia Eva (GIANTS)
Amanda Farrugia (GIANTS/Macquarie University)
Sarah Ford (East Coast Eagles)
Melissa Freckleton (Inner West Magpies)
Georgia Garnett (East Coast Eagles)
Delma Gisu (GIANTS/East Coast Eagles)
Emily Goodsir (East Coast Eagles)
Sarah Halverson (Newcastle City)
Alexia Hamilton (Queanbeyan Tigers – ACT)
Tanya Hetherington (GIANTS)
Jodie Hicks (GIANTS/ UNSW-ES Bulldogs)
Lauren Houghton (Macquarie University)
Lael Kassem (Inner West Magpies)
Tait Mackrill (GIANTS/UNSW-ES Bulldogs)
Rylee McGartland (East Coast Eagles)
Alice Mitchell (Mosman Swans)
Ingrid Neilsen (GIANTS/UNSW-ES Bulldogs)
Ebony O’Dea (GIANTS)
Alyce Parker (GIANTS UNSW-ES Bulldogs)
Britt Perry (GIANTS)
Rebecca Privitelli (UNSW-ES Bulldogs)
Aimee Schmidt (GIANTS)
Jasmine Smith (UNSW-ES Bulldogs)
Pippa Smyth (Macquarie University)
Cora Staunton (GIANTS/UNSW-ES Bulldogs)
Lisa Steane (Macquarie University)
Louise Stephenson (GIANTS/Sydney University)
Brenna Tarrant (East Coast Eagles)
Renee Tomkins (GIANTS/East Coast Eagles)
Britt Tully (GIANTS/Ainslie – ACT)
Lisa Whiteley (GIANTS)
Haneen Zreika (GIANTS/East Coast Eagles)
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