VIC Metro and Vic Country have named their Under 17 squads ahead of today’s 2021 AFL Women’s Under 17s Championships. The sides will play twice, with the first being at Trevor Barker Oval, and the second being a yet to be confirmed date in May. The game today will start from 10am, with a stream via the AFL Women’s website.

Oakleigh will lead the Metro charge with six representatives, ahead of Western Jets and Sandringham Dragons with five and four respectively. The sole Metro Under 17s player selected in the Under 19s squad for Game 1 was Montana Ham, while Jets’ teammate Charlotte Baskaran, as well as Sandringham Dragons duo Bridie Hipwell and Sofia Hurley, and Calder Cannons’ Abbey McDonald were also named in the extended Under 19s team. Among the 2005-born players (2023 draft-eligible) are Eastern Ranges duo Alyssia Pisano and Laura Stone, Northern Knights’ Ava Jordan and Western Jets’ Kiera Whiley.

Dandenong Stingrays unsurprisingly have the most of any side, with so much bottom-age talent filtering through, they make up almost a third of the Vic Country team. Seven representatives will don the ‘Big V’, while Bendigo Pioneers and Geelong Falcons have four apiece. Gippsland Power, Greater Western Victoria (GWV) Rebels and Murray Bushrangers round out the list with three apiece as well. Of the players also on the Country Under 19s list, Bendigo Pioneers’ Octavia Di Donato and Murray Bushrangers’ Keeley Skepper. An Under 17s talent – GWV Rebels’ Kalani Scoullar was also included on the Under 19s list.

All those on the Under 19s lists are naturally ones to watch, whilst outside of those, of the top-agers in the Under 17s grade, Western Jets’ Paige Ryan and Krystal Russell, Sandringham Dragons’ Keely Coyne, Oakleigh Chargers’ Charlotte Taylor and Mia Clift and Northern Knights’ Brooke Plummer have been in good form this season, whilst Gippsland Power’s Lily-Rose Williamson and Yasmin Duursma, Geelong Falcons’ Charlotte Simpson and Ash Van Loon, Bendigo Pioneers’ Tegan Williams, Dandenong Stingrays’ Felicity Crank and Brooke Smith, and GWV Rebels’ Molly Walton are among the names to keep an eye on from Country

VIC METRO:

Calder Cannons [2]: Reese Sutton, Abbey McDonald
Eastern Ranges [3]: Alyssia Pisano, Scarlett Potter, Laura Stone
Northern Knights [3]: Brooke Plummer, Ava Jordan, Lulu Beatty
Oakleigh Chargers [6]: Mia Clift, Ruby Vanden Boom, Jemma Rigoni, Charlotte Van Der Vlies, Lily Hart, Charlotte Taylor
Sandringham Dragons [4]: Keely Coyne, Bridie Hipwell, Tayla Jones, Sofia Hurley
Western Jets [5]: Charlotte Baskaran, Paige Ryan, Kiera Whiley, Montana Ham**, Krystal Russell

Note: Montana Ham has been selected for the U19s match

VIC COUNTRY:

Bendigo Pioneers [4]: Lila Keck, Octavia Di Donato, Bryde O’Rourke, Tegan Williams
Dandenong Stingrays [7]: Olivia Robinson, Grace Chapman, Felicity Crank, Brooke Smith, Bianca Lyne, Charley Ryan, Ella Watts
Geelong Falcons [4]: Kara Stacey, Charlotte Simpson, Ash Van Loon, Mia Van Dyke
Gippsland Power [3]: Alisha Molesworth, Yasmin Duursma, Lily-Rose Williamson
GWV Rebels [4]: Olivia Leonard, Jenna Burke, Molly Walton
Murray Bushrangers [3]: Madison Gray, Keeley Skepper, Grace Hay