OVER the past couple of years, border restrictions and game cancellations have made selecting a national Academy squad difficult. But for AFLW Academy coach Tarkyn Lockyer, the final squad – which was announced a fortnight ago – is “well-rounded” with “good representation from all the states and territories”.

>> AFLW Academy list: Player by Player

Speaking to Rookie Me Central at the NAB League Girls Preseason Testing Day, Lockyer said despite the shorter turnaround for selecting the squad compared to most years, the process “remained the same”.

“We take opinions from the AFLW clubs and also the state programs in helping to select the squad, and that process will remain this year and past years and in the future as well,” he said. “So it’s really good to get those opinions because they know the players, particularly players outside of Victoria over the last couple of years in particular.

“But to get an idea of where the talent sits, and they know their players better than most. “We feel like the squad itself is a really well-rounded squad with really good representation from all the states and territories, so really exciting to induct those players over recent players and can’t wait to get to work with them.”

The 2022 AFL Women’s Academy features nine Victorians, three West Australians, three Queenslanders, two South Australians, and four from Allied states – two from NSW/ACT, and one each from Tasmania and Northern Territory – rounding out the 21-player top-age squad. Additionally, there is a further six, with one representative from each of Victoria, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania, and two from South Australia.

When asked if the spread across all the states and territories was “by design or happy coincidence”, Lockyer said the Academy was focused on maintaining balanced representation across the nation.

“It’s a little bit by design as well, because we are mindful that it’s a state-based draft,” he said. “We need to ensure that we’re selecting players appropriately from all of the states. At the end of the day we’re servicing the industry and AFLW clubs in particular. “Not saying that being apart of those squads guarantees selection, but it’s just great recognition for the players and can’t wait to get to work with them.”

Lockyer said at the end of the day the Academy staff made the final decisions on players, but said they “took on board” feedback from state talent managers and AFLW clubs; feedback they consider to be “very valuable”. Whilst he said it was unfair to name any players who narrowly missed out on the Academy, Lockyer said the squad was selected to help develop the player’s on and off-field traits.

“With every player there’s a multitude of reasons why or why not we may or may not select players,” Lockyer said. “Certainly it’s not just about the on-field performance, and the program we offer is a holistic development model that absolutely develops people and players in a range of different experiences and learnings. “So yes the on-field performance is important, but so is the education around standards and expectations and a life as an AFLW player.”

Now the AFL Women’s Academy had been announced the plan was for the squad to come together for a high performance camp after the 2022 AFLW Under 18 National Championships in April. Then a couple of months later, the Academy would reconvene for another camp and match – often scheduled against a VFL Women’s opponent – before the mid-year draft later in winter.

Lockyer said he was hoping that he could get to more matches outside Victoria, having been restricted in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I would love to be able to travel as much as I can. We are a national program,” he said. “Although being based in Victoria makes it easier to watch Victorian games, we are mindful that we are a national program so therefore we want to watch as much as we can from all the states.

“When national champs are on, we have a pretty heavy involvement on those, and depending on border restrictions and the rest of it, we’d love to get back travelling as quick as we can.”

As for the players discovering they found out about the AFLW Academy, Lockyer said he made sure he called each and every individual across both squads.

“(I) spoke to every player individually which took a bit of work across both the boys and the girls. But they’re great phone calls, that’s one of the pleasing parts of my jobs, when you get to give people good news to let them know they’re in this sort of Academy,” he said.

“It’s a good opportunity for them. As we preach all the time, it’s certainly not a golden ticket through the draft, but what it is, is an opportunity to use resources to best prepare them for the next part of their journey.”