Effects of the nationalisation of the AFLW Draft: a case study ft. GWS

THE 2024 AFL Women’s Draft was a historic one for the competition, with the first truly national draft taking place.

With the way that the draft has been run in the past and the varying strengths of the various state competitions across the country, this change to a truly national draft has obviously some clubs more than others.

One of the clubs that it has benefitted the most is the GWS Giants.

Despite being one of the original clubs of the competition, things have not been easy for those in charcoal and orange.

Entering the competition in an era of home state based draft pools and being forced to pick players from arguably the weakest state competition in the country at the time, it set a precedent for the barriers and challenges the club has had to face.

Even with crosstown rivals Sydney coming into the competition, GWS were not given the same concessions the Swans were at any stage and so were left to fall further and further behind the pace of the rest of the competition.

But with the draft going fully national, this has widened GWS’ pool of options, and although it is only the first iteration and there has not been enough time to see the consequences play out on the football field, GWS’ choices last week do set a good precedence.

The Giants’ two choices – midfielder Sara Howley and the versatile Grace Martin – both fill holes the Giants have in their line up.

Firstly to Howley.

One area that GWS needs to improve on is its ability to get the ball out of a ball up, to the outside and away towards goal, and to give proper and extra help to Alyce Parker, who is often trying to do that role all by herself.

Howley’s natural game is that second possession winner, but she can play more of a contested role, which is exactly what GWS are looking for. With Howley slotting straight into that midfield, it frees up the likes of Rebecca Beeson to play more that next step in the chain.

Next up, Martin.

Martin is a really versatile player, having played across all three lines so far in her career. In the past few years GWS has become a side that likes variety in the positions its players can play, which is right up Martin’s alley.

However, as a rotating midfielder/forward is perhaps where she can be the biggest help to the Giants.

Zarlie Goldsworthy is arguably GWS’ most important player, and plays so well in both the midfield and the forward line that GWS really need to clone her so she can play in both areas at the same time.

This is where Martin would come into play, where she can play in a rotational role with Goldsworthy. They have similar strengths to their game, so it would make perfect sense.

Now it may only be the first iteration of a fully national draft and these players have not played a game for their new teams yet, but what happened last week does set a good precedent for the effects of the national draft and the positive things that are hopefully to come for those from Western Sydney.

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