“STOKED” was a common word used between new Greater Western Sydney (GWS) recruits Scarlett Johnson and Kiera Yerbury in the immediate aftermath of being drafted. Selected with picks two and three respectively, the pair are both extremely keen to add to the club’s young talent.

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Having previously been pegged as a pick one contender to Richmond, Johnson found out she would be making the move interstate at around 2pm yesterday afternoon, and didn’t have to wait much longer for her name to be called out.

“At the end of the day I just wanted to end up on an AFLW list, it didn’t matter if it was pick one,” Johnson said. I didn’t really try to read into too much of the stuff going around in the media, I just went with the flow.

“I’m super open to moving interstate, obviously it’s a National Draft and Sydney seems like a great place to go. I’ve never been to Sydney before but I’m excited to get started at GWS.

“I just think they play a great brand of footy. It’s such a young team as well so I feel like it’ll be great playing with such a young team.”

A genuine utility with terrific athleticism and skill, Johnson is looking forward to a potential wing link-up with fellow dasher Sara Howley. The 175cm prospect models her aerial game on the likes of Tayla Harris and Ella Roberts, with that being her main weapon in each third of the ground.

She’ll also be linking up with Yerbury, a 173cm midfielder-forward with explosive speed and a competitive edge.

“It’ll be great to build a connection with Kiera. She seems like a lovely girl, I played against her a few times so I’m super excited to get to know her and get to know all the team,” Johnson said.

Yerbury’s colour-swap to the Giants is more unique than most, given she is an academy product of cross-town rival, Sydney. With plenty of talented teammates coming through the ranks, the Swans opted against moving to retain Yerbury – something the 18-year-old had thought about.

“I kind of had an idea,” she said. “I knew that with the academy this year we had quite a lot of good players that were going to come through. So I kind of had an idea that if things happen, they might not fall the way I expected. But at the end of the day I’m just stoked to be a Giant.”

Unlike Johnson, Yerbury is already well established in Sydney and won’t have to uproot much of her life to make the shift into charcoal and orange. Despite shifting allegiances, she’ll remain very much at home.

“Obviously not having to move from home is nice, living in Sydney still,” she said. “The Swans have done so much for me, they’ve shaped who I am as a person and as a player today so I can’t thank them enough for that. But absolutely stoked to be on the orange team, I think it’ll be a great experience and I’m looking forward to playing with the people over there.”

Yerbury was one of nine northern academy graduates selected within the first round of this year’s draft, with teammates Alex Neyland (pick six) and Madeleine Quinn (18) landing at the Swans.

“I think it’s awesome,” Yerbury said. “It shows that [football] is definitely a bigger sport than just Victoria… I’m glad that I can play my part in that, but I think it’s a great opportunity for people from other states to make their mark in footy.

“The academies are just super important. They also bring about awareness around footy, which is super important up in the northern states where it’s not just a common sport… it’s such a great resource to have so I’m super grateful for them.”

Watch the full interviews with Johnson and Yerbury below.