THE 2026 AFLW Preseason Draft on Monday, May 4 represents one last chance for those who missed out last October to hear their name called. Across the country, players who previously nominated for the AFLW Draft but missed out will be hoping for a recall.

Western Australia has quite a number of players in the conversation. We’ve highlighted five prospects stand out as players AFLW clubs should be weighing up, each with a different story for why they’re still available, and each with a compelling case for why that should change on May 4.

Jaime Henry (Swan Districts)
Inside Midfielder | 176cm | 05/10/2005

Where else do you start? Henry is the best player in the WAFLW this season – not really going out on a limb either – and the full case for her selection is laid out in detail here. But in summary, she is averaging 35.4 disposals, 9.6 tackles and 5.8 clearances through five rounds while being specifically tagged most weeks, and her physical transformation since missing the 2023 AFLW Draft is among the most documented and verifiable in the women’s game.

She dropped 10 kilograms, shaved nearly two minutes off her 2km time-trial, and has gone from a peak metres-per-minute of 95.95 in 2025 to a floor of 115.68 in 2026. The explosiveness out of the stoppage remains the one honest knock, but a player averaging 35 disposals with a tag on her does not need to be first away from the contest. She needs to be on a list.

Why she was overlooked: Speed and endurance concerns were real in 2023. She had the footballing ability but not yet the physical platform to support it at the next level.

Why she’s a chance now: Every physical and on-field metric has been transformed. The data is not a flicker — it is a trend that has been running for two years and shows no sign of stopping.

Sienna Gerardi (Swan Districts)
Small Forward | 164cm | 16/10/2007

There are quick players in the AFLW Draft crop, and then there is Gerardi. The dual-sport athlete – who has split her footballing career alongside a serious basketball pathway, with WNBA College ambitions still very much alive – might be the fastest player available. Not in terms of testing data, which does not fully capture her because she was battling illness at the State Draft Combine, but in terms of what you see with your eyes on the football field.

When Gerardi looks like she is at top speed, she finds another gear and breaks clear. That combination of explosive pace and agility has been refined on both the court and the field, and the football ability that sits underneath the athleticism is genuinely impressive.

She is a smart forward with clean hands at ground level, natural goal sense and the ability to trick opponents with little dagger passes and clever handballs in tight. The knocks are real — consistency has been tested by basketball commitments and injury interruptions, goalkicking accuracy is an area to improve, and her lighter frame means strength is a work in progress. She averaged 12.1 disposals, 2.3 marks and 2.5 tackles in her top-age WAFLW season across eight games.

Why she was overlooked: Interrupted top-age season through basketball commitments and injury, limited WAFLW exposure relative to other candidates, and the dual-sport risk factor.

Why she’s a chance now: Pure athletic tools — particularly explosive speed and agility — are elite-level, and the football craft is real. A club willing to take a chance on upside has a very compelling case here.

Juliet Kelly (Claremont)
Midfielder | 171cm | 28/07/2007

Kelly is one of those players that is difficult to place in the draft but impossible to leave out of the conversation. She is not necessarily flashy or burn opponents over 20 metres. But she does virtually everything else at a level that makes her one of the most reliable and valuable midfielders in the WAFLW, and in 2026, she has taken it up another notch again, averaging 26.6 disposals, 2.8 marks and 7.8 tackles through five rounds for Claremont.

The endurance base is elite. Kelly represented Australia at Under 19s level in rowing and has previously smashed the field in the yo-yo test at WAFLW Preseason Testing. She broke the WAFLW all-time disposal record with 48 touches against East Perth in Round 8 of 2025. Her clean hands and toughness around the contest are consistent features – she is a handball-leaning midfielder who weights passes beautifully and times the release to perfection, drawing opponents before finding a teammate in space.

The ongoing question is leg speed. Kelly does not have the burst to break away from the contest, and her kicking efficiency can let her down when she does go by foot. But she mitigates both by playing to her strengths – first-possession winning, defensive pressure, handball connection – and her tagging ability was on display in the 2024 WAFLW grand final when she did a commendable job on Zippy Fish despite the speed differential between the two. There only needs to be one club willing to see the substance underneath.

Why she was overlooked: Lack of explosive speed in a draft pool that consistently prioritises it, and kicking efficiency that was still developing at the time.

Why she’s a chance now: Averaging 26.6 disposals and 7.8 tackles per game in 2026 while Claremont sit 4-1 on the ladder. The output is undeniable, the endurance is elite, and the football smarts are as good as anyone in the competition.

Lucy Greenwood (East Perth)
Small Forward | 163cm | 23/03/2007

Of the five players in this piece, Greenwood might be the one whose natural talent level is most obviously AFLW standard. She is a naturally gifted small who can impact in the air, at ground level or with ball in hand, and who has the football smarts and agility to manufacture scoring chances out of nothing. She was named in the AFLW Under 18 All-Australian team in 2024, won East Perth’s best and fairest and goalkicking in her WAFLW debut season that same year, and represented Western Australia at both the Under 17 and Under 18 Championships.

The question mark that has followed Greenwood into her over-age year is consistency, driven in large part by endurance. She impacts in bursts – when she is on, she is one of the most exciting players on the field – but the ability to sustain that output across four quarters has been an area to develop. A 2025 WAFLW season interrupted by injury did not help her build the continuity she needed in her top-age year.

Through the first portion of the 2026 season she has shown the quality that has always made her so tantalising, with her agility, goal sense and skills with ball in hand all on display when she finds the ball. At 163cm she will need to continue building strength, but her defensive pressure has improved and she is competitive.

Why she was overlooked: Inconsistency in her top-age year, driven largely by endurance and an injury-interrupted WAFLW season, left clubs uncertain. The talent was never in doubt.

Why she’s a chance now: A full pre-season and a healthy run of games gives Greenwood the continuity she lacked in 2025. When she is at her best, she is as naturally gifted as any small forward in this draft cycle — and a club willing to invest in developing her engine will get a player with genuine AFLW ceiling.

Isabella Shannon (Perth)
Midfielder | 177cm | 30/06/2001

Shannon’s story is unlike any other in this group, and perhaps unlike any other in the entire Preseason Draft pool. She is not an over-ager who missed her chance – she is a former AFLW player who focused on studies, travelled interstate and has come back as good as she has ever been.

Shannon came through the Dandenong Stingrays and Vic Country pathway before being drafted to St Kilda, where she played 17 AFLW games across the 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons. At that point, she made the deliberate decision relocate to Tasmania in 2023 and essentially went off the football radar entirely. It was not a career that faded out – it was a conscious choice by a person who knew what she wanted from life and pursued it.

What has happened since her move to Perth ahead of the 2025 season has been the quiet re-emergence of a player who was always good enough. The Perth co-captain is averaging 27.6 disposals, 5.2 marks and 5.0 tackles through five rounds of the 2026 WAFLW season, and the numbers do not fully capture what she brings. Shannon is a classy, clean ball-user – a 177cm midfielder with the skills and football intelligence of someone who has played at the highest level before. She finds the ball constantly, uses it well by hand and foot, and provides a level of composure and leadership that has made her the Demons’ most consistent performer across two seasons in a young club still finding its identity.

Why she was overlooked: After focusing on her studies, clubs gave Shannon extra time to find her form against at WAFLW level and has only got better over the last 18 months.

Why she’s a chance now: Averaging 27.6 disposals and 5.0 tackles per game, with 17 AFLW games already on her record and the ball-use quality of a polished senior player. Any club in need of an experienced, classy midfielder who can contribute immediately should have her name at the top of the Preseason Draft shortlist.

FINAL WORD

Western Australia has produced a rich seam of over-age talent in the past, and the five players above represent a spread of profiles — the dominant ball-winner who has transformed her physical game, the explosive dual-sport athlete with elite upside, the relentless endurance-based midfielder, the naturally gifted small forward with ceiling to unlock, and the former AFLW player who took a step back on own terms and has come back better for it. Each has a different story for why May 4 matters. Each deserves to have it answered.