ST KILDA is set to welcome its second ever father-daughter recruit after committing to Caitlin Matthews at Wednesday's NAB AFLW Draft.
The daughter of Dean Matthews, who played one senior game for the Saints in 1995, she is a 172cm defender who has been plying her trade with the Oakleigh Chargers for the last three years and featured in the Vic Metro side in the recent under-18 Championships.
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Under current father-daughter rules, a prospective player's father only needs to have played one senior game in order to be eligible.
Matthews will officially join the Saints via the draft, where the club will use one of its picks to land the defender.
"We're really pleased to commit to Caitlin and have her officially join us as a Saint next week," St Kilda head of AFLW Tessie McManus said.
"Caitlin is a promising young talent who will add a great deal to our backline in the seasons to come and will sit comfortably within our core of developing talent. While Caitlin comes to us as a father-daughter selection, we look forward to seeing her carve her own path while in red, white and black."
Matthews joins experienced players Clara Fitzpatrick, Grace Kelly, Erin McKinnon and Nicola Stevens in arriving at the Saints this off-season.
Matthews follows in the footsteps of Alice Burke who played 13 games after making her debut in 2021. She is the daughter of club great and current Western Bulldogs coach Nathan.
