NEW BLUE Lucy McEvoy has revealed the club's persuasive ploy that helped sway her to be eligible to be drafted by Carlton.
One of the top junior prospects in the country after being named the Under-18 All Australian captain, the onballer had played with the Geelong Falcons.
The part-time nature of the NAB AFL Women's competition means Victorians have three choices when they nominate for the draft: the Geelong zone, the Melbourne metro zone (any Victorian team except the Cats) or to be eligible for any Victorian club.
Given her ties to the Geelong area, McEvoy shocked most when she chose the Melbourne metro region.
It was a move made at least in part to make studying next year easier, but one smart piece of recruiting before she made her decision helped the Blues land her at pick No.2.
"They were pretty keen since I first met them, so I was quietly hoping that I'd end up at the Bluebaggers," McEvoy said.
"They even did a Photoshop (image) at one of the house visits of me in a Carlton jumper and I thought 'Aww, that looks pretty good', so I'm super happy."
McEvoy is a cousin of Hawthorn premiership ruckman Ben McEvoy.
"We don't really get to see each other too much but certainly at Christmases and family functions, we always have a bit of a chat," McEvoy said.
Meanwhile, Fremantle opted for the athletic Roxanne Roux at No.12.
For the strong-marking forward, this is a dream years in the making, from before the advent of the AFLW competition in 2017.
"It was probably only about three years ago when the actual competition came in but AFL has always been a big dream for me," Roux said.
"My mother and I, when we lived up in Dongara, my mum turned to me and said 'We're going to make you the first woman to play AFL' which obviously is probably not something that could have really happened, but it was what I wanted, and it was really just a dream of mine."
At pick No.3, Brisbane landed well-rounded midfielder Lily Postlethwaite, from Maroochydore.
She will be joined by Isabel Dawes, who is from the same area and was selected by the Lions at No.15.
"Bel's one of my best mates so it's really good to be here together with her and experience it with her," Postlethwaite said.
Greater Western Sydney used the fourth selection on Maggie Gorham. The skilful forward played soccer until she was about 12, but has found footy more to her liking.
"(It was) more social and the team was a bit more up my alley. Everyone just seems to get along more in AFL. I'm not really sure why but it was just more of a team environment," Gorham said.
Reigning premier Adelaide opted for Montana McKinnon at pick No.14.
Her contested marking prowess saw her named as the starting ruck in the 2019 SANFL Women's Team of the Year.
She knows it will be difficult breaking into the strong Crows side, but McKinnon is up for the challenge.
"It's definitely going to be a really big challenge for me. I'm going to push myself to try and get a game for round one but I think having such a good, talented bunch of girls is going to push me further," McKinnon said.
