MYSTERY surrounds just who the Western Bulldogs will take with the No.1 pick in Tuesday's NAB AFLW Draft in Melbourne.

Northern Knights midfielder/forward Gabby Newton has long been touted as a possible first selection, but a very strong year from Calder Cannons winger Georgia Patrikios – who was named player of the NAB AFLW under-18 championships – has pushed her into contention.

>>The 2019 NAB AFL Women's Draft will be live streamed on womens.afl, the AFLW App and the AFLW Facebook account from 10.40am AEDT on October 22.

Geelong Falcons utility Lucy McEvoy (pictured) has bolted into the top three after nominating the Melbourne metro portion of the draft, after being previously expected to choose Geelong.

Carlton follows the Dogs with pick No.2, while St Kilda is the lucky beneficiary of McEvoy's decision, able to select the remainder of the trio with pick No.5 (the third Melbourne metro selection in the state-based draft).

The Blues have the near-impossible task of replacing skipper Brianna Davey, who crossed to Collingwood over the off-season, with the big-bodied McEvoy the closest fit (albeit several years behind in development).

Gabby Newton in action for Vic Metro during the U18 Championships in July

Brisbane has pick No.3, with small midfielder and Queensland skipper Lily Postlethwaite one of a few players the Lions would be weighing up with their early selection.

WHAT PICKS DOES YOUR CLUB HAVE? Full draft order revealed

Greater Western Sydney (No.4) has shown a tendency to draft older and also re-select previously delisted players, and Tait Mackrill could find her way back onto the Giants' list after a strong winter, while defender Georgia Garnett is the best of the under-18s from New South Wales.

Melbourne doesn't enter the draft until pick No.54, after trading away its first and third-rounder for Libby Birch. Its second-rounder was conceded when it retained Casey Sherriff – Daisy Pearce's maternity replacement – upon Pearce's return.

It'll also be a long wait for Collingwood, which gave up a huge haul of picks for the services of Davey. The Pies' first selection is at pick No.67.

New clubs Gold Coast (pick No.18), Richmond (6), St Kilda (5) and West Coast (19) will all have their first ever draft selections ahead of their entry to the AFLW in 2020.

THE BASICS

  • There will be 14 AFLW clubs in 2020, with Gold Coast, Richmond, St Kilda and West Coast joining existing clubs Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Geelong, GWS, Melbourne, North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs
  • In all, there are 102 live draft selections. Clubs have the option to not use its final pick and filling the list spot with an undrafted free agent at the end of the draft
  • Millie Brown (Geelong) and Isabella Grant (Western Bulldogs) have already been guaranteed a list spot as father-daughter selections, with the picks used on the pair to be named during the draft
  • Grace Egan (Carlton), Sophie McDonald (West Coast) and Richmond trio Laura Bailey, Kate Dempsey and Alana Woodward have all already been selected as academy nominated players
  • Due to the part-time nature of the competition, players can nominate the region where they wish to be drafted
  • Tasmania is aligned with North Melbourne, while Victoria is divided into three draft categories – Victoria (all eight clubs), Melbourne metro (seven clubs minus Geelong) and solely Geelong
  • Queensland is also split into two zones between Brisbane and Gold Coast, with players able to nominate their zone of residence or the entire state
  • The draft order was decided by the reverse of the 2019 ladder, with changes made through trades and additional picks granted to the new clubs to help with their list builds. Compensation picks were also given to some clubs who lost players to expansion sides