GABBY Newton is the third consecutive school captain to go at No.1 in the NAB AFLW Draft, following in the footsteps of Isabel Huntington and Nina Morrison.

The new Western Bulldog is a leader at Greensborough College, and has already achieved an early entry to a bachelor of science at La Trobe Uni.

She's confident, bubbly and a footy nut, who at 175cm prefers to play as a tall midfielder but is equally adept at either end of the ground.

Newton's elite skills give her the ability to quickly stamp her dominance on the game, using her vision to bring teammates into the game and set up scoring chains.

She's got strong hands overhead and runs hard to provide a marking target up the ground and on the wing.

The 18-year-old has a string of impressive accolades: a premiership captain with NAB League side Northern Knights, dual under-18 All Australian nods and two years in the NAB AFLW Academy. 

EVERY CLUB, EVERY PICK Who your club selected at the 2019 NAB AFLW Draft

Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury has been a hero of the mad Magpie supporter growing up. Like him, Newton has been involved in high-level basketball for most of her life, making various underage state sides.

She knows what sport is her focus, for the moment at least.

"The choice has been made. (Football's) the choice and that's the focus for now," Newton said.

She had been playing football with the boys up until the under-13s, when she was no longer allowed to, and basketball filled the breach in the meantime.

Her time out of footy ended in 2017 when she joined the Knights in the first season of the under-18s competition and not being able to play the sport made her appreciate it even more.

"It just made me realise how much I love football and it just made me that much more passionate to get back," Newton said.

Newton has the ability to have an immediate impact at AFLW level, having quickly found her feet playing several games for Carlton in the VFLW in the second half of this year.

While it's very difficult to replace a player of Katie Brennan's standing, who left the Bulldogs to join expansion club Richmond, Newton will go some way to filling that hole in the long term.

Exams are coming up for Newton but her studying will be on hold for a little while.

"I think I'll probably be celebrating a little bit and then hitting the books tomorrow," Newton said.