MONDAY night's Telstra AFLW Draft signified a changing of the guard.

Of the 60 players picked across the course of the evening, just eight overage players were selected, making up just 13.3 per cent of the draft.

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That is the lowest rate of overage selections in the AFLW's draft history.

For the first time in 10 drafts, clubs dove head-first toward the young talent coming through pathways across the country as the long-term building blocks of their lists.

*excludes the 2023 Supplementary draft

At pick No.31, Paige Scott was the earliest overage selection, and this was only after a trade deal fell apart a week earlier. The only other non 2006-born players selected were delisted Gold Coast midfielder Alana Gee, who found a new home at St Kilda, Sydney recruits Sarah Steele-Park and Caitlin Reid, Geelong ruck depth Piper Dunlop, Irishwoman Amy Gavin Mangan who was picked up by North Melbourne, and star VFLW ruck Keeley Hardingham, who was added by the Western Bulldogs.

Every other player taken was born in 2006. This shift toward teenage talent also coincided with the first truly national draft, and the fact that expansion is now well and truly in the rear-view mirror.

During the most recent expansion phase, various clubs were given early access to some of the best young talent across Australia. In 2023 Darcie Davies was signed to Gold Coast six months before the December draft, as was Matilda Scholz to Port Adelaide.

Meanwhile, the four most recent expansion sides – Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Sydney – were given early access to some top-end draft talent from their catchment zones on the eve of the 2023 draft.

These players being snagged before the 2023 draft took place certainly impacted the age breakdown last year. No such exceptions were given in 2024, so as the draft morphed into the purest form ever seen in the AFLW, the intent to prioritise the new generation of talent was clear.

Another aspect of this look to youth has been the recent introduction of Academy bidding. Gold Coast and Brisbane have benefited most from their Academy products to date, after clubs had the opportunity to match bids on their own players from 2023 onward.

In the 2023 draft, Brisbane matched bids to get access to its Academy players Evie Long (pick No.15) and Indiana Williams (pick No.27), while also drafting Sophie Peters, Jacinta Baldwick and Rania Crozier from the pipeline.

This year it was Gold Coast which cashed in. At pick No.2 the Suns nabbed Havana Harris, matched a bid on Mia Salisbury at No.29, and then added Heidi Talbot, Nyalli Milne and Tara Harrington from their own Academy system.

All of this, the shift toward youth and now-established pipelines, is evidence that patience is paying off. The patience to let pathways, and the talent they are producing, to build.

And the impact will be felt across the country in just a few months' time.