COLLINGWOOD has been granted compensation for injuries and losing players to expansion clubs in the form of pre-selecting two players ahead of the NAB AFL Women's Draft on October 23.
Sophie Alexander and Erica Fowler, who both played for the Magpies’ VFLW side this year, will join the AFLW list with picks 29 and 70 respectively.
Fowler, 26, is expected to line up as a key forward and aid Eliza Hynes in the ruck, given she stands at 180 centimetres.
Alexander, a former basketballer, is a talented forward who was named on the interchange bench of the VFLW team of the year at the conclusion of the 2018 season.
Collingwood has lost 2018 NAB AFLW Rising Star winner and club best and fairest Chloe Molloy to a serious right foot injury, with experienced midfielder Mel Kuys expected to be sidelined for quite some time due to a left Achilles injury.
They also lost Moana Hope, Emma King, Jess Duffin, Jasmine Garner (to North Melbourne), Christina Bernardi (Greater Western Sydney) and Amelia Barden (Carlton) during the trade and re-signing period. Bree White and Caitlyn Edwards retired.
In all, the Magpies lost eight of the top 10 of their best and fairest due to players leaving and injuries.
The AFL's head of women's football Nicole Livingstone said compensation was given to Collingwood due to the impact of these list changes.
"Further support was considered and granted to Collingwood given the changes to their list over the past five months," Livingstone said.
"We are working closely with all AFLW clubs to ensure we have a balanced competition as we are expanding to 10 teams and managing the impact of player injuries over the off-season."
Alexander was pre-selected with pick 29 in the same bidding system to the father-daughter rule.
Another club made a bid on her, meaning Collingwood had to match that bid with its next available pick (29).
Meanwhile, Carlton has officially made Abbie McKay the AFLW competition's first father-daughter signing.
McKay is the daughter of Andrew, who played 244 games for the Blues and recently finished as the club's general manager of football operations.
The 18-year-old midfielder has impressed as a junior, representing Vic Metro and being invited to last week’s NAB AFLW Draft Combine.
The father-daughter rules state if a club nominates a player, other clubs have an opportunity to bid on her.
The nominating club, in this case Carlton, must match that bid with its next available pick.
Multiple clubs placed bids on McKay during the available window, which closed on Friday afternoon, with Carlton choosing to match the bids with its second-round selection, pick 16.
On the chance no clubs choose to bid on a father-daughter selection, the original club can draft the player with its lowest pick.
