Sandringham Dragons Female Talent Coordinator Jess Lewis gives her thoughts on the club’s upcoming U18 girls season.
2018 FINISH: 3rd (7-2 record)
2018 BEST AND FAIREST: Alice Burke
2018 TEAM OF THE YEAR SELECTIONS: Holly Bate, Eleanor Brown, Abbie McKay
2018 AFL WOMEN’S DRAFTEES: Eleanor Brown (Western Bulldogs), Abbie McKay (Carlton)
OTHER FORMER PLAYERS ON AFLW LISTS:
- Selected in 2017: Isabel Huntington (Western Bulldogs)
2019 AFLW ACADEMY:
- Level 1 (17yo): Alice Burke
2019 HEAD COACH: Tamara Hyett (second season)
2019 SEASON START: vs Geelong Falcons @ SkyBus Stadium, Sunday March 3 (CLICK HERE for full fixture)
TOP 2019 AFLW DRAFT PROSPECTS
Molly Denahy Maloney (local club – Port Melbourne): “Molly will be our key ruck this year. She’s shown solid improvement throughout her time with the Dragons and she has a great attitude too. When she’s out on the field she’s quite tough and aggressive, in a good way – we call her ‘Molly Monster’.”
Taylah Grasso (St Peters): “Taylah is tough and shows good aggression out on the field. She’ll also be one of our rucks as she has a bit of height about her, really good fitness and just a really good attitude on and off the field too.”
POTENTIAL DRAFT SURPRISE PACKETS
Marguerite Purcell (Caulfield Grammarians): “Margie gets the footy and just takes the game on head-first. It’s exciting to see her take on her opponent, break through in the middle and get the ball into our forward line pretty quickly. She’s handy playing on a wing with her speed, endurance and footy smarts.”
Emma Turner: “Emma has come into our squad as a 19-year-old from basketball. She doesn’t have much experience in football, but she’s showing really good potential. She’s very strong, very athletic and a really good role model on and off the field. She’ll play in the midfield and defence.”
17YO PLAYERS TO WATCH
Alice Burke (St Bedes Mentone): “Alice won our best-and-fairest last year as a 16-year-old when she was new to us from an elite soccer background. She has an ability to read the play, her endurance is incredible, and she has a really good attitude on and off the field. Her skills are improving out of sight as well.”
Isabella Eddey (Brighton Beach): “Bella has silky skills and is just really clean with the football – her nickname is ‘silk’, if that says anything. She’ll be a really strong draft contender next year.”
Sarah Hartwig (St Peters): “Sarah is one of our better players in defence and we usually put her at centre half back. She has strong hands, is really good at taking on her opponents and is clean with the footy. She has good football smarts, so she can read the play really well too.”
Elizabeth McNamara (East Malvern): “Elizabeth has absolutely elite endurance. She ran a time of 7:05 for our 2km time trial, which is noticeably faster than the best time at last year’s AFLW Draft Combine (Nina Morrison’s Combine record of 7:14). She’s really good at taking on the game with her run and is also one of our strongest tacklers.”
LEADERSHIP MATERIAL
“Molly Denahy Maloney (see above) will be our captain. She leads vocally and physically on and off the field. She sets high standards and is an all-round fantastic person. Gemma Strangio (18yo in 2019, St Peters) is our vice-captain and she always does the right thing by herself and by the playing group, while Alice Burke (see above) and Sophia Rothfield (18yo, Prahran) are also in the leadership group.”
Sandringham Dragons@Sandy_DragonsOur U18 Girls leadership group for season 2019 was announced earlier this week at training! Molly Denahy Maloney will captain the side, supported by her deputies in Gemma Strangio, Alice Burke & Soph Rothfield! We’re sure you’ll do us proud
FAMOUS FOOTBALL RELATIONS
Alice Burke (see above): Daughter of former AFL player Nathan Burke – 323 games for St Kilda.
Daisy Walker (17yo in 2019, Beaumaris): Sister of current AFL player Will Walker – four games for North Melbourne.
Tia Pastore (17yo, St Bedes Mentone): Daughter of former VFL/AFL player Tony Pastore – 189 games for Williamstown/one for Richmond.
TEAM STRENGTHS
“I think we’ve formed a really close bond as a playing group, so that’ll definitely hold us in good stead. Our fitness is one of our strengths, and also the girls’ ability to run with the football and take on the game head-first. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t at least match our result of last year.”
