THE AFLW'S first Pre-Season Draft kicks off on Monday night from 7pm AEST, broadcast exclusively on AFL.com.au, womens.afl and the AFL and AFLW Live Apps.
A new mechanism for clubs to round out their lists, the draft will be held one week before pre-season begins on May 11.
The pre-season draft will replace the slew of injury replacement signings that occur in the lead up to pre-season, and the ability to have a full squad able to hit the ground running in May is vital.
Eleven players will be selected from a pool of players who nominated for the 2025 draft but were not picked up then. In previous years, injury replacement players have commonly been 19-year-olds who were just overlooked in the draft (e.g. likely to be selected if there were a further 10 picks) or top-rated state league players.
Clubs who will select players either have a list spot remaining from December's draft (Hawthorn and Gold Coast) or have had players either retire or been named inactive.
Players may be ruled out for the entirety of a season for several reasons, including injury, pregnancy, mental health or work commitments.
DRAFT ORDER
- Gold Coast
- Greater Western Sydney
- Essendon
- Western Bulldogs
- Fremantle
- West Coast
- St Kilda
- Hawthorn
- Melbourne
- Greater Western Sydney
- West Coast
