Elsie Lange
Calder Cannons star defender Abbey McDonald said she was “still in shock” after being picked by Geelong during Wednesday’s NAB AFLW draft.
The versatile player from Sunbury was the Cats’ final selection at pick 55, and will join the club for season seven.
McDonald, a Geelong fan, said she was just happy to be chosen, and “wasn’t expecting it at all”.
“I know mum’s happy as, she apparently yelled at the airport when she heard my name called out,” she said.
In a statement, the club said McDonald’s footy smarts means “she can be deployed right across the ground”.
“Abbey is a real competitor, and we love the way she plays,” Geelong’s head of women’s football, Brett Johnson, said.
“She defends first and is able to work off her opponent and contribute to our attack.”
Eighteen-year-old McDonald received congratulations from some big names too.
“I had [Patrick] Dangerfield and [Joel] Selwood message me,” McDonald said.
“That was a big shock and eye opener… it was just amazing.”
McDonald will join Geelong VFLW deputy vice-captain Mia Skinner (pick 33) and Northern Knights’ Brooke Plummer (pick 42) at the Cats.
Leading up to the draft, McDonald told Star Weekly the opportunity would “mean the world” as she’d been wanting to play high level football for years.
“I started playing football as I was always with a family full of boys who loved football and inspired me to start playing and it grew bigger over the years as I got older,” she said.
She’s been kicking career goals during her time at the Cannons – one of the team’s best this season – and was named in the AFL NAB Academy best under-18 plays heading into this year. She was named in the NAB League Girls team of the year on the half-back flank.
Other Cannons crown were picked up too, including forward/midfielder Heidi Woodley from Kilmore, welcomed to the Western Bulldogs at pick 37, and Tahlia Read at pick 85 for the Fremantle Dockers.
Local support flowed in for the picks on the Cannons’ social media, messages of congratulations in abundance.
