Elsie Lange
Eighteen-year-old Calder Cannons star defender Abbey McDonald will don the white and navy blue for Geelong following last night’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.
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.”
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.
The defender was also named in the NAB League Girls team of the year on the half-back flank.
More jewels in the 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.
Woodley is described by the Bulldogs as having “burst onto the scene at this year’s AFLW under-18 championships, catching the eyes of recruiters with her evasiveness and athleticism forward of the ball”.
The 17-year-old – who suffered an injury in the opening round of the 2022 NAB League Girls season only returning to action in round seven – said the news was “very unexpected”.
“I was sitting on the couch, with all my family around me, some really good friends,” Woodley said.
“I heard it, and we were all just looking at each other like, ‘Oh my god, what has just happened’.”
Woodley was surprised to be picked so early, and was stoked with the outcome – especially being chosen for the Bulldogs.
“Whether it was the last, a high pick or a low pick, I don’t care at all. I’m just very grateful for the opportunity,” she said.
The teen is on the cusp of her final year of school and is keen to participate in the AFLW’s system to help out with year 12.
“I’ll just be training with them, and obviously getting a lot of background support to finish my VCE and continue doing that,” she said.
Her plan is to have a gap year before heading to university to study “something around sports management”.
Local support flowed in for the picks on the Cannons’ social media, messages of congratulations in abundance.
