10 Dragons nominate for AFLW Draft

10 Dragons have nominated for the 2021 NAB AFLW Draft to be held on Tuesday night.

Charlotte Anderson, Ebony Angelopoulos, Matilda Mottram, Charli Murphy, Charlotte Ryan, Chloe Saultry, Kitty Smyth, Pia Staltari, Emma Stuber and Abby Thompson will be hoping that their name is called on Tuesday night, allowing them to take the next step in their football journey.  

The draft will be broadcast on the Women’s AFL website and on the AFLW app, from 6.45pm AEST.

Ryan, Saultry and Staltari all represented Vic Metro in the 2021 under 19s national carnival, which was ultimately impeded by COVID-19 complications, while Angelopoulos was the club’s leading goalkicker this year with 10 majors.  

Ryan and Staltari also represented the Southern Saints in their VFLW Finals campaign, along with Stuber.

Away from the NAB League, Angelopoulos, Murphy and Ryan represent East Sandringham, Mottram and Smyth, St Kilda City, Stuber, Oakleigh, Staltari and Saultry, St Bede’s Mentone, and Anderson, Mordialloc-Braeside, all in the SMJFL, while Thompson can be found in the VAFA playing for Caulfield Grammarians.

Due to the AFLW not being a full-time competition, players are given the opportunity to nominate the state that they wish to be drafted to. This is an effort to minimize disruption in their professional lives, should their AFLW commitments interfere with their full-time or part-time occupation away from football.

All Dragons nominees have chosen Victoria as their nominated state, except for Staltari, who has chosen Western Australia, where she lived until late in her teenage years.     

The Gold Coast Suns will select first, having finished at the bottom of the AFLW ladder for season 2021. The full order can be found here.