L-R: Anne Hatchard, Jesse Wardlaw, Jas Garner. Pictures: AFL Photos
WHILE a lot is always made of the top draft picks, sometimes teams hit gold further down the order.
Most of these draft bargains came from the very first draft in 2016 when 145 local footballers were plucked from the suburbs, placed into AFL environments and transformed into semi-professional athletes.
AFLW recruiters have also had the added complexity of state-based drafts, which until recently have meant that players were able to nominate which part of Australia they were drafted to. For example a player who nominated South Australia would only be available to be selected by Adelaide, and more recently Port Adelaide.
Ahead of the 2025 Telstra AFLW Draft, we take a look back at the top 10 draft bargains since the competition began.
1. Jasmine Garner – pick no.86, 2016 (Collingwood)
In the inaugural season of AFLW, Melbourne-based clubs (Carlton, Collingwood, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs) all passed on one of the competition’s greatest players 10 times. That’s right, 10 times!
Garner’s name wasn’t read out until the 11th round of selections, taken at pick no.86 in the 2016 draft by Collingwood.
Carlton, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs will forever rue their decision to pass on the now 31-year-old, who has gone on to become one of the game’s strongest and most reliable players.
After spending two seasons and playing 14 games at Collingwood, Garner moved to expansion club North Melbourne where her career has flourished.
The North Melbourne captain has one of the best resumes in women’s footy:
- Eight-time All-Australian
- Three-time All-Australian captain
- Five-time club best and fairest winner
- 2024 and 2025 premiership player
- Best-on-ground in the 2024 AFLW Grand Final
- Three time AFL Coaches Association player of the year
Her best-on-ground performance in last year’s Grand Final win was the pinnacle of her career to date, but you can’t help feel like there’s still plenty more to come for Garner.
2. Anne Hatchard – pick no.87, 2016 (Adelaide)
Anne Hatchard was taken with the pick after Garner in the 2016 draft, finding herself at Adelaide with the club’s 11th pick.
Since then, Hatchard has gone on to play ten seasons, 102 games and has featured in three premiership-winning sides.
It was really the 2019 season that elevated Hatchard into one of the best performers in the game.
In her third season, the hard running midfielder earned her first All-Australian selection, something she has now done four times.
Hatchard is a three-time club best and fairest winner, and was named best on ground in the 2022 Grand Final.
She’s now a Gold Coast player after an off-season trade, but if there were a reworking of the 2016 draft, you’d suggest the Crows would have taken Hatchard behind former teammate and partner-in-crime Ebony Marinoff, who went with the club’s first pick at no.7.
3. Sarah Allan – pick no. 122, 2016 (Adelaide)
Another Crow to be taken late in the 2016 draft, Sarah Allan was picked up by Adelaide with its 16th selection, the Crows’ third-last pick of that draft.
Since draft day, Allan has gone on to play 95 games and has become one of the competition’s most reliable defenders.
Allan has been selected in the All-Australian team on three occasions (2020, 2021, 2022 (S6)) and has three premiership medals.
Not only did Adelaide select a great player with pick no.122, they got a future leader, with Allan now co-captaining the Crows alongside Ebony Marinoff.
4. Cora Staunton – pick no.47, 2017 (Greater Western Sydney)
Greater Western Sydney coach Alan McConnell was before his time when he ventured overseas in search of AFLW talent back in 2017, well before the influx of Irish players we have in the game today.
McConnell enlisted the services of the AFLW’s first international player, a 36-year-old Gaelic football champion from County Mayo in Ireland.
Staunton joined the Giants in 2018 with the third-last pick in the draft and went on to play 50 games in the orange and charcoal.
The Irishwoman won the club’s leading goal-kicker award on four occasions, and as a 40-year-old she became the third player in AFLW history to reach 50 goals.
Staunton’s name will forever be synonymous with the Giants, and she will go down in history as the first Irish player to embark on their AFLW journey down under.
5. Kirsty Lamb – pick no.138, 2016 (Western Bulldogs)
The Bulldogs recognised a diamond in the rough when they selected Kirsty Lamb with the 138th pick in the 2016 draft.
Lamb is a no-frills, contested possession beast, who plays with her heart on her sleeve and was an ever reliable sidekick to Bulldogs’ star Ellie Blackburn during her time at the Dogs.
Lamb had a breakout season in 2022 where she was selected in the All-Australian team, won her first club best and fairest award and the AFLPA’s Most Courageous award.
Respected by her peers, Lamby was named the Bulldogs Players’ Player three years in a row, highlighting the impact the gutsy mid had at Whitten Oval.
At the end of the 2023 season, Lamb was involved in a huge trade deal involving 11 clubs which saw the 2018 premiership player head to Port Adelaide where her uncle Paul Rizonico played 102 SANFL games for Port Adelaide.
6. Jesse Wardlaw – pick no.61, 2018 (Brisbane)
With its sixth and final pick in the 2018 draft, Brisbane took a punt on a young key forward from Coorparoo in Jesse Wardlaw.
Selected as an 18-year-old, Wardlaw came of age in the 2020 season where she was Brisbane’s leading goal-kicker, and went on to feature in the Lions’ maiden premiership in 2021.
Season seven, 2022, was arguably the key forward’s best, where Wardlaw took home the competition’s leading goal-kicker award and made the All-Australian side.
Wardlaw made the move to St Kilda in 2023 where she has spent the past three seasons, winning the Saints’ leading goal-kicker award in 2024.
7. Tilly Lucas-Rodd – pick no.99, 2016 (Carlton)
Lucas-Rodd’s career has gone from strength to strength since they were selected by Carlton with pick no.99 in the inaugural draft.
The utility has played three seasons at three three clubs – starting at the Blues, moving to the Saints and then at Hawthorn – and will be at Greater Western Sydney in 2026.
Lucas-Rodd was delisted by the Blues at the end of the 2019 season, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as they were then picked up by newcomers St Kilda heading into 2020. Lucas-Rodd blossomed at the Saints, where they were selected as co-vice captain in 2020 and 2021.
The now-29-year-old was named as the Hawks’ inaugural captain for their first two seasons, and last year Lucas-Rodd was named in the All-Australian team for the first time.
8. Dana Hooker – pick no.130, 2016 (Fremantle)
Dana Hooker exploded into the AFLW after being selected with Pick 130, Fremantle’s 17th pick in the inaugural draft.
Remarkably, Hooker had just given birth to her first child, daughter Alice, three months prior. The new mum went on to star in her first season, winning Fremantle’s best and fairest award.
In her second and third seasons she was named in consecutive All-Australian teams and, in 2020, Hooker was one of the first players to join crosstown rivals West Coast.
Hooker won the Eagles’ first club champion award, meaning that she had won best and fairests gongs at both Western Australian clubs in their inaugural seasons.
The 34-year-old sat out the 2024 season as she was pregnant with her second child, but Hooker was back in the blue and gold in 2025 for one more season before announcing her retirement.
9. Chelsea Biddell – pick no.102, 2019 (Adelaide)
Chelsea Biddell was taken with the final selection in the 2019 draft, pick no.102, the eighth draft pick for Adelaide.
After initially playing as a key forward, Biddell excelled when she was placed into defence, earning All-Australian selection in 2022 (S7), 2023 and 2024.
Biddell has played 76 games in her seven seasons, and at 2y years of age, the 2021 premiership player still has plenty more to come.
10. Amy McDonald – pick no.80, 2019 (Geelong)
Geelong absolutely nailed their draft selection when they picked VFLW player Amy McDonald with pick no.80 in the 2019 draft.
McDonald took her game to a new level in her second season, where the ball magnet averaged 19 disposals and seven tackles a game.
McDonald won a hat-trick of club best and fairest awards, and was named in the All-Australian team in season seven, 2022.
Other notable draft steals
Other selections worth noting that were unlucky to miss out include Ruby Schleicher (pick no.138, 2016 – Collingwood), Rebecca Privetelli (pick no.142, 2016 – Carlton) and Eilish Sheerin (pick no.58, 2018 – Richmond).
