At the beginning of the 2019 season, Hawthorn’s VFLW side welcomed 10 new recruits to the club.
Some recruits are already making a considerable impact on the game, others are still proving themselves on the track, waiting for their moment to debut.
As the team heads into its Round 7 match against the Southern Saints on Saturday, coach Paddy Hill has provided an update on each recruit.
Talia Radan
“I suppose after losing Kim Ebb from our Grand Final team we were really after a tall imposing defender. Talia is strong, has good foot skills and plenty of experience being an Adelaide premiership player. She’s really fitting in and going well.”
Jordan Membrey
“Jordan is a quality person who has invested a lot of time into her own development. She’s a half forward, knows where the goals are, makes good use of the footy and uses her body well.”
Georgia Bevan
“We haven’t seen much of Georgia yet, but is a tough inside mid and a real team player.”
Maddi Shaw
“Maddi is developing really nicely. She is our first recruit out of Gippsland and has played three games now as the 23rd player. She's likely to have a spell for a few weeks going forward, but certainly hasn't looked out of place in our backline. She has pretty good skills, is very composed and really uses the footy.”
Brooke Stuylaart
“Brooke is probably one of the best kicks in our team. She was a star junior and has lost her way a little bit over the last couple of years. We’re just trying to really get that form back, get her loving footy again and put that confidence back in her play. She can use the footy like no one else in our team.”
Kirby Bentley
“Kirby has been a real star of women’s footy. A really high draft pick and I think she might have even been priority selection for Fremantle. She has good foot skills and brings a bit of magic. Just a little bit off on touch at the moment but that’s coming with each week and she looked pretty good on the weekend.”
Serena Gibbs
“Gibbs has only played eight or nine games of footy, but is so exciting on the track. She's a modern day footballer in that she can run, kick, mark and do it all. She comes from a netball background and looks really exciting.”
Laura McClelland
“Laura was a star junior and was really good last year at NAB level. She went off to do some volunteer work overseas and missed out on the carnival but would've made it anyway. A really exciting half forward, again, knows where the goals are. She’s just got that real natural instinct of how to kick a goal and can play through the midfield as well.
Tayah Kelly
“She wasn’t known to us early because there was a mix up in the system. We didn’t know she existed for a fair while until we were searching for another player and we saw her highlights and sort of said ‘Where has this girl been?’. She's been really impressive on the track and looks like she’s ready to go now but she's still got school footy, so we’ll wait a few weeks and debut her then.”
Ebony Wroe
“Eb was a quality junior and went to the Hallam Sports Academy’s AFL program, but has had work over the last couple of years. She’s fitted in really nicely to our team and is another really good use of the footy. She kicks the footy as good as most people I've coached, comes off half back and will only get better and better each game.”
