The first ever Hawthorn women’s side has been announced, with 23 players named for the historic Round 1 clash against Essendon this Sunday at Windy Hill.

New AFLW recruits Sarah Perkins, Meg Hutchins, Phoebe McWilliams and Pepa Randall headline the squad, while Emma Mackie will line up for her first game as captain. 

Several familiar names from Box Hill’s 2017 line up will also player under the Hawthorn banner for the first time, including Vice Captain Tamara Luke and former captain Mel Kuys. 

According to VFLW Football Operations Manager Briana Harvey, the playing group is eager to put their structures to the test after a long pre-season.

“We’ve been building towards Round 1 for a long time now,” Harvey said.

“Hawthorn has had a longer pre-season than any other VFLW team with the girls training together since October. 

“We showed what the squad is capable of with some strong practice match wins and, after fine tuning our structures across the last fortnight, the girls are keen to test themselves against the rest of the competition.” 

The Hawks’ VFLW match committee, including Senior Coach Paddy Hill, was given the difficult task of narrowing the squad of 50 down to the 23 names set to represent the club in its inaugural hit out.

“There was plenty of competition for spots this week, particularly with the points system in place,” Harvey said.

“But we’re confident in the 23 girls selected, and we know they’ll do the Hawthorn name proud come Sunday.”

Read: Hawthorn women's leadership group announced 

ROUND 1 VFLW TEAM
Essendon v Hawthorn
Windy Hill
Sunday 6 May, 1pm 

VFLW team selections must adhere to the player points system to ensure equalisation across the league. Each club has designated points per game to divide among its 23 named players, with AFLW-listed players (who have played at least three games in the season prior) assuming the most points (6).