PEEL Thunderbirds’ duo Emma Swanson and Kira Phillips will line up for the Melbourne Demons after getting their names called out for the third consecutive year in Monday night’s AFL Women’s Draft.
The local duo were two of 15 Western Australians to be selected by either Melbourne or the Western Bulldogs to compete in two AFL Women’s exhibition matches on May 24 at the MCG and August 16 at Etihad Stadium.
Swanson was selected with pick 10 and will represent the Demons for a third time.
Phillips, a forward, has represented the Bulldogs for the past two years but will play for the Demons after they trumped the Bulldogs by taking her at pick 20.
Swanson, who was one of four West Australians to be flown to Melbourne for the draft, said she was looking forward to playing at the top level again.
“I was hopeful they hadn’t made a mistake and flown someone over who wasn’t going to be drafted,” the 20-year-old said.
“It’s the highest level of women’s football you can play and I’ve been lucky enough to play two games.”
Swanson said it was always an exciting time leading up to the games.
“We will be flown over for a three-day camp in the lead up to the game where we get to know one another,” she said.
“Last year we got to spend a bit of time with the boys’ team, which was a good experience.”
Melbourne has won the first two encounters, and Swanson said they would look to win the two games again this year.
“The teams look pretty even after the draft. A few girls I played with last year are now at the Bulldogs,” she said.
Swanson said it was an exciting time for female football with AFL chief Gillon McLachlan coming out and saying he would like to see a national women’s competition introduced in 2017 rather than 2020.
“It’s definitely an exciting time,” she said.
Alison Moore, Western Australian Football Commission female high performance manager, congratulated all of the WA players selected and said she was delighted with the result.
“To have 15 players chosen again this year after 15 last year and 12 in 2013 shows that WA is consistently producing top female talent and is an industry leader in this area,” she said.
Female football is the fastest growing segment of the game in WA, with participation increasing by 78 per cent last year to now make up 18 per cent of total football participation.
