A quartet of up and coming Peel Thunderbirds youth girls took to Melbourne’s Whitten Oval to showcase their skills in a curtain-raiser to the AFL women’s all-star match on Saturday.
Fresh off a third consecutive premiership win and a second consecutive undefeated season, Sabreena Duffy, Kate Bartlett, Courtney Hodder and Ebonee Hardie represented the Peel region on the national stage in the match.
Peel Thunderbirds league coach Mark Fenton said the girls displayed the potential of the Peel region’s impact on women’s football.
“It’s absolutely fantastic to see the local girls out there playing footy at such a high level – we’re extremely proud,” he said.
“To have Peel Thunderbirds make up nearly 10 per cent of the entire amount of players out there shows how far ahead the region is in women’s football.”
Fenton said the quarter was a small part of the overall talent being developed in Peel.
“We had 14 of our youth girls play for the state at some level this season and many of them weren’t far off making it in,” he said.
“The game is developing rapidly so to have Peel contributing to it so much is a great thing.”
Fenton lauded the girls for their approach to women’s football.
“All four of them have put up a bunch of individual accolades and achievements this season and they’ll be playing in the league team next year,” he said.
“League football is a big adjustment but the four of them are so dedicated to footy and are immaculate in their preparation, so we’re confident they will adapt quickly.”
Bartlett, Hodder and Duffy were all selected to the all-Australian side after the curtain-raiser, which recognises the best 22 youth girls in the country.
The women’s all-star match between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs was a ratings smash, delivering bumper television ratings with an average of 746,000 viewers tuning in nationally.
The exhibition match, which was broadcast live by Channel Seven, peaked at 1.05 million viewers.
It was the largest overall average audience in Melbourne of any game (men’s or women’s) during the 2016 home and away season.
Two Peel Thunderbirds products played in the all-stars match, with Emma Swanson and Sabrina Frederick-Traub donning Melbourne jerseys.
Both were selected as marquee players for the inaugural women’s AFL season in 2017. Frederick-Traub was drafted to Brisbane while Swanson will play for Greater Western Sydney.
Justin Rake
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
