Former Geelong player and ex-netballer Erin Hoare is heading back to the Cattery after being taken as the No.1 pick in the AFLW supplementary draft on Tuesday night.
Hoare, 33, started her professional sporting career with the Melbourne Vixens in 2013 before heading to the NSW Swifts a year later, where she was primarily played as a goal shooter or in goal attack.
She then put her netball career on hold to focus on a research opportunity at Oxford University before coming back to Australia where Geelong’s Renee Garing put football on her radar.
Erin Hoare has enjoyed success inside and outside sport.Credit:Simon Schluter
Hoare played for Geelong in the 2017 VFL Women’s competition, before signing a rookie contract with Melbourne for the 2018 AFLW season. She then accepted an offer to return to Cats.
Already with a PhD, she stepped away after the 2019 season to continue her studies at Cambridge University, and had two kids during that time, a daughter Edie and son Connor.
At 194 centimetres, Hoare is the tallest player in the history of the league, and will provide Geelong with ruck support after Sam Gooden was moved to the inactive list having recently given birth.
Ex-Fremantle player Jasmin Stewart was taken at pick two by Port Adelaide, while Fremantle took Tahleah Mulder at pick three and Hawthorn took Mattea Breed with pick four.
Carlton took Lulu Beatty, which rounded out the top five draft picks.
The draft is a once-off supplementary and restricted to mature-age players who were born in 2004 or earlier. It features many of the same prospects as last year’s draft pool. This is because there were two AFLW seasons last year, as the league moved from a summer competition and extended the number of rounds played in the regular season. Those who were drafted in June played two months later for the August start and combined school and football rather than waiting until a January start date.
It is similar to the AFL’s mid-season rookie draft, given there are no new 18-year-olds added to the pool, and players born in 2005 will have to wait for the draft ahead of the 2023 season.
There are 529 players nominated for the supplementary draft, with 20 per cent electing to enter the national pool – instead of a nominated state pool – allowing them to be taken by any of the 18 clubs.
Not all clubs are participating in the draft, with some already having filled their lists in the trade and sign period.
Carlton and Fremantle held four picks, Western Bulldogs, Gold Coast and Port Adelaide had three, Collingwood, Hawthorn and GWS two and Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, North Melbourne, Richmond and St Kilda had one each.
Essendon, Melbourne, Sydney and West Coast aren’t participating.
Carlton captain Kerryn Peterson said adding fresh and driven talent to their list that may have been overlooked previously was an exciting prospect.
“I have no doubt that those players that have been overlooked or have that level of hunger when they come through that they want to make a good impression and contribute to what we’ve already got going,” Peterson said on Tuesday.
“I think any player that has an opportunity to come through and show what they’ve got in an environment like this is always an exciting thing.”
