Once the Covid lockdown ends in the Capital and ACT AFLW gets back on the road, there will likely be a special eye in the crowd watching.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Bec Goddard OAM is back in Canberra, after it was announced she would take on Hawthorn's head coaching job for their inaugural season in 2022/23.
Her advice to any players in the region looking to achieve their dreams of playing in the country's top league was to keep going.
"I was down at the AFL Canberra game Eastlake-Belconnen a couple of weeks ago and I saw a really, really good game. It was a very high scoring game with some quality skills," Goddard said.
"I'm actually back in Canberra working now and will be until I start that role back at Hawthorn, before the 2023 season. I look forward to watching a lot more football in Canberra before then."
MORE IN CANBERRA SPORT:
The AFLW is yet to release details on how the four new clubs - Hawthorn, Sydney Swans, Port Adelaide and Essendon - will build their roster next year.
However, Goddard said it would likely be a mixture of an allowance of existing players moving into the new sides and draft picks.
The ACT has had a steady crop of talent entering the AFLW draft and picking up clubs.
Canberra students Emily Pease and Tarni Evans were drafted to the GWS Giants in 2020.
And Queanbeyan Tigers prodigy, 17-year-old Cynthia Hamilton hoped her All-Australian under-19s selection this year would help launch her AFLW career in 2022, as she was adamant she was ready to step up to the next level.
Similarly her older sister Alexia Hamilton was drafted to the Gold Coast Suns with pick 38 in the 2019 draft.
There are six teams vying for the premiership in Canberra this year, with Ainslie Tricolours leading the competition with nine wins.
AFL Canberra sent out a short survey on Thursday to its clubs and is awaiting the responses from each club before making a decision about how the leagues will proceed.
Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
