ON MONDAY the AFLW will host its first ever pre-season draft.

It is a new system instigated to somewhat regulate replacement signings, instead of the scattershot approach of previous years where clubs could sign replacements for retired or inactive players at any time throughout the preseason.

Instead, those with available picks including Hawthorn, Gold Coast, St Kilda, and West Coast will converge to complete their lists for 2026.

And while there has never been a preseason draft in the AFLW before, there has been one draft that equates – the 2023 Supplementary Draft.

26 players were taken that day, and amongst them, some diamonds were unearthed from the rough. So, who were the five best finds in that supplementary draft?

Ruby Tripodi (North Melbourne)

Plucked from Williamstown’s VFLW program, Tripodi arguably had the toughest task on her hands of any player selected that evening: breaking into the most stable team in the competition. But not only did Tripodi achieve that, she has now won two premierships from her 38 career games, with an average win rate of 92.1 per cent. She has progressed to an important midfield role since starting as a forward, and finished in the top 10 of the club’s best and fairest in the last two seasons.

Meara Girvan (Gold Coast)

Since joining the Suns as one of two of the club’s picks at the supplementary draft, Girvan has established herself as one of the competition's

premier interceptors. In each of her three seasons, she has finished either first or second at the Suns for intercepts, and has had two top 10 finishes in the club’s best and fairest count.  Girvan is part of the Suns’ leadership group, and will offer some important experience and calm as the club welcomes a host of youth direct from its Academy this year.

Mattea Breed (Hawthorn/Collingwood)

It’s easy to forget just how influential Breed was on Hawthorn’s surge up the ladder in 2024 given her absence via a knee injury last year. Now at Collingwood, Breed’s 20 career games have shown her capacity to bring strength and size around the contest, while also possessing an enviable ability to impact in the air. The Pies will be keen to get Breed up and running for the 2026 season to offer some on-field flexibility such is her range of skill.

Maddie Hendrie (Carlton)

Initially drafted by Carlton as a utility, given Hendrie’s 180cm and capacity to run, it was only once she established her role down back that fans really understood just why the Blues targeted her in the 2023 draft. As the club’s biggest improver in 2025, Hendrie finished equal-fourth in its best and fairest count, and became a crucial part of its newly reworked defensive system. So highly rated is Hendrie that the Blues extended her contract to the end of 2027 in October.

Poppy Boltz (Brisbane/Greater Western Sydney)

Poppy Boltz was living the dream, drafted to Brisbane in April of 2023, by December she had won a premiership. She immediately established herself in the Lions’ defensive line thanks to her height, and remained part of that staunch line for the club’s push to yet another Grand Final in 2024. More recently, with designs on impacting higher up the field, Boltz has made the move to the Giants where she will no doubt be hoping to bring her winning ways to Sydney’s west.

The AFLW pre-season draft will be streamed exclusively on AFL.com.au on Monday, May 4.