Tuesday, 22 October 2019:
The Western Bulldogs will kick off the 2019 AFLW draft on Tuesday, with three top Victorian players in contention for the No.1 pick.
The Bulldogs obtained the first pick when Monique Conti was traded to expansion club Richmond, and they hold four of the first seven Victorian selections.
Carlton, Brisbane, GWS and St Kilda round out the official top five - though non-Victorian clubs effectively have their own drafts, as due to the competition's part-time nature, players nominate for region-specific drafts.
Gabby Newton, Georgia Patrikios and Lucy McEvoy are widely seen as the top three players available in Victoria and McEvoy, who is from Geelong, added an extra level of intrigue to the draft when she nominated for the Melbourne metropolitan region.
In Victoria, players can nominate for all eight Victorian clubs, including Geelong, for Geelong specifically or the Melbourne metropolitan region - which excludes the Cats.
Tasmania is aligned with North Melbourne while Queensland is split into two zones between Brisbane and Gold Coast, with players able to nominate their zone of residence or the entire state.
There are now 14 clubs in the AFLW, following the addition of Richmond, West Coast, Gold Coast and St Kilda, but the first round has 18 selections, due to expansion compensation picks.
The Bulldogs and Cats will draft Isabella Grant (daughter of Chris) and Millie Brown (daughter of Paul), respectively, as father-daughter picks, with the selections to be confirmed on draft day after both clubs matched bids for their players.
