Havana Harris (left), Ash Centra (middle) and Molly O’Hehir make up the top three of this year’s AFLW draft. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
The worst-kept secret of the 2024 AFLW draft was confirmed on Monday night as Gippsland Power gun Ash Centra was taken with the No.1 pick by Collingwood.
Centra follows in the footsteps of established stars such as Gold Coast’s Charlie Rowbottom, Geelong’s Nina Morrison and Richmond’s Ellie McKenzie as the latest top draft selection.
And the Magpies have got themselves the exact kind of player that they need to help lift them off the bottom of the ladder as quickly as possible.
The wraps on the 18-year-old are enormous, with many pundits hailing Centra as possibly the best player to ever emerge from the pathway system.
And it’s not hard to understand why. There’s very little that the midfielder/forward cannot do out on the field.
With her ability to rack up disposals at will, exquisite vision, coolness under pressure and beautiful ball use, she is going to cause headaches for opposition sides for years to come.
She absolutely dominated for Gippsland this year, averaging 28 touches, four marks and four tackles a game while kicking 18 goals as well.
Hot on her heels at pick two was Gold Coast academy selection Havana Harris. Melbourne made an early bid for her services, but the Suns matched it for obvious reasons.
Harris is a key position player who can play at either end of the ground, is strongly built, has pace to burn and possesses a huge leap.
She was phenomenal this year for the Suns Academy and Queensland, averaging 26 possessions across both competitions to earn a second consecutive All-Australian jumper.
The Demons might’ve missed out on claiming her as their own, but they got themselves one hell of a consolation prize at pick three in the form of South Fremantle utility Molly O’Hehir.
Comfortable both on the ball and down back, the athletic O’Hehir is the complete package with tremendous footy IQ, and is a lethal weapon in front of the play as well as behind it. She averaged 19 touches for the Bulldogs this year and hardly wasted a possession.
Geelong Falcons midfielder Sara Howley and East Fremantle onballer Zippy Fish rounded out the top five after they were taken with the fourth and fifth picks by GWS and Sydney respectively.
Meanwhile, a couple of recycled players found new homes with former Bomber Paige Scott making her way to Richmond via pick 31, and Gold Coast’s Alana Gee was taken at selection 58 by St Kilda after missing the entire 2024 season due to an ACL injury.
There was a strong family connection at this year’s draft as well with Sophie McKay, daughter of Carlton AFL star Andrew, heading to the Blues to join sister, and new teammate, Abbie as a father-daughter selection at pick 17, and Collingwood taking Violet Patterson, daughter of former goalsneak Stephen, at No.42.
Sophie McKay wasn’t the only draftee to link up with her sibling, as Indi Strom, sister of Fremantle ruck Mim, joined the Dockers with the 51st selection, and the Blues ensured another pair of sisters would compete in the 2025 season as they recruited Poppy Scholz, sister of Port Adelaide star Matilda, with the sixth pick overall.
And India Rasheed, the daughter of renowned international tennis coach Roger, was selected at pick 13 by Adelaide.
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2024 AFLW DRAFT
ROUND 1
1. Collingwood – Ash Centra (Gippsland Power)
2. Gold Coast – Havana Harris (Bond University) [academy]
3. Melbourne – Molly O’Hehir (South Fremantle)
4. GWS – Sara Howley (Geelong Falcons)
5. Sydney – Zippy Fish (East Fremantle)
6. Carlton – Poppy Scholz (Glenelg)
7. West Coast – Lucia Painter (Bendigo Pioneers)
8. Western Bulldogs – Emma McDonald (Oakleigh Chargers)
9. Essendon – Grace Belloni (Eastern Ranges)
10. Geelong – Lexi Gregor (Bendigo Pioneers)
11. Richmond – Sierra Grieves (Western Jets)
12. Essendon – Holly Ridewood (Northern Knights)
13. Adelaide – India Rasheed (Sturt)
14. Fremantle – Georgie Brisbane (Eastern Ranges)
15. Hawthorn – Lavinia Cox (Bendigo Pioneers)
16. Brisbane – Claudia Wright (Claremont)
17. Carlton – Sophie McKay (Sandringham Dragons) [father-daughter]
18. Geelong – Sienna Tallariti (Oakleigh Chargers)
19. Port Adelaide – Lily Paterson (Swan Districts)
20. Richmond – Zoe Hargreaves (Northern Knights)
ROUND 2
21. Melbourne – Maggie Mahony (Oakleigh Chargers)
22. GWS – Grace Martin (Woodville-West Torrens)
23. Hawthorn – Daisy Flockart (Sandringham Dragons)
24. West Coast – Charlotte Riggs (Central District)
25. Western Bulldogs – Sarah Poustie (Oakleigh Chargers)
26. Collingwood – Georgia Knight (Eastern Ranges)
27. Gold Coast – Heidi Talbot (Bond University) [academy]
28. Hawthorn – Grace Baba (Eastern Ranges)
29. Gold Coast – Mia Salisbury (Bond University) [academy]
30. Essendon – Taya Chambers (East Fremantle)
31. Richmond – Paige Scott (Essendon)
32. St Kilda – Zoe Besanko (Dandenong Stingrays)
33. Port Adelaide – Jasmine Evans (Woodville-West Torrens)
34. Fremantle – Holly Egan (Murray Bushrangers)
35. Essendon – Sophie Strong (Tasmania Devils)
36. North Melbourne – Claire Mahony (GWV Rebels)
ROUND 3
37. Geelong – Piper Dunlop (Geelong VFLW)
38. Fremantle – Evie Parker (Eastern Ranges)
39. Brisbane – Lilly Baker (Brisbane Academy) [academy]
40. Port Adelaide – Jemma Whitington-Charity (North Adelaide)
41. Gold Coast – Nyalli Milne (Gold Coast Academy) [academy]
42. Collingwood – Violet Patterson (Glenelg) [father-daughter]
43. North Melbourne – Amy Gavin Mangan (County Offaly – GAA)
44. Adelaide – Georgia McKee (Central District)
45. Hawthorn – Elli Symonds (Dandenong Stingrays)
46. Carlton – Loulou Field (Western Jets)
47. Gold Coast – Tara Harrington (Gold Coast Academy) [academy]
48. Port Adelaide – Chloe Gaunt (Brisbane Academy)
49. Western Bulldogs – Keely Hardingham (Western Bulldogs VFLW)
50. Hawthorn – Rebecca Clottey (Geelong Falcons)
51. Fremantle – Indi Strom (South Fremantle)
52. Port Adelaide – Jasmine Sowden (Gippsland Power)
53. West Coast – Lucy Boyd (West Adelaide)
ROUND 4
54. Richmond – pass
55. St Kilda – Kyla Forbes (Calder Cannons)
56. Sydney – Amelia Martin (Sydney Academy) [academy]
57. West Coast – Kayla Dalgleish (Dandenong Stingrays)
58. St Kilda – Alana Gee (Gold Coast)
59. Essendon – pass
ROUND 5
60. Sydney – Caitlin Reid (Geelong VFLW) [academy]
ROUND 6
61. Sydney – Sarah Steele-Park (North Adelaide)
ROUND 7
62. Geelong – pass
63. Melbourne – Amelia Dethridge
