Australian Football Association of North America

 Congratulations to the Brisbane Lions!

Winners of the 2023 AFLW Grand Final

North Melbourne: 1.0  2.2  4.3  4.3 (27)
Brisbane:        0.0  2.1  3.2  7.2 (44)

Goals
North Melbourne: Garner 2, Shierlaw, O'loughlin
Brisbane:        Davidson 2, Hampson 2, Mullins, O'dwyer, Koenen

Best
North Melbourne: Garner, M. King, Riddell, Rennie, Kearney
Brisbane:        Koenen, Dawes, Anderson, Grider, Hodder

Injuries
North Melbourne: Bruton (achilles)
Brisbane:        Conway (head Knock)

Best On Ground Medal: Breanna Koenen
Attendance:  12,616 at Icon Park in Melbourne

The 2023 draft was held just days before our November holiday. Ahead of the draft itself, clubs were allowed to trade draft selections. Most of the clubs took advantage of the opportunity to strengthen their drafting possibilities or to select a player they were keen to have. As always, it is club by club in alphabetical order so readers can scroll to the clubs of their interest. The preseason and rookie drafts were held just after the main draft and are included here.

THE DRAFT

DRAFT DAY TRADES

Trades completed during the 2023 AFL Draft:

1. St Kilda gets pick 42. Melbourne gets a future third round selection.
2. Brisbane - pick 24, Gold Coast - picks 30, 51, 54, and 65
3. St Kilda - pick 27, Gold Coast - picks 40 and 42
4. Fremantle -pick 38, Gold Coast picks 46, 60 and 63
5. Adelaide - picks 8 and 17, GWS - picks 11, 15 and a future second
6. Essendon - pick 10, Geelong - picks 11 and 31
7. GWS - pick 17, St Kilda - pick 18 and a future second
8. Brisbane - pick 51, Gold Coast - a future fourth
9. Fremantle - pick 35 , Richmond - pick 38 and a future third
10. West Coast gets pick 38. Richmond pick 40 and a future third
11. Port Adelaide - pick 48, North Melbourne - a future fourth
12. St Kilda - pick 50, GWS - a future third
13. Port Adelaide - pick 52, Hawthorn - a future fourth
14. Sydney - pick 53, Hawthorn - pick 59 and a future fourth
15. Essendon - pick 54. Richmond - a future fourth

The first number is the draft selection followed the player name, (junior club), age (years old), height (in centimeters and then in feet and inches, weight (when available) in kilograms and then pounds, position, and player profile.

The AFL released its 2024 schedule on Thursday, 16^th November, although some details were revealed in the days prior. A new feature is a four-game Opening Round in early March to promote Aussie Rules in NSW and Queensland. Sydney Swans will host the season opener against Melbourne at Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday night, 7^th March. It will only be the second time in AFL history that the first game of the season is played in the Harbour City (the first time was 2012). The following night (Friday 8^th March) sees Brisbane facing Carlton at The Gabba in a rematch of this year's preliminary final. On Saturday, 9^th March, Gold Coast will host Richmond in late afternoon, pitting new coach Damien Hardwick against his former club for the first time. The game will also mark the senior coaching debut of new Tigers coach Adem Yze. It will be followed by a Saturday night game between GWS and Collingwood in another preliminary final rematch. The eight teams involved in Opening Round will have a bye at some point between Round 2 and Round 6, meaning all 18 clubs will have played the same number of games by the start of Round 7. All clubs will have a bye across the four weeks between Rounds 12 and 15.

A full Round 1, featuring all 18 clubs, will kick off on Thursday, 14^th March with the traditional Carlton v Richmond game at the MCG.

Hawthorn has delisted Chad Wingard and Copper Stephens but will redraft them as rookies in the upcoming draft. Wingard has played 218 games across his 12-year career and is currently working through rehab for a serious achilleas injury sustained earlier this year. Stephens joined the Hawks through the 2022 trade period after spending three seasons with Geelong where he played seven games in his final year. The changes will allow the club to utilize all selections acquired prior and during the recent trade period. 

Source: Jake Keating, Hawthorn Media Release

The past week provided yet more delistings and retirements. The Western Bulldogs delisted Hayden Crozier and Roarke Smith. Port Adelaide delisted Orazio Fantasia, Sam Hayes, and Jake Pasini while Scott Lycett has retired. Sam Naismith has found his way back into the AFL at Richmond.

Lycett, a former Port Adelaide SANFL player, was drafted by West Coast in 2010 and played 75 games for the Eagles, including the 2018 premiership. At the end of 2018, he moved to Port as a free agent and played a further 71 games. Port Coach Ken Hinkley said, "Scott has been an outstanding contributor for two clubs ... He was an incredible workhorse for our club during the last five seasons and was totally focused on putting his teammates first. As a former Port Adelaide junior, Scott was Port Adelaide through and through.