Fremantle has compiled a strong team for the inaugural AFL Women’s season, according to the club’s first round draft pick (4) Hayley Miller.
 
Fremantle have three spots to fill on their list of 25, which includes the likes of Kara Donnellan, Ebony Antonio and Kirby Bentley, along with Miller and second round pick Brianna Green.
 
“It’s an amazing team. I’ve played with or against most of the girls that have been drafted,” Miller said.
 
“I know how most of them play and how good they are and I think we will be a strong team.”
 
The 20-year-old, who was at NAB Arena with coach Michelle Cowan for Wednesday’s draft, believes there are some hurdles for the women’s league to overcome.
 
“Getting over those people that don’t believe that women should be playing AFL,” she said.
 
“It will take a little bit of convincing for some people.”
 
But she said the coverage of the inaugural draft convinced her the public was excited for the new competition.
 
“The hype that happened with it and all the news outlets that have jumped on board to show the story, it’s really exciting that people do believe we can do this,” she said.
 
Miller will begin her fourth year of physiotherapy next year and said Curtin University had been quick to support her AFL dream.
 
“Curtin’s been really good with me and letting me have some flexibility,” she said.
 
“Hopefully, I will be able to have a couple of blocks of prac off so I won’t have to go to uni whilst I’m playing.”
 
Second round pick Green was surrounded by family when her name was called at the draft and said having them close made the wait more bearable.
 
“I was so glad to have them with them with me yesterday. I felt a lot more relaxed having them by my side,” she said.

Green's Draft family affair
 
“To go number two was very exciting and to have my family around me was just exceptional.”
 
Green started playing football in the youth girls league in Melbourne in 2010 before moving back to play for East Fremantle in 2011.
 
She believes the success of the televised exhibition game in September, which had more than one million viewers, was testament to the growth in the women’s game.
 
“It’s been great to be a part of the exhibition matches that have been happening in the past couple of years and it hit home last year when the first one was televised,” she said.
 
“To think over a million people watched us play shows that everyone wants to watch us play.”
 
Green, who is recovering from a sprained ankle and bursitis in her shoulder, echoed Miller’s comments about the quality of Fremantle’s list.
 
“They’re not only exceptional footballers but great people to be around,” she said.