West Australian AFLW draft prospects Molly O’Hehir and Tiani Teakle primed for first fully national draft

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West *********** AFLW draft prospects Molly O’Hehir and Tiani Teakle primed for first fully national draft

Tiani Teakle is on the cusp of joining the greatest group chat in West *********** football.

It is an exclusive Whatsapp group reserved for AFL and AFLW footballers from the tiny town of Northampton in the State’s Mid West, and already boasts names like Fremantle great Paul Hasleby, West Coast premiership heroes Daniel Chick, Jamie Cripps and Josh Kennedy, and two-time Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps.

Teakle’s sister Julia, who plays for Port Adelaide, and cousin Brynn, a ruckman at North Melbourne, have already been added.

Now, the latest Teakle is set for her call-up, with East Fremantle young **** Tiani poised to become the latest product of one of the country’s most famous footy factory at this month’s AFLW draft.

“I can disclose there is a little Whatsapp group. Jules got added in a couple years ago,” Teakle joked on The West ***********’s Dubya podcast.

“I think it is pretty cool for her to be in there along with a couple of big names like Daniel Chick, Jamie Cripps, Patty Cripps and Josh Kennedy.

“There is a really great community up there and there’s always this little thing that there’s a bit of lead in the water.”

Camera IconTeakle running during State testing. Credit: Matt Jelonek/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Teakle was one of seven WA players invited to attend the State testing, while some of WA’s most promising talents, like her teammate Zippy Fish, went through their paces at the national combine.

“It was definitely a bit stressful… but it was good,” she said.

“We had the couple of training (sessions) for a few weeks after the National Academy which I think really helped, and was a bit of an advantage compared to some other clubs.

“We had jumps, agility and sprints and then the main event the two kilometre (time trial) which I think everyone gets a bit nervous for, so it was just such a relief once you get to tick it off.”

The draft has this year for the first time moved to a fully national model, where players from across Australia are eligible to be picked up by any club.

South Fremantle prospect Molly O’Hehir, who could be drafted as high as the top five on December 16, feels it is a step forward for women’s football.

“I think the national draft just shows how far women’s footy has come,” she said.

Camera IconMolly O’Hehir. Credit: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

“It’s really exciting that now it’s pretty much the same process as the boys – they’ve got draft over in Melbourne and now we do too. It’s really cool to see how far women’s footy has come.”

O’Hehir was one of five WA ****** to be invited to the national testing, which was held at the MCG.

“It was like nothing I’d ever really done before… we got to just hang out at the MCG all day for three days,” she said.

The Bulldogs midfielder opened up on the probing questions asked by clubs as part of their assessments of players.

“They know they can bring you in and make you fitter, but they can’t make you much of a better person than you already are,” O’Hehir said.

Camera IconMolly O’Hehir. Credit: Sports Imagery Australia/TheWest

“I think some of the questions were really wacky, they would ask you to ranked the top five in this year’s draft and they would ask you if you were the best.

“It’s so stressful because you want to show you confident, but you also want to show that you’re humble and I hate talking about myself, and ranking anyone.

“Even just things like rate your awareness out of 10, what you think you’re good at, what think you’re not good at.

“It was pretty cool and they were really long days. You’d test and then you’d have interviews all day too, so when you’d have a break we would go exploring the MCG.”

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