AFLW draft 2025: WA Football female talent manager Trent Cooper confident draft success will continue

WA Football female talent manager Trent Cooper is confident the state’s record national AFLW draft picks will not be a one-off, as he praised the readiness and development of the next wave of young stars. 10 players from seven WAFLW clubs heard their names called out on draft night, including Subiaco forward Olivia Wolmarans, who Richmond pounced upon with the number one pick. Peel product Evie Cowcher — someone Cooper considered could be a rising star contender in her first season — and Mia Russo also went in the top 20 to Geelong and West Coast Eagles, respectively. It matched the number of WA players taken in the women’s draft across the past two seasons, and Cooper said improved development at the lower levels of the game meant the current crop were ready-made for the AFLW system. “Their skills are better, because they’re kicking the ball and handling the ball from a younger age; that’s one noticeable improvement,” he said. “And then the footy IQ, your Renee Morgan’s (pick no.43 to Geelong) and Olivia Crane’s (pick no.30 to Port Adelaide), they’re absolute students of the game. “They take in a lot of footy, watch a lot of male and female (football), and then they can take that knowledge out onto the ground. “That wasn’t there 10 years ago, probably even five years ago — even at AFLW level, let alone the juniors coming through.” From a physical perspective, the former Fremantle AFLW head coach said the current draft crop had recognised the standards required when it came to running capacity. “It’s been a big thing that we’ve preached of where they need to get to with their 2km time-trials and the GPS in-game,” Cooper said. “Initially, there was a reluctance with a lot of the athletes, but this group’s been one that’s just embraced that and worked really hard at that part of their game.” And Cooper is bullish about the talent that will be draft-eligible in 2027 and 2028, while also predicting the top-end of talent emerging from WA in 2026 would be strong. “Next year, we’ve got a few top-enders that are in the National Academy: Lexi Strachan, Cara Dziegielewski and Mia Carlhausen, and there are a lot of other ones who we might consider 50-50, so hopefully they can get to the level and step up,” he said. Cooper said he was delighted to see WA reach double-digits, and they could have even had more with Juliet Kelly and Lucy Greenwood unlucky not to go. But he also admitted the class exceeded expectations in terms of how many were picked up. “I thought at the top end, it was (a good class), yes. I probably didn’t really identify the depth,” he said. “You need the talent, and that was really obvious from when they were in the 16s coming through, with Cowcher, Wolmaran, Mia Russo. “But the group worked really hard together and really pushed each other over those three years, and that’s what has brought on the likes of Maya Louvel-Finn (pick no.60 to St Kilda), Ava Stewart (pick no.63 to Adelaide) and Alicia Blizard (pick no.39 to Adelaide) as well. “That’s been the key to getting so many, how well the work the group pushed each other through those pre-season programs to get better, and that stood them in good stead.”