The GIANTS' AFL Women's team to take on Melbourne in round one of the second NAB AFLW competition has been named with nine new faces and seven debutants.
With a near-full squad to choose from, new coach Alan McConnell has backed in his recruits for the clash at Casey Fields on Saturday afternoon.
In the recent off-season the GIANTS brought 14 new players into their squad of 30, with nine to feature in Saturday's game. Seven GIANTS will be making their AFL Women's debuts when the siren sounds at 5:05pm in the second game of the 2018 AFLW season.
Meet the new faces of our AFL Women’s team
The club's Director of Coaching, McConnell has taken charge of the AFLW program for the first time and is finding plenty of differences after coaching men for more than 30 years.
"It’s the same game but when it’s with women it’s different," he said.
"There’s more tears, there’s more cheers. I’ve learnt that not all the tears are necessarily my fault; it’s been a fabulous learning experience and I’m incredibly excited about what might come in the next few weeks."
Newly-named vice-captain and former Collingwood star Alicia Eva will line up in the orange and charcoal for the first time in a midfield that includes South Australian recruit Courtney Gum and the debut of familiar face Renee Forth.
Forth joined the GIANTS over two years ago as one of the club's marquee players but a serious knee injury in 2016 kept her sidelined for the inaugural season.
The GIANTS' defence will be bolstered by Diamond Creek VFLW captain Tanya Hetherington, who has already been named in the club's leadership group. Also featuring in the backline is Wanderers W-League co-captain Ellie Brush who has opted to represent the GIANTS this weekend.
At full forward is Gaelic football legend Cora Staunton, who is renowned in her home country of Ireland for winning four All-Ireland Finals, three Ladies' National Football League titles and being named an All Star on ten occasions.
In addition to playing Gaelic football, Staunton has also played three other football codes at a senior level and first touched an Australian football the day before she was drafted in a training session at the GIANTS’ headquarters.
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The five-person bench is entirely made up of brand new faces including former Demons Maddie Boyd and Pepa Randall - who is also making her AFLW debut - and Carlton recruit Rebecca Privitelli.
Rounding out the bench are code-swappers Elle Bennetts and Jodie Hicks. Bennetts is a netballer who was vice-captain of Vic Fury in the Australian National League and played her first-ever game of AFL in a practice match a fortnight ago.
Jodie Hicks - the club’s first selection in the 2017 NAB AFLW Draft - will also make her debut, juggling training for the upcoming season with representing the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL.
It’s a big week for Hicks who will join her Sixers teammates in Adelaide on Friday for their WBBL semi-final before heading to Melbourne to play for the GIANTS.
The notable absentee is Emma Swanson who is recovering from a foot injury and will miss the opening round, but is expected to be in contention for round two.
The GIANTS will take on Melbourne at Casey Fields at 5:05pm on Saturday with coverage on Fox Footy or live streaming at AFL.com.au. Entry is free to all AFLW matches this season.
