MELBOURNE women’s coach Mick Stinear provides an update on all 30 players in the lead-up to the 2018 NAB AFL Women’s competition. Be sure to check back each day over the festive/New Year season, as we present the 2018 squad alphabetically …

Kate Hore

Kate was our first pre-listed rookie. She comes from a basketball background and played a handful of games with the St Kilda Sharks in the VFLW. Kate’s been brilliant – she put a lot of time in and had a few months overseas in the middle of the year and when she came back, she put a lot of time into her game. Kate’s got herself fit and ready for AFLW and her fundamentals continue to improve. At the moment, she’s positioning herself to become our most dangerous forward, so we’re really looking forward to seeing Kate once the games come around. I love the work she’s doing on the track at the moment.

Emma Humphries

She had the off-season back home in Tasmania. Emma really put some time into her game – both her fundamentals and conditioning. She’s had a great start to the program and has returned home for the break to see her family. Emma will be back ready to go in January and she’s determined to be a key part of our midfield brigade.

Bianca Jakobsson

Bianca joined us from Carlton during the NAB AFL trade and signing period. She’s had a great start to our program and she’s another one who has put some work into her fundamentals in the VFLW season. Bianca’s has adjusted to our program and game style and the Torquay pre-Christmas camp was a real turning point for her, in terms of her on-field game play. She looks to be shaping up as a key part of our defence, and she reads the play ball really well and helps set up our offence. We’re looking forward to her being in the red and blue in 2018.

Ainslie Kemp

Kempy had an injury in the VFL season, which stopped her from playing at the backend of the year. She was fit and ready to go, but just had a little hamstring setback. Ainslie’s now back in the group and is fitter, faster and stronger than she’s been. Kempy’s determined to be a key part of our forward line and she’s very competitive in the air and on the ground. I love her development as a person and as a player. Note: Just before the Christmas break, Ainslie injured her ACL. Unfortunately she will miss the 2018 AFLW season. This is disappointing for Ainslie given the amount of work she has invested in her development. We look forward to her working diligently in rehab and setting her sights on the 2019 AFLW Season.

Sarah Lampard

Lampy had a really strong year in the VFLW for the VU Western Spurs. She’s put a lot of time into her conditioning and her fundamentals in the off-season. Lampy had a setback with a virus at the start of our training, but she’s hit her straps at the moment. Sarah’s a great communicator and a great leader, and has genuine care for her teammates. She looks like a really versatile player for us. As we saw in season one, she’s a really good rebounding defender and she’ll be one that’s looking forward to the action of game time.