With pre-season kicking off, Melbourne has recruited injury replacement player Laela Ebert to complete its 2025 AFLW list.

Hailing from South Australia, the 19-year-old has been regarded as one of the state’s top talents, having recently won the best-on-ground medal for the SANFLW State team in defeating the WAFLW at Adelaide Oval.

Ebert is known for her high football IQ, clean hands, neat foot skills, and great vision, and is capable of having a real impact as a rebounding defender.

Ebert’s opportunity comes after injury to Jacinta Hose, who will remain on the inactive list for the upcoming season due to a back injury.

Undergoing back surgery earlier this week, Hose will remain closely connected to the club but will be unable to take to the field in 2025.

General Manager - AFLW, Marcus Wagner, praised the young ruck’s resilience and determination.

“Jacinta has had a run of bad luck from an injury perspective, but we couldn’t be more impressed by her maturity and resilience in facing every obstacle head-on,” Wagner said.

“She has diligently worked through her ACL rehab, and we have complete faith in her that she will be equally as professional in the way she recovers from this latest setback.”

Pleasingly, the club has offered Hose a contract extension, with the 19-year-old putting pen to paper to remain with the Dees until 2026.

“From what we’ve seen of Jacinta off the field and on the training track, we know that she’s the kind of person that we want involved in our club, and so it was an easy decision to allow her the time and space to recover while on our inactive list,” Wagner said.

“Jacinta is a generous and unselfish teammate with terrific potential, and we can’t wait to see what she can achieve with us once given the opportunity to complete her recovery.”

Cody Baker, Melbourne AFLW Recruiting Manager, was excited to explore the opportunities that recruiting a talent like Ebert presents.

“After the setback of missing out on the draft last year, Laela responded in exactly the right way, committed herself to the work, improved her football and returned as a more well-rounded player, which was really impressive from a 19-year-old,” Baker said. 

“Laela is someone with the right attitude to come in and add to the group dynamic straight away.

“She’s competitive, coachable, and really driven to get the best out of herself. We are really excited to see what she can do in an AFLW environment.”