The Adelaide Football Club has strengthened its AFLW list with the signing of underage Australian netballer Maisie Nankivell as a rookie for the 2019 season.
Nankivell will balance netball and football in 2019, with the 18-year-old also recently selected as a train on player for the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
Crows General Manager Football Administration Phil Harper said the Club would work closely with Nankivell to allow her to continue to pursue both sports.
“Maisie is a tremendous athlete and we are confident she will transition to AFLW really well, she has put a lot of time and effort into her netball and we want her to continue to pursue her netball dreams, as well as taking some of her athletic qualities and putting them into football, ” Harper said.
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“The skills she has gained through netball complement her natural football ability. She is very competitive and we believe she will be able to support our team in multiple roles.
“Our high performance and development staff will work closely with the netball medical staff to best manage her training loads and time to ensure she can excel at both sports rather than have to make a choice.”
Maisie has represented South Australia in the Under 17 and Under 19s sides
Under AFLW competition rules, clubs must sign two rookies who have not played Australian Rules football competitively in the last three years or been involved in a high performance AFLW program.
On Thursday, the Crows announced the signing of Irish recruit Ailish Considine as a rookie.
Nankivell currently plays for Matrics in South Australia’s Premier League Netball Competition, has captained SA’s Under 17 and Under 19 State teams and is also an Under 19 Australian representative.
She also has a netball scholarship with the South Australian Sports Institute.
Hailing from Tatiara in South Australia’s south east, Nankivell played some football as a junior but had limited opportunities to progress a career in the sport and instead invested her time into netball.
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She arrived at West Lakes after being spotted by midfielder Ebony Marinoff playing in a school team and the new Crow said she was thankful for that chance meeting.
“I’m really excited for the opportunity to play football, as it was something that I considered when I was younger,” Nankivell said.
“It’s going to be a game of managing both sports, but I think the skills and qualities that I’ve learnt from netball will transfer quite nicely into footy.”
AFLW clubs can sign a total of 30 players for the 2019 season, with lists to be finalised following the draft on October 23.
The Crows have signed 24 players and currently have picks 8, 30, 37, 41, 48 and 53 in the draft.
Crows 2019 AFLW list (24):
Sarah Allan
Ailish Considine
Dayna Cox
Courtney Cramey
Angela Foley
Renee Forth
Anne Hatchard
Jasmyn Hewett
Eloise Jones
Sophie Li
Rheanne Lugg
Ebony Marinoff
Jenna McCormick
Rhiannon Metcalfe
Justine Mules
Maisie Nankivell
Sarah Perkins
Erin Phillips
Marijana Rajcic
Chelsea Randall
Sally Riley
Jess Sedunary
Stevie-Lee Thompson
Deni Varnhagen
