Fremantle have revealed they have prised Matilda Banfield from her chosen sport of hockey and signed her as a rookie for the 2025 and 2026 AFLW seasons.
Banfield is considered a “Western Australian hockey gun” with the 19-year-old featuring in a number of Hockey Australia’s ‘Futures Squads’. She was also selected as a train-on for the Perth Thundersticks earlier this year.
Matilda obviously carries the same surname as her famous uncle, Drew Banfield, who is a two-time West Coast premiership champion and played more than 260 AFL games for the club between 1993 and 2006.
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Matilda is a highly rated endurance runner and Fremantle are confident they can transition her hockey skills to Australian Football.
Although she grew up playing hockey, she had a taste of football at school and through her family connections.
Her cousin Bailey, Drew’s son, was considered a draft prospect this year and has spent time training with West Coast, while his brother Charlie made an appearance at an Eagles training session this week.
Banfield — a No.1 draft pick back in 1992 — was the only player to win premierships for West Coast in two different centuries, appearing in both the 1994 and 2006 grand finals.
The Dockers say they will trial their new recruit across a number of positions this pre-season.
“We’ve identified a number of cross-code athletes throughout the year that we believe could transition into AFLW,” the club’s list manager Darryn Fry said.
“Tilly really stood out for us. She’s got a strong athletic profile, and she’s a high performing hockey player.
“She is an elite runner, whose physical testing through the hockey pathway has been at a high level, and we feel these assets will transfer to AFLW well.
“Tilly has showcased that she has the football fundamentals required of an AFLW player, and we’re really delighted we’re in a position to be able to bring in a rookie for the next two years to continue to enhance and grow within our environment.”
He said Matilda had a small taste of football in school and really enjoyed the competitiveness of the sport.
“She has amazing work ethic with a massive thirst to learn and improve,” he said.
“Tilly will get to work in understanding the structure of multiple roles and continue on her fundamentals development – we are very excited to see Tilly’s progression into AFLW.”
– With The West Australian
