EDENHOPE’S Laura McDonald is known for many things.
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She is the older sister of Sacha McDonald, a state representative netball player.
She is also the sister of brothers Tom and Oscar McDonald, who play for Melbourne Football Club.
A state netball player herself, McDonald is no stranger to athletic success.
But soon, she could be making an unexpected name for herself across the AFL world.
The 21-year-old was one of 60 lucky elite athletes with backgrounds in sports other than football, to attend the AFL’s latest talent search on July 16.
While McDonald hasn’t had the playing experience of a usual AFL draftee, she has spent a great deal of her life in and around the game.
She saw the dreams of her brothers, Tom and Oscar, become reality when they were drafted to the same AFL club with the same pick, number 53.
With the launch of the women’s AFL set for February 2017, there is now a chance for players from the Wimmera like McDonald to make it in the AFL.
The draft specifics are yet to be announced but clubs do have the opportunity to rookie list athletes with little, or no, football background.
McDonald told foxfooty.com.au her brothers were excited to hear the news.
“When my older brother Tom found out he was very excited. He thought it would be cool to have the first sister-brother trio,” she said.
“If I ended up doing football I wouldn’t mind where I went, but going to Melbourne would be almost too good to be true. It would be very special.”
McDonald told foxfooty.com.au she loved netball but said the AFL would be hard to resist.
“AFL has been known to be such a professional sport within Australia,” she said.
“There’s such a high level in terms of training, playing, the whole culture around it. So I think it’s something exciting. Something new and something different.”
AFL Victoria Country Wimmera football development manager Jason Muldoon said players like McDonald could certainly secure a place in the AFL.
“Obviously it’s exciting. We don’t currently know what girls are out there and who can actually play the game, because they’ve never been given the opportunity,” Muldoon said.
“Overseas recruits are a good example of athletes picking up AFL quickly.
“Girls coming off a netball background who are athletic, that’s the biggest component we need.
“We can teach them how to handball, they can get better at reading the game.
“You can’t coach someone to run.
“There’s the controllable and the uncontrollable.
“It’s now about transferring the increased general interest and putting actual feet on the ground.”