Four Dandenong Stingrays and two Gippsland Power players have been included in the 2026 AFL/W Academies.
The Stingrays are the equal most-represented club in the AFLW Academy, with the following girls included: Alice Cunnington, Ruby Geurts and Sophie White.
All three girls were part of the U18s Vic Country squad in 2025.
Cunnington splits her time between football and netball and proved herself as a smooth-moving, strong-marking, athletic midfielder-forward across 14 Coates League games, kicking 25 goals.
Geurts is an athletic utility with x-factor while White showed excellent ruck craft through 15 Coates League and two Vic Country games and has plenty of upside.
Like the three girls, Szerszyn was part of the Vic Country squad in 2025 and impressed with his athleticism and ability to lockdown, while he played 13 games for the Stingrays off halfback.
Tall swingman Xavier Ladbrook and forward Wil Malady are the Power’s two representatives.
Ladbrook has shown upside as a mobile marking player across all thirds of the ground in 2025, while Malady impressed with a five-goal haul in the U17 National Futures game.
For the first time since 2018, the AFL Academy program will feature an overseas trip, with both the boys and girls programs to spend stints in New Zealand during December.
It is the first time the AFLW Academy will have travelled overseas.
The holistic Academy program combines football performance and personal growth in a high-performance environment by providing unique opportunities and learnings that differ from other football programs they are involved in.
Content is delivered across multiple football camps, with the 2026 program to commence with a high-performance camp at the New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport (NZCIS) in December.
The Wellington-based facility is the official training base of New Zealand Rugby, including the All Blacks and Super Rugby club the Hurricanes, along with A-League outfit the Wellington Phoenix.
It has also been visited by a host of international sporting organisations, including Wrexham FC, the Barca Academy and Melbourne’s AFLW team, who visited the facility during their 2025 pre-season campaign.
The Marsh AFL National Academy will also come together for football camps in Melbourne during the 2026 season.
Those camps will feature talent showcase matches where the National Academy squads will represent their country when they compete as the Australia U18 team.
In addition to the Academy camps, players will also take part in AFL and AFLW club experiences and will have the opportunity to train with an AFL and AFLW club.
AFL National Academy Manager Tarkyn Lockyer congratulated the AFL Academy squad members.
“One of the aims of the National Academy is to provide new experiences to our up-and-coming stars outside of what is already delivered at their state talent program to best prepare players for the next step in their football journey,” Lockyer said.
“We are thrilled to be able to include a camp at the New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport as part of our 2026 program.
“The camp will provide a unique experience for our participants and will give them the opportunity to challenge themselves at an internationally acclaimed facility.”
