Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
BENDIGO Spirit star and Australian Opals basketballer Tessa Lavey has been selected by Richmond in the AFLW Draft.
In one of the shock selections, Lavey was taken by the Tigers with the 43rd pick in Tuesday night's draft.
Lavey, who has signed to play on with the Bendigo Spirit in the upcoming 2020-21 WNBL season, is also still in the mix to represent Australia at next year's Tokyo Olympics.
Point guard Lavey, who has played 62 games for the Spirit, was part of Australia's 2016 Olympic team in Rio, while she won a gold medal with the Opals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The 27-year-old from Swan Hill was a member of the Spirit's 2013-14 WNBL championship squad.
"Tessa is a strong powerful athlete with great potential. We are very excited to have her on board," Richmond Women's recruiter Lauren Tesoriero said on the club's website.
The Tigers said Lavey had been working closely with Richmond Women's specialist coach, Nathan Chapman, on her football fundamentals and had impressed Richmond recruiters in recent months.
Lavey isn't the first Bendigo Spirit player to have been drafted by an AFLW club, with Kerryn Harrington now carving out a career at Carlton and captaining the Blues last season.
As well as picking up Lavey, Richmond also had the No.1 pick, selecting Ellie McKenzie from the Northern Knights.
ALL THE SELECTIONS
1. Richmond - Ellie McKenzie
2. Western Bulldogs - Jess Fitzgerald
3. West Coast - Isabella Lewis
4. Adelaide - Teah Charlton
5. Melbourne - Alyssa Bannan
6. St Kilda - Tyanna Smith
7. Gold Coast - Annise Bradfield
8. Brisbane - Zimmorlei Farquharson
9. GWS - Tarni Evans
10. Geelong - Darcy Moloney
11. Western Bulldogs - Sarah Hartwig
12. Carlton - Mimi Hill
13. North Melbourne - Isabella Eddey
14. Fremantle - Sarah Verrier
15. Melbourne - Elizabeth McNamara
16. Western Bulldogs - Isabelle Pritchard
17. Melbourne - Maggie Caris
18. West Coast - Shanae Davison
19. Collingwood - Tarni Brown
20. Geelong - Laura Gardiner
21. Geelong - Olivia Barber
22. North Melbourne - Alice O'Loughlin
23. Gold Coast - Sarah Perkins
24. St Kilda - Alice Burke
25. Collingwood - Amelia Velardo
26. Collingwood - Joanna Lin
27. Geelong - Stephanie Williams
28. Carlton - Daisy Walker
29. GWS - Emily Pease
30. Fremantle - Mikayla Morrison
31. Collingwood - Abbi Moloney
32. West Coast - Julie-Anne Norrish
33. Collingwood - PASS
34. St Kilda - Renee Saulitis
35. Melbourne - Megan Fitzsimon
36. Carlton - Winnie Laing
37. Brisbane - Indy Tahau
38. Brisbane - Ruby Svarc
39. Geelong - Carly Remmos
40. St Kilda - Jacqueline Vogt
41. Melbourne - Mietta Kendall
42. GWS - Libby Graham
43. Richmond - Tessa Lavey
44. North Melbourne - Georgia Hammond
45. Adelaide - Rachelle Martin
46. Fremantle - Tiah Haynes
47. Adelaide - Ashleigh Woodland
48. Melbourne - Isabella Simmons
49. North Melbourne - Brooke Brown
50. Gold Coast - Maddison Levi
51. St Kilda - Pass
52. Richmond - Luka Lesosky-Hay
53. West Coast - Andrea Gilmore
54. Gold Coast - Janet Baird
55. North Melbourne - Amy Smith
56. West Coast - Pass
57. Gold Coast - Lucy Single
58. Gold Coast - Elizabeth Keaney
59. West Coast - Pass
60. Gold Coast - Daisy D'Arcy
61. Gold Coast - Wallis Randell
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.