Victorian Blind Football Draft reveals new squads for 2022

The 2022 Energy Safe Victoria Blind Football League (ESV VBFL) Draft took place earlier this week with new players welcomed to clubs ahead of the upcoming season.

The Bombers selected Patrick Whelan with the first pick in the draft ahead of Penelope Bunn (Bulldogs) and Oliver Oglethorpe (Hawthorn) as teams looked to build out their squads ahead of the commencement of the season on May 7.

The league continues to expand from its inaugural 2018 season with 16 participants growing to 40 for the 2022 season. This year has also seen a significant increase in female participation with the number of female participants having doubled from last year's competition.

AFL Victoria Diversity Coordinator, Steve Odgers said: "It is exciting times for the sport of AFL Blind with 40 vision impaired players from both Victoria and interstate combining to showcase their skills and enjoy a competitive league. It is great to see the retention of players and the growth of female participation within the league”.

Bulldogs captain, Steve Obeid said: "The Bulldogs feel ecstatic following the draft. [We are] extremely excited to display one of our draftees in Penelope Bunn in this upcoming season. She showed great skills during the come and try day. In my option she will be the breakout star of this season and [we] are very glad we were able to select her as our first pick in the B classification of players."

Top 5 picks:

• Pick 1:  Patrick Whelan (Bombers)
• Pick 2:  Penelope Bunn (Bulldogs)
• Pick 3:  Oliver Olgethorpe (Hawthorn)
• Pick 4:  Sean Brown (St Kilda)
• Pick 5:  Travis Zimmer (Bombers)

2022 ESV VBFL Squads:

For more information on the ESV VBFL, head to AFL Victoria | Victorian Blind Football League