Height/Weight 169cm Years Club Positions Midfielder | Number 31 Height 1.69 m Name Daisy Pearce | |
 | ||
Draft No. 1, 2013 women's draft Role Australian Rules Footballer Profiles | ||
Daisy drafted number one - AFL
Daisy Pearce (born 27 May 1988) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She has served as Melbourne captain since the competition's inaugural season, and has also served as captain of the Darebin Falcons in the VFL Women's (formerly the Victorian Women's Football League) since 2008. Prior to 2016, Pearce was a six-time Helen Lambert Medallist, five-time Darebin Falcons best-and-fairest winner and eight-time premiership player in the now-defunct VWFL, and was a representative of Victoria three times at both senior and under-19 level.
Contents
- Daisy drafted number one AFL
- Best and Fairest Daisy Pearce
- Early life and junior football
- State league and representative football
- AFL Womens career
- Off field
- Statistics
- Honours and achievements
- References
Pearce was a premiership player, league best-and-fairest winner and member of the team of the year in the VFLW in 2016 before being drafted by Melbourne as a marquee signing in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. In her first AFL Women's season, Pearce was the inaugural Melbourne best-and-fairest winner and captain of the inaugural AFL Women's All-Australian team, and also won the AFLW Players' best captain award. She then captained Victoria in the inaugural AFL Women's State of Origin match, where she was adjudged best afield.
Best and Fairest: Daisy Pearce
Early life and junior football
Daisy Pearce was born in Bright, Victoria. She grew up in the country as a Carlton supporter, and her family's love for football had a profound influence on her passion for the sport. She began playing Auskick at the age of five or six before going on to play with boys in junior footy. Her father, Daryl, was a coach for the Bright junior football team, which allowed her to begin training with the under-13 team from the age of eight. She played football alongside her older brother, Harry and they were especially competitive when it came to football. Daisy attended Bright Primary school and Eltham High school. She also works as a midwife at Box Hill Hospital.
She captained Victoria's under-19 side at the 2007 AFL Women's National Championships in July 2007. The 19-year-old was named in the All-Australian team and was also applauded for her efforts during the week-long carnival with the joint-player of the tournament award. Pearce led the team to the premiership in a 47-point win against South Australia.
State league and representative football
In June 2007, Pearce was one of two Victorian Women's Football League representatives in the E. J. Whitten Legends Game where she played against former footballers including Scott Cummings, Nick Holland, Mick Martyn and Nicky Winmar.
In May 2013, Pearce was the number one draft pick chosen by the Melbourne Football Club in the first ever women's AFL draft. Pearce was one of fifty women to make history in June when the club's women's team took on the Western Bulldogs women's team at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was played as a curtain raiser to the men's match between the two same clubs.
Pearce was the inaugural winner of the Melbourne Football Club's best female player award at the end of the 2014 season, polling five out of a possible six votes.
AFL Women's career
In July 2016, Pearce was announced as one of Melbourne's two marquee players to play in the inaugural AFL Women's season. She was announced as the club's first AFLW captain in January 2017.
Pearce made her AFLW debut in the opening round of the 2017 AFL Women's season against Brisbane at Casey Fields. She was listed among her team's best players, recording nineteen disposals in addition to a game-high ten tackles in the match. Pearce was again named in Melbourne's best in wins against Collingwood, the Western Bulldogs and Carlton in rounds two, three and four.
Pearce was highlighted as "Player of the Week" by the AFL Players Association for her round 4 performance in the 2017 AFL Women's season. After four rounds, Pearce was the highest ranked player according to Champion Data, leading the competition for total disposals and total handballs, and leading in average per game in contested possessions and goal assists. At the end of the season, Pearce was nominated by her teammates for the AFL Players' Most Valuable Player Award, was named captain of the 2017 All-Australian team, and won the AFLW Players' Best Captain Award.
Melbourne signed Pearce for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017. She then captained Victoria in the inaugural State of Origin match on 2 September, where she was adjudged best afield with 37 disposals in the 97-point win.
Off-field
In the media, Pearce has been a rotating panel member on the Seven Network program AFL Game Day since 2016, and also provides special comments for Seven and Triple M, covering both AFL and AFLW matches.
In February 2017, the Melbourne Football club unveiled their new mascot for the women's team, named "Daisy" in her honour.
On 7 March, 2017, Pearce became the first woman to be elected as a director on the board of the AFL Players Association (AFLPA). At the same meeting, the AFLPA decided to include AFLW players as full members of the association.