A diverse group of female athletes attended a Come and Try Day at Richmond’s Swinburne Centre this week.

The athletes, who come from various sporting backgrounds including netball, tennis and hockey, completed skills activities under the watchful eye of Richmond AFLW operations manager Kate Sheahan.

Five Bendigo Thunder women’s footballers were among the group of 20 participants, aged from 14 to 33 years old.

Richmond players Jayden Short, Kane Lambert and Dun Butler were also on hand to run water and assist with football drills.

“We ran some testing - some physical testing and some football skills down on the oval,” Sheahan said.

“We wanted to see what a few girls from other sports would do when they got a footy in their hand, so we had a few drills where it wasn’t about football skills it was about throwing the footy and movement.

“Sometimes you don’t find AFL players by watching those who can kick and mark, it’s more about their movement and their speed.”

Richmond is one of five AFL clubs with a provisional AFLW license and the Tigers last month submitted their bid to secure a team for the 2019 season.  

“Having a women’s team at the Richmond Football Club will enable all of those passionate, enthusiastic supporters a chance to support AFLW,” Sheahan said.

“I think the club has proven their supporters are the most passionate across the competition.”