East Malvern product Grace Beasley signs with Melbourne
With the AFLW Supplementary Selection Period and Rookie Signing Period coming to a close on Tuesday, AFL Victoria would like to congratulate Grace Beasley on her signing with Melbourne.
Beasley is a product of the East Malvern Knights Junior Football Club, where she played for several years before embarking on a basketball career that took her to the NCAA in the United States. The 24-year-old is currently playing for Northern Arizona University, and she will finish her junior year there before returning home and joining Melbourne.
It’s a unique career path to the AFLW, but she has some strong links to the competition – she was a junior football teammate of St Kilda midfielder Olivia Vesely for East Malvern, and as a 17-year-old, she played basketball for the Waverley Falcons alongside former Demon Tegan Cunningham.
Melbourne AFLW List Manager Todd Patterson played a hand in recruiting Cunningham, and he says Beasley is similarly ready to contribute for the Demons. “It’s really pleasing to give Grace this opportunity after tracking her for such an extended period of time,” Patterson said.
“No doubt it’ll be challenging to transition from the court to the oval, but we’ve got great confidence in what our coaches and staff have been able to do previously with similar athletes, and Grace’s work ethic and determination give her a great platform to commence with us.”
Beasley was one of four players signed as part of the AFLW Supplementary Selection Period and Rookie Signing Period, with Irish talents Bláithín Bogue (North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos), Kate Kenny (Geelong Cats) and Eilish O'Dowd (GWS GIANTS) all earning a place in the competition.
