Greater Western Victoria Rebels players face uncertain build-up to 2020 AFLW draft

With the football seasons thrown out of order by the coronavirus crisis, it looks unlikely the NAB League girls competition will restart.

The AFL-set return date for football of May 31 would bypass the girls' 10-round season, as well as the scheduled finals fixtures.

The Rebels' season started on February 29, with the side undefeated after two games.

Ararat Storm junior Isabella Simmons and Horsham Saints' Maggie Caris are 2020 AFLW draft hopefuls who could spend a pivotal season limited to training at home.

"I'm not really sure what's going to go on. They say we'll come back at the end of May, but I don't know if we will. No one really knows what's going on," Simmons said.

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"We've just got to do our own thing at home, and hopefully, it will start back up, and things will go well. It's annoying, though. We only just got started and played two games. We won both of those and felt like we were on a roll before we had to stop."

Simmons and Caris are members of the AFLW academy, which sees 52 players nationwide come together for personal development training sessions under the guidance of expert coaches.

Simmons said there were no certainties around the format of this year's draft.

"I have no idea what's going to go on and no one has said anything. They just generally don't know what's going to happen. It's frustrating for me and all the other top-aged girls because we're trying to play hard football but haven't had a great opportunity to do that," she said.

"I'm pretty lucky I'm in the AFLW academy when I think about things like the draft.

"In some ways, it's a bit of a boost, but I still have to prove I am good enough and show selectors what I'm capable of."

No date has been set for the 2020 AFLW draft, which is usually held in October.

A May 31 return may still see the AFL Women's under-18 championships proceed, with the tournament generally played across June and July.

Simmons and Caris represented Victoria Country at last year's championships.

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