THE PORT ADELAIDE Football Club has made another historic appointment in its AFLW program with Naomi Maidment named its inaugural list manager.

Maidment – who has been running the club’s female Next Generation Academy program for five years – has been tasked with building the 30-player list which will build on Port Adelaide’s history of success as it enters the AFLW competition next season.

As well as being a talented junior athlete who excelled in various sports including football, Maidment is an experienced coach of both males and females and previously led West Adelaide’s Under 16 male Centre of Excellence program.

Be part of Herstory in the Making - AFLW season memberships available now!

Port Adelaide’s Head of AFLW, Juliet Haslam, said Maidment was an outstanding candidate because of her experience in and knowledge of women’s football in South Australia.

“The List Manager role is a key appointment for our club and we are excited that Naomi has accepted this important role,” Haslam said.

“Naomi will have responsibility for developing our inaugural AFLW list and has already hit the ground running in developing our recruitment strategy.

“We have been fortunate to have had Naomi successfully lead our female academy over the past five years, which has given her great insight into the next generation of talent in South Australia.

“Naomi has an excellent understanding of the traits, skills and characteristics that we as a club are looking for to achieve sustainable success in the women’s program. It’s so exciting to think that in less than 10 months’ time, we will have a Port Adelaide team competing in the AFLW.”

Naomi Maidment has been tasked with building the club's inaugural AFLW list.

Maidment will continue in her role as head coach of Port Adelaide’s female academy program alongside her new duties as list manager.

“It’s a good natural progression role for me from coaching the academy group and now with the opportunity to create our first AFLW list during what is a really exciting time for the club,” said Maidment of her new role.

“Our first season is coming up quickly and for me it’s about watching a lot of games - the AFLW season, the SANFLW season starts Friday and looking to head away for the Under 18 championships in April so really, a lot of watching games and when the time is right, interviewing some players and getting the right player for our football club, the right fit for us and really targeting the best players we can get.

“We’ll do everything we can to get the best players playing for Port Adelaide.”  

01:54

"It's a really exciting role": Naomi Maidment named inaugural AFLW list manager

Port Adelaide AFLW List Manager Naomi Maidment on her new role within the club's AFLW program.

While she said she had enjoyed coaching, Maidment is excited for the challenge of building a list, and giving as many talented South Australians a chance to play in the AFLW.

“To have invested in our academy players and now be able to put some of those players on an AFL list is great. It’s a good fit for me and I’m looking forward to it,” she said.

“We primarily will be looking for the best players from South Australia and we’ve got a really deep talent pool to do that with the SANFLW, the state program, as well as a number of South Australians who are playing across the AFLW for other franchises.

“That’s where we see the bulk of our list coming from and to be able to be on that first list as a player and to add to the already rich history of the Port Adelaide Football Club, I couldn’t think of a more exciting time to be a young footballer in South Australia.”