On Tuesday night she didn't have to wait long, taken with the fourth selection overall when St Kilda swooped in to secure the talented GWV Rebels key position player.

Friend, from Horsham, was the only Rebels player picked up by AFLW clubs on the night, in what was a shock as up to five players had been touted as possible recruits.

In the lead-up to the draft, Friend was seen as a possible first round selection, but the fourth pick of the night came as a bit of a surprise.

"I'm just thrilled, I can't believe it," she said.

"I'd spoken to a few clubs and I was thinking low teens, but no way did I expect to go so soon."

Friend revealed that she had spoken to the Saints in the lead-up to the draft, and had seen a few of her friends go to the club, so she was keen to join them if she could.

In the lead-up to the AFLW Draft, Friend spoke about how she had been playing football since she was little and had hoped all her life that an opportunity would present itself to join an AFLW club.

"It's just pure excitement, it's something I've been working for it since I was five," she said. "My home club Horsham is the Saints, so it feels great to be able to put the jumper on again."

Friend, who schools at Ballarat Grammar, has spent much of her lockdown time back home in Horsham, doing her best to stay focused on her school work as well as making sure her fitness remained at a high level.

"I've just been trying to do stuff at home, running and skills work," she told The Courier last week.

"'I've been talking with the strength and conditioning coaches at the Rebels and we've been working through some things." Saints Head of Women's Football Jamie Cox said in the lead-up to the draft the club was keen to take the best talent it could, eventually settling on Friend who was one of the youngest players in the draft, having made draft age by just two days.

"There's a strong pool of talent available in the top 10 of this year's draft and we're excited to see who we'll be able to bring on board for the upcoming season," Cox said.

"We'll look to take the best available talent with our first selection and then we've got a number of options for pick number eight depending on how the proceeding picks fall.

"Whoever we end up taking with our two top-10 Victorian picks, we know that we'll have brought in tremendous talents who will be vital for us moving forward."

Despite Friend going so early in the draft, there would be a sense of disappointment for the Rebels who were hopeful that up to five players could have been selected on the night.

As expected, Gold Coast took Victorian Charlie Rowbottom with the first pick after she nominated the Queensland club as a preferred destination in the past two weeks, while Geelong Falcons and Oakleigh Chargers players - where Rowbottom hails - dominated the Victorian nominations for the draft.

Two Victorian clubs, Carlton and St Kilda elected to pass on their final selections, potentially opening the door to more players eventually being picked up prior to the season starting in December.

Rebels players including Nyakoat Dojiok, best and fairest winner Lilli Condon and her co-captain Chloe Leonard and the talented Tahlia Meier are among those that will certainly be being watched in coming months as clubs finalise lists.