NEWLY crowned No.1 draft pick Nina Morrison says her journey to the NAB AFL Women's competition "escalated very quickly" after her dad's encouragement to attend a talent identification day two years ago.

Geelong's newest young star joins Greater Western Sydney midfielder Nicola Barr (2016) and Western Bulldogs forward Isabel Huntington (2017) in being a No.1 pick in AFLW's brief history.

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"It's a massive honour and I'm super excited and can't wait to get into pre-season and meet all the other girls and get stuck into it," the Geelong Falcons graduate told reporters.

"At the same time, it's important to recognise that with all the different regions and states you can nominate, there are effectively quite a few girls that are going at pick one for their regions, so it's a big honour for those girls as well.

"I started playing football only two years ago, so it's all escalated very quickly and I'm just super excited to be here."

Nina Morrison with parents Julianne and Dougal after she was selected with the No.1 pick. Picture: AFL Photos

Morrison and fellow onballer Madison Prespakis, of the Calder Cannons, emerged as the country's brightest new talents with outstanding respective seasons in 2018.

The Falcons won the TAC Cup premiership, and Morrison and Prespakis were joint-winners of the competition's best and fairest award and co-players of the AFLW Under-18 Championships.

Players nominated a state or in Victoria's case a region – Melbourne metropolitan, Geelong or all of Victoria – in which they could be drafted from.

Prespakis' decision to select Melbourne metropolitan meant Morrison, who grew up a Cats supporter, instantly became the hot favourite to be the first player off the draft board.

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"Maddie and I have shared quite a bit this year," Morrison said.

"I think we played only the one game (together) in Adelaide (the under-18 exhibition match), but she's obviously a really talented player and works really hard at her game.

"It's good to be able to push yourself off her and she deserves everything that comes her way."

Geelong coach Paul Hood was delighted to add Morrison to his squad.

"She brings a fantastic mix of football skills, athleticism and terrific values to her football game and we look forward to developing her for the next few years," Hood said.

Greater Western Victoria Rebels speedster Sophie Van De Heuvel joined Morrison at the Cats with the No.2 selection, while Prespakis went to Carlton with pick three.

No.2 selection Sophie Van De Huevel in action. Picture: AFL Photos

The other player who may have come into the reckoning for the No.1 selection in an open draft was Alyce Parker, who instead went to Greater Western Sydney with the 12th overall pick.

Parker dabbled in football, cricket, basketball, netball, tennis, cross-country running and athletics growing up, before choosing to kick Sherrins about a year ago.

"Coming from a country town, (football) was really popular … and I guess that's what brings the town together," she said.

"I got into it through playing with the boys.

"Especially at my age, the (opportunity for) girls wasn't there, but going into high school, schoolgirls' footy just exploded and that's when my journey began."

Parker's attention had to quickly switch to her studies after the draft, with an agriculture exam to be completed at nearby Melbourne High School on Tuesday afternoon.

"It's very intense," she said of the juggling act between sport and school.

"I guess it's what you have to do and in my circumstance, coming from New South Wales and HSC is bang on this time, it's unavoidable but definitely manageable.

"I'm looking forward to getting through it."

The first round selections in the 2018 NAB AFLW National Draft on Tuesday. Picture: AFL Photos

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