West Coast Eagles sign Oakleigh Chargers midfielder Sanne Bakker, move Matilda Sergeant to inactive list

West Coast Eagles have moved quickly to replace injured off-season acquisition Matilda Sergeant, signing Oakleigh Chargers midfielder Sanne Bakker as an injury replacement player ahead of the 2024 AFLW campaign. The 18 year-old Bakker joined the Eagles’ squad at Mineral Resources Park on Wednesday after replacing Sergeant, who has undergone surgery to repair a ruptured ACL and moved to the inactive list. AFLW list manager Jordan Loxley said the hard-running Bakker would add some dash to their midfield mix. “Sanne was a late inclusion to the Oakleigh Chargers program last year and her development over the past six months has been immense,” he said. “A former national 800m and 1500m runner, her ultra-competitive nature shines on the footy field. “She has the versatility to play inside mid or utilise her running ability on the outside. We are incredibly excited to witness her thrive in an elite environment.” Bakker and her parents both made the trip over, and said she was excited to play under new coach Daisy Pearce. “Jordy announced it in the team meeting and all the girls were pretty excited, and they showed some footage of my couple of games at Oakleigh this year, so it was pretty cool,” she said. “Moving all the way from Melbourne, never been to Perth, is kind of a weird experience but for the girls to get around me like that has been so good.” “Daisy Pearce is an icon, so super excited and can’t wait to be coached by her. It’s going to be an exciting couple of months coming up.”