Maddy Brancatisano

Madeline Brancatisano (born 5 September 2000) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Gold Coast in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She has previously played for Melbourne and Richmond.

Early life and junior football
Brancatisano hails from the north-east Melbourne suburb of Doreen and grew up playing basketball from the age of six. She attended high school at Catholic Ladies College, Eltham and later Box Hill Senior Secondary College.

Brancastisano first took up football at under 16s level, filling in for a Laurimar side in the junior ranks of the Northern Football Netball League. She first played representative football with the Northern Knights during their inaugural TAC Cup season in 2017, where she was captained in the side by her older sister Lily. The same year she played senior women's football with Montmorency in the Northern Football League and was selected to play for the Victorian Metro side at the 2017 AFL Women's Under 18 Championships.

In 2018, Brancatisano was elevated to captain the Knights and led her side to a losing TAC Cup Grand Final. She was named to the league's Team of the Year in 2018 and placed equal fourth in the league best and fairest count. Brancatisano also played matches with Montmorency's senior women's side in the Northern Football League that year, along with multiple games with at VFL Women's level. She against represented VIc Metro at the national championships in 2018 and also continued to play basketball, including training with the Geelong Supercats in the SEABL.

Brancatisano earned an invite to the 2018 AFL Women's draft combine where she set a fourth placed speed of 3.29 seconds in the 20-metre sprint test. In her junior career she was notable for her ability to win clearances while playing as a speedy inside midfielder.

Melbourne (2019)
Brancatisano was drafted by with the club's second pick and the 15th selection overall in the 2018 AFL Women's draft.

Richmond (2020–S7 (2022))
Brancatisano signed with Richmond during the second period of the 2019 expansion club signing period in April. She made her debut against at Ikon Park in the opening round of the 2020 season.

Gold Coast (2023–)
In March 2023, Brancastisano was traded to Gold Coast in a straight swap for Courtney Jones.

Statistics

 * Statistics are correct to the end of the 2021 season.

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2019 ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2020 ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2021 ! colspan=3| Career ! 14 ! 0 ! 1 ! 50 ! 76 ! 126 ! 21 ! 29 ! 0.0 ! 0.1 ! 3.6 ! 5.4 ! 9.0 ! 1.5 ! 2.1
 * - style="background-color: #eaeaea"
 * style="text-align:center;"|
 * 23 || 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || —
 * style="text-align:center;"|
 * 5 || 6 || 0 || 1 || 12 || 20 || 32 || 7 || 7 || 0.0 || 0.2 || 2.0 || 3.3 || 5.3 || 1.2 || 1.2
 * - style="background-color: #eaeaea"
 * style="text-align:center;"|
 * 5 || 8 || 0 || 0 || 38 || 56 || 94 || 14 || 22 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 4.8 || 7.0 || 11.8 || 1.8 || 2.8
 * - class="sortbottom"
 * - class="sortbottom"
 * }