Carlton women’s coach Damien Keeping has revealed the process for scouting talent for the club’s new women’s team is well and truly underway.

The Blues were one of eight teams who were recently appointed an inaugural licence for the newly established National Women’s League in 2017.

“It’d be great if we could just build the team now!” Keeping joked.

“But we have already started a process, we’re looking at many games across many weekends.

“There is a heap of talent to look at, and a lot of work to do in the time we have before the draft come October.”

With a strong list of coaching credentials behind him, Keeping was appointed Carlton’s inaugural female coach in late June. Keeping previously coached the Western Bulldogs’ female exhibition game earlier this year, with experience at the Vic Metro Youth Girls program and at TAC Cup side Calder Cannons.  

“I don’t approach it (male and female programs) differently in the sense that it is a group of players in front of me wanting to get better,” Keeping told Channel 9’s Future Stars program. 

“From a coaching point of view, that’s how I approach it. There is perhaps some different types of communications that you need to apply to the group, but essentially when you peel it back, they’re footballers wanting to get better.”

The AFL is set to soon unveil the club’s marquee players and Keeping revealed he was confident the new women’s league would grow rapidly.  

“I think it can grow really quickly – we’re going to attract players from other sports and we’re going to have junior and youth girls make footy their first sport,” Keeping said.

“Hopefully that’s going to happen really quickly when they see the product we put out early next year as a club.”

The inaugural women’s football league will kick off with a two-month season in February and March, 2017.