The 26-year-old joins as a non-football rookie, having not played the sport for three or more years.

“We have been in discussions with Shae for a number of months about coming across to play AFLW,” Melbourne AFLW list manager Todd Patterson told Melbourne Media.

“We identified Shae as someone with real athletic potential and fantastic character, given she has captained her country,” he said.

Sloane is also the sister of Adelaide vice-captain Rory Sloane.

Her interest in Aussie Rules began as a junior playing for Upwey Tecoma before she moved to volleyball.

“It is a real plus that Shae has played some football as a junior at Upwey and she will play her first game in the VFLW for Casey this weekend,” Patterson said.

“We are excited to have 6 months to invest in developing Shae prior to the start of the next AFLW pre-season and think she will add value in a variety of areas of the ground given her size and athletic ability.”