IN a new exciting collaborative countdown, the Draft Central has teamed up with other independent media organisations to bring a 2022 AFL Women’s Top 50 Countdown. Every weekday from now until December 17, a new player will be named starting from 50th down to 1st, stemming from a combined eight Top 50 submissions. Among those who submitted Top 50s include Siren Sport‘s Gemma Bastiani, Women’s Australian Rules Football (WARF) Radio‘s Peter Holden, and a combined Outer Sanctum team’s Top 50.

Today we continue our countdown with number 46, Western Bulldogs Women’s Kirsty Lamb.

Kirsty Lamb

Port Adelaide

League/s: AFLW, Vflw

Season/s: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, S7, 2023, 2024

• Games [tot]: 76

• Goals [tot]: 27

• Disposals [avg]: 15.8

• Marks [avg]: 3

• Tackles [avg]: 5.1

• Cont. Poss: 6.4

• Uncont. Poss: 7.2

• Clearances: 2.7

• Inside 50s: 2.2

• Rebound 50s: 1.1

Kirsty Lamb would be one of the more underrated players in the AFL Women’s competition, but she did not fly too far under the radar for our collaborative countdown, coming inside the Top 50. Lamb might only stand at 162cm tall, but the Western Bulldogs premiership player is a pocket rocket, laying 186 tackles over her five seasons, averaging 5.2 per game in that time. She has also averaged 14.1 disposals and 2.8 marks, though it is her past three seasons that have really taken off, with her 2021 year a particular career-high.

After kicking four goals from six games as a pressure forward in her first year, Lamb spent more time through the midfield in 2018 and 2019, where she boosted her disposal average and applied the same amount of pressure around the contest. In 2020, she managed to hit the scoreboard against with three goals, and then another two last season, but it was her ball-winning abilities that really came out. She was able to win the ball inside or outside the contest, averaging a massive 18 disposals per game – four more than any other season – as well as career-highs in marks, clearances, inside 50s and rebound 50s, as well as maintaining a six-tackle-per-game average.

Coming into 2022, Lamb provides that hardened midfield support for Ellie Blackburn and helps with the development of young guns such as Jessica Fitzgerald and Gabrielle Newton. Still having plenty of years left, the 27-year-old could just as easily finish her career as a pressure forward pocket again, hitting the scoreboard and benefiting off the Dogs talls. Lamb earned her 46th position having made it onto four lists, including one clearly in the Top 40.

DRAFT CENTRAL’S 2022 AFL WOMEN’S TOP 50

#50 Ash Brazill(Collingwood) | ARTICLE
#49 Tayla Harris (Melbourne) | ARTICLE
#48 Courtney Hodder (Brisbane) | ARTICLE
#47 Eden Zanker (Melbourne) | ARTICLE
#46 Kirsty Lamb (Western Bulldogs)