IN a new super in-depth Player Analysis piece focusing on an AFL Women’s draft hopeful, we breakdown major areas of the game and assess the prospect on minute aspects. This analysis is done watching a large volume of games, in order to get the best possible analysis for the player. In this case, that analysis is on Tasmania Devils Girls Claire Ransom, the sole bottom-age Tasmanian in the Allies’ squad, and one who starred for the Devils in the NAB League Girls this season, projecting as a Top 10 selection next year.

Note: The AFLW Draft Player Analysis is the opinion of the individual writer.

GIANTS, GWS GiantsBalanced Midfielder

Claire Ransom

Height: 170cm

Weight: -

DOB: 21-02-2004

Strengths:

Athleticism

Balance

Consistency

Decision making

Defensive pressure

Evasion

Kicking

Reading the play

Vision

Improvements:

Contested work

Kicking penetration

Strength

Draft range: Pick 15-30

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PLAYER PROFILE BREAKDOWN:

BALL HANDLING

DISPOSAL BY FOOT:

+ Efficiency
+ Technique (short-medium)
+ Consistency
+ Opposite foot efficiency
+ Decision making
– Penetration
– Opposite foot effectiveness
– Kicking at speed

From a ball-handling perspective, Ransom is one of the better short-medium kicks going around, able to hit targets with consistency, nailing those short passes, or putting them in front of teammates to run onto. If a teammate drops the ball, or is spoiled away, Ransom will often be there to provide support. The main area of improvement from a disposal standpoint is her kicking penetration, which whilst still effective, tends to revert into a more of a higher, loopy kick with less precision. This is also the case when at speed and needing to kick long, she can often loop her kicks in a rush. Though not a deficiency, with her decision making and smarts able to still put the ball to a dangerous spot, it is an area that could be tightened up and made all the more damaging. When discussing her non-preferred left foot, Ransom is able to use it better than most, and put her kicks to the right spots efficiently, just minus the pinpoint effectiveness of her right.

DISPOSAL BY HAND:

+ Efficiency (when vision not obscured)
+ Effectiveness
+ Consistency (right side)
– Efficiency (when vision obscured)
– Consistency (left side)

Ransom is a kick-first player who can be highly efficient by hand or foot, but one aspect that is noticeable with the Tasmanian when discussing her efficiency by hand, is when an opponent approaches or blocks her vision, she will often rush a loopy handball over their heads. When winning the ball at ground level or in the chain of possession, Ransom is able to flick off handballs with ease and be damaging with high effectiveness. Additionally, her handballing tended to be far more effective when spinning onto her dominant right side, as she likes to sidestep or spin out of trouble onto that side and is used to disposing of the ball that way.

SMARTS:

+ Decision making (right side)
+ Class
+ Vision
+ Reading the play
– Decision making (left side)

This is an area that helps Ransom standout from the pack, and also helps minimise any deficiencies in her ball handling abilities. Her vision is outstanding, her decision making for the most part is fantastic, with perhaps the only way to improve is some more composure when on her left side. She has that touch of class about her in the way she weaves in and out of traffic, and therefore has plenty of positives, and her footy IQ as a whole is among her great attributes. This includes her ability to sum up the situation and read the play, be it forward, back or through the midfield.

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BALL-WINNING

ACCUMULATION:

+ Loose ball gets
+ Hard ball gets
+ Handball receiving
+ Consistency (in use)
– Volume

Ransom is one of those players that does not need a lot of the pill to do damage, and therefore the key area she can improve is in her accumulation. Thought not a low ball-winner (often winning in the mid-teens and being a consistent contributor), she could lift her numbers further, and there are other ways for her to get involved to be able to do that. From an accumulation standpoint, there are no concerns over Ransom’s ability to win the ball both from loose ball or hard ball situations, with perhaps her greatest accumulation coming via the handball receive in order for her to take off from the stoppage and go.

CONTESTED WORK:

+ Clearances via gather
+ One-on-one contests ground level
– One-on-one contests aerial
– Clearances via first possession

Ransom might be a balanced midfielder who can win her own ball, but her contested work is still an area she can improve. She has the clean hands to be able to win the ball but her best clearance work comes from gathering at ground level in space. She is not often the first possession winner at a stoppage, which is an area that could improve – though not drastic for her game style. From an aerial point of view, Ransom is clean enough above her head, but can be beaten one-on-one for strength. At ground level though, she uses her hips and body position to protect the ball, win it and fire out a handball to teammates.

CLEANLINESS:

+ Aerial
+ Ground level via loose ball get
+ Ground level via hard ball get
+ Disposal under pressure (right side)
– Ground level via contested ball
– Disposal under pressure (left side)

When it comes to her cleanliness, it is a point of nit-picking anything major needing improving. As a whole, Ransom is reliable both over her head, and at ground level when needing to gather the ball in space or under pressure. The only real fumbling comes when contesting for a ball with an opponent, often due to physical pressure and a stronger-bodied opponent.

DEFENSIVE TRAITS

+ Tackling
+ Work rate
+ Team defensive efforts
+ Second efforts
– Tackling technique

As a whole there are no concerns over Ransom’s defensive abilities. Her pressure both from an individual and team standpoint is excellent. She not only lays tackles, but applies shepherds, and can kick the ball into space for teammates to run onto, then often approach to be a backup or another option. Much like the cleanliness, it is absolutely nit-picking, but sometimes when tackling, Ransom’s determination to mow someone down will see her fall into their backs and give away free kicks. The intent is right.

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ATHLETICISM

SPEED/AGILITY:

+ Acceleration
+ Evasion (from front/side contact)
+ Sidestep
+ Speed consistency
– Peripheral vision (back contact)
– Top speed after immediate burst

Ransom’s athletic profile is again a good one, with her acceleration – particularly over the first few steps – aiding with her evasion abilities and sidestep. Her consistency of speed across the ground is also impressive int he way she plays, though she reaches top speed quickly in the first few steps before hitting that consistency, which is still above average without being elite. As mentioned earlier, her peripheral vision is an area that could be improved, as when she does get caught, it is nearly always from behind, whereas when she has opponents laterally or in front of her, she dances around them like witches hats.

ENDURANCE:

+ Repeat efforts
+ Four quarter consistency

There are no concerns with Ransom’s endurance abilities from a performance aspect, or certainly not anything that impacts the way she plays. As a general rule of thumb, Ransom impacts a game across four quarters, and it is more about her winning more of the ball through other means, rather than tiring. Her repeats efforts as highlighted through her defensive work, are also highlights of her game.

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OTHER TRAITS

STRENGTH:

+ Ground level one-on-ones
+ Standing up in tackles
– Aerial one-on-ones

As a whole, Ransom is able to compete strongly in all facets of the game, but with additional strength, she will be able to compete more throughly in aerial one-on-one contests. If she wins one-on-one marking contests against bigger opponents, it is through smarts rather than strength, whilst she maximises her body strength at ground level by blocking opponents out with her hips when the ball is in front of them. She is better at keeping her opponent behind her, because the side contact from opponents can often knock her off balance.

VERSATILITY:

+ Can play inside or outside
+ Capacity to play off flanks
+ Scoreboard impact
– Contested ball-winning ability

Ransom’s traits lend themselves to playing a multitude of roles across the ground, be it inside, outside or off a flank, with her ability to win the ball around the stoppage or further afield. Additionally, Ransom knows where the goals are, and can hit the scoreboard if playing in the forward half, or moving out of a stoppage. As eluded to earlier, her contested ball-winning ability could improve, because while her inside ball-winning ability (possessions around stoppages via gathers) are strong, she can still win more of the ball from a one-on-one or one-on-many contested situation in close. In saying that though, this is not imperative to her or the way she plays, so is not of any major concern.

INTANGIBLES:

+ Leadership
+ Consistency
+ Creativity
+ Balance
+ Upside

This is more a category for traits that cannot really be measured easily, but more from the eye. Ransom’s big positives are her leadership, consistency and creativity which are what standout on the field. She is able to make things happen with ball-in-hand, and guide teammates to get to the right spots off her disposals. Considering her development as a whole over the season, it is easy to suggest Ransom is capable of further improving.

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OVERALL SUMMARY

Tasmania’s Claire Ransom is one to watch in 2022, with plenty of positives to go off. Whilst like everyone, she has areas to improve, there is nothing about her game that is detrimental to her producing success in the future. There are ways for to iron out certain aspects of her game to be more damaging or more consistent in an area, but not any red flags. It is because of this, Ransom is considered among the top AFL Women’s Draft prospects next year.

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