GLENELG ruck Matilda Scholz is said to be highly sought after at the elite level of women’s football, and there’s little wonder why after her maiden SANFLW outing for the season. Returning from an injury interrupted preseason in Round 2, the top-ager looked an ominous force as her Bays beat Woodville-West Torrens on Saturday. We put her performance under the Player Focus microscope.

>> Scouting Notes: SANFL Women’s Round 2

Port AdelaideRuck

Matilda Scholz

Height: 187cm

Weight: -

DOB: 29-04-2005

Strengths:

Athleticism

Ground balls

Mobility

Ruck craft

Size

Vertical leap

Improvements:

Contested marking

Endurance

Scoreboard impact

2023 SANFL Women’s: Round 2
Woodville-West Torrens 4.4 (28) def. by Glenelg 5.6 (36)

STATS: 14 disposals (7 kicks, 7 handballs), 2 marks, 2 tackles, 15 hitouts, 1 clearance, 3 inside 50s, 1 behind

FIRST QUARTER

Scholz started out inside attacking 50 with AFLW tall Leah Cutting for company, easing into things as her first contribution came around the five-minute mark. After beating Cutting to a loose ball, she brushed off the defender and steadied to boot Glenelg’s first score of the game – a behind.

From there, Scholz took the opening term by storm as Woodville-West Torrens gifted her the opportunity to boost her confidence right off the bat. The teen’s handling was polished, especially for a 187cm player, and her mobility made her difficult to contain even when the ball hit the deck.

Upon rotating into the ruck, Scholz took advantage of the Eagles’ bizarre stoppage setup to go up uncontested, tapping down to fellow AFLW Academy gun Piper Window on the move in a passage which led to the game’s opening goal, via Caitlyn Swanson.

Her first centre bounce attendance followed, where she again tapped straight down the throat of Window, who was left to waltz unmarked through the front of the contest before unleashing a clearance inside 50.

With her springy leap and size, Scholz essentially got above her opposing ruck and could choose from there where she wanted to dictate the play. She combined with Window for a couple more hits to advantage, as the pair ran riot across a dominant 20-minute period. A heck of a start.

SECOND QUARTER

Having helped dictate play from the stoppages in term one, Scholz again fed her midfielders well in term two once entered the play, after around six minutes. Only once in the entire half did an Eagles midfielder shark her tap, and it was at Scholz’s lone centre bounce attendance of the second quarter.

For all her dominance in the ruck department, a clear area for improvement showed in Scholz’s game. She couldn’t quite hold onto a few contested marking attempts despite clearly getting her hands to the ball first. That even translated to her attempt to grab the ball directly from the ruck, but ironically had absolutely no impact on her one-touch pick-ups at ground level.

Scholz should have been reasonably pleased with her handballing skills in the first half as she generally played the percentages and easily brushed off opponents, though state teammate Shineah Goody cut off a couple of her kicks – which were technically sound, nonetheless.

THIRD QUARTER

After a fearsome first half, Scholz began to steady in the third quarter and again started out of the goalsquare. Her first contribution was another highlight reel moment though, as she turned Cutting inside-out and hit a pass to Chelsea Packer in the goalsquare.

That passage on its own, let alone in combination with Scholz’s various fend-offs and broken tackles, showed incredible amounts of confidence, athleticism, and footy nous for a player her age. She led an AFLW defender to the dance, only to leave her in her wake.

Scholz went on to have one of her biggest rotations for the match, as she spend eight minutes on the bench before returning at the 16-minute mark. Though she seemed to saunter at stages, Scholz spread well to the wing on one occasion, where she marked uncontested as Glenelg transitioned.

FOURTH QUARTER

Looking to finish strongly, Scholz started at the centre bounce for the first time in the match, but bolted straight into attack after the restart. When rucking, either out of fatigue or via instruction, she began to thump the ball forward instead of picking off more deft taps, but was still getting her hand to the ball.

She continued to get to good spots around the ground to mark without pulling in any big grabs, though her presence remained evidently large. A typical handball combination with sister Poppy Scholz was one of her final plays, as Scholz spent time in both the ruck and forward roles throughout term four.

>> Feature: Scholz seeks improvement in the “mental game”

CLOSING THOUGHTS…

Scholz, who has been pegged as a clear contender for Port Adelaide’s underage PSP selection, would have been relatively pleased with her start to the SANFL season. Having played around 50 per cent gametime last year, she began to rotate through the forward line and shone there with her mobility.

In those forward stints, Scholz can look to sustain her impact by hitting the scoreboard, and contested marking in general is a key area of improvement that will only aid that factor. Elsewhere, especially off an interrupted preseason, Scholz’s endurance base will be an area of focus as she looks to run out games at the top level.

In terms of what she does well, the teenager possesses rare talent for a player her size. Her ruck craft was outstanding on Saturday, and she handles the ball ridiculously cleanly below her knees. With the confidence to carry and fend off opponents, or simply play the percentages, she can do so much that other rucks simply wouldn’t dream of.

The beauty of a prospect like Scholz is for all her current strengths, the upside in her game is shown in her room to grow and become just about the ideal key position player. She has all the athletic attributes to dominate, and already gave a glimpse of what she can do one-on-one against AFLW level opposition.