HAVING a debut performance to remember, double bottom-ager Olivia Crane became our first WAFL Women’s Player Focus for 2023. The 2007-born Crane played in defence and was outstanding both in the air and at ground level, possessing a number of impressive draftable qualities already despite having three years left in the system until being draft-eligible.

Subiaco, Western Australia GirlsKey Defender

Olivia Crane

Height: 179cm

Weight: -

DOB: 08-10-2007

2023 WAFL Women’s: Round 1
Subiaco 5.4 (34) drew South Fremantle 4.10 (34)

STATS: 22 disposals (18 kicks, 4 handballs), 3 marks (2 contested), 4 tackles, 7 rebound 50s

FIRST QUARTER

It took just 32 seconds for the debutant to make her mark on the game, taking a strong contested grab against Fremantle-listed Makaela Tuhakaraina. While Crane has the height on her comfortably, it was her attack on the contest that stood out. She immediately produced a lovely long left foot kick down the wing. A little while later, Crane took a second contested grab, this time while bursting through multiple opponents, and cleared the ball to safety.

Within the first 10 minutes of the match, Crane had already shown composure and experienced beyond her years, picking up a loose ball at speed, and charging away to set up a goal-scoring chain with her intercept. Having a tough battle with fellow young gun Noa McNaughton, Crane showed enough athleticism against the smaller but speedy opponent. She is evidently quick to react to situations, and if beaten in a contest, can recover to win the ball and five it off quickly.

SECOND QUARTER:

Crane’s second term started by being pushed under the ball in a marking contest against Tuhakaraina, but midway through the term, redeemed herself against a bigger opponent showing good body work one-on-one. She recovered the loose ball at ground level to give the handball away. Often she would look to thump the kick from danger when under pressure, and an area of improvement was to try and favour running on her left side.

The natural left-footer tended to run to her right and have to correct when pressured, which often led to a few turnovers or ineffective kicks. When on her left side, she produced some outstanding kicks that were pinpoint to teammates. Additionally, Crane was not afraid to take a bounce when given the kickout duties, and she put pressure on the opposition forwards to press up.

THIRD QUARTER:

Crane was a little quieter after the main break, but still took a brilliant one-take mark and had a clean kick three minutes into the second half. A minute later, Crane was quick to scoop up a ground ball, had the one-two with a teammate and was forced into a scrubber kick down the line. She pressed up and received the handball again, going one-two and kicked long down the ground to a teammate effectively, again on her left side. In just a couple of minutes, she had racked up another four touches.

In the sixth minute, Crane did her best acting job at trying to fumble close to the line to ensure she rushed a behind without being pinged. Eventually she received the pressure from McNaughton to allow her to knock it across the line. She kicked out from full-back after taking a bounce, but went a touch too short and just missed the target. She would lay a fierce tackle in the 14th minute indicating her defensive pressure.

FOURTH QUARTER

The double bottom-ager only had a few touches in the final term, starting with a free kick in the defensive 50. She had a neat short kick which hit the target and provided an unused option for the handball running by. In the ninth minute, Crane kicked out after taking a bounce, but ran to her right side and had to correct to swing back onto her left which forced the kick to miss and be intercepted.

Crane competed strongly at a pack marking contest inside 50 midway through the term, landing heavily but managed to get up. Wrapping up an impressive performance for the Lions, Crane won the ball via an intercept handball in close, but was immediately wrapped up in a tackle.

CLOSING THOUGHTS ….

Olivia Crane exceeded all expectations of a debut, especially for a player who is still only 15 years-old. Playing her trade as a rebounding defender, the natural leader – who was one of the captains for her state at Under 16s level last year – Crane racked up more disposals than anyone else on the field, and slotted into half-back seamlessly to provide that rebounding option. Through both intercept marking and groundball gets, Crane was able to have a profound impact on the match, and looms as one to watch over the coming years.