HOPING to follow in the footsteps of older sister Abbie, Sandringham Dragons’ Sophie McKay has made a promising start to her Coates Talent League career. Eligible as a father-daughter selection to Carlton with her father Andrew playing 244 games with the Navy Blues. Fast forward to 2023, and McKay is still a bottom-ager, but making some waves in her debut season for the Dragons.

McKay was the subject of our Coates Talent League Girls Player Focus for Round 6 after finding plenty of the ball through the midfield for the Dragons in their hard-fought loss to Eastern Ranges on the weekend.

Sandringham Dragons, Vic Metro GirlsMidfielder-Forward

Sophie McKay

Height: 167cm

Weight: -

DOB: 27-04-2006

2023 Coates Talent League Girls: Round 6
Sandringham Dragons 3.7 (25) def. by Eastern Ranges 8.8 (56)

STATS: 24 disposals (17 kicks, 7 handballs), 3 marks, 7 tackles, 3 inside 50s, 4 rebound 50s, 1 behind

FIRST QUARTER

The hard running midfielder showed she had the traits to play just about anywhere on the field, and Carlton fans will have no problems believing she possesses a high amount of courage in her play. Her first touch was a good intercept mark inside 50 and was able to hit up a target on the lead, before winning a handball at a stoppage not long after.

McKay lead out for a mark just outside 50 at the nine-minute mark, but the kick to her was poor and landed at her feet which saw her immediately tackled. The next stoppage she punched it to space despite being the midfielder, seeing teammates on the other side of the contest. Her last touch came late in the term where she really put penetration into her kick going through the corridor to a two-on-one, showing great vision.

SECOND QUARTER

McKay’s smarts to match her courage were on show in the second term, which included a clever handball to herself in the air while she was being chased. She ran onto it and kicked inside 50 but unfortunately turned it over, as was her handball in close a minute later as she protected the ball at the coalface.

Playing inside 50, McKay won a free kick for going in hard, with her set shot from 35m out pushing to the right for one behind in one of the final plays of the day. Heading into half-time she had already produced some impressive plays, but her best was yet to come.

THIRD QUARTER

Starting on-ball for the premiership quarter, McKay again punched the ball clear without taking possession, almost playing the role of a ruck at ground level. She went forward to win it again and her clever quick snap from the pocket was perfectly weighted for the leading Mia Zielinski. Rotating between midfield and attack, McKay won the ball in both areas of the ground, and applied great pressure around the stoppages.

In the 19th minute of the term, McKay almost kicked a goal from just inside 50 following a mark, but it was plucked out on the goalline by a defender.

FOURTH QUARTER

McKay won the ball out of the stoppage in the second minute of the quarter, kicking to a dangerous position inside 50 for a scoring chance. At the six-minute mark of the term, McKay was clean off the deck but was immediately tackled.

Her final seven minutes of the match resulted in her picking up a number of disposals which allowed her to finish with more touches than anyone else on the field. She won a free kick at half-back and produced a lovely long right-foot kick down the ground.

She worked hard back into defence on a number of occasions, marking off a kickout in the back pocket, and laid a couple of tackles in the process. Her final play was a free kick on the wing where she stepped around her opponent seamlessly after playing on and kicked long inside 50. The kick itself was intercepted, but was technically sound and the intent was right.

CLOSING THOUGHTS ….

Sophie McKay still has another year to go in 2024 before she is draft-eligible and no doubt the Carlton recruiters will be keeping close tabs on her game across the next 18 months. Bearing similar traits to Abbie who has developed into a vital midfielder for the Blues at AFLW level, Sophie has that touch more polish at a younger age, and a more developed outside game. It will be fascinating to see how she continues to develop over the next couple of years, but looms as an important midfielder for the Dragons at Coates Talent League level.