IT has been a tough season for West Adelaide, which suffered its sixth straight loss on the weekend, but bottom-age midfielder/forward Ruby Ballard produced her best performance to date. The Bloods’ small picked a great time to do it on the edge of the AFLW Under 18 Championships, recording 18 disposals, four marks, five clearances and a game-high 12 tackles.

South Australia Girls, West Adelaide Women'sWing, Small Forward

Ruby Ballard

Height: 155cm

Weight: -

DOB: 07-11-2006

RECENT FORM

Ballard came into the match off the back of some solid form, and though not a natural accumulator, picked up more than 10 disposals in four of her seven games prior to Round 8. Always a fierce tackler much like her sister Abbie, Ruby had a season-high 16 tackles back in Round 3 – funnily against South Adelaide – and has now averaged 6.4 per game. Overall, Ballard is averaging 11.8 disposals, 1.9 marks, 2.3 clearances and 0.9 inside 50s per match this season.

2023 SANFL Women’s: Round 7
West Adelaide 0.7 (7) def. by South Adelaide 6.9 (45)

STATS: 18 disposals (7 kicks, 11 handballs), 4 marks, 12 tackles, 5 clearances, 1 rebound 50

FIRST HALF

Ballard brought the heat early and rolled through midfield as well as out on a wing, providing some clean and quick handballs throughout the first quarter. What stands out about Ballard is her clean hands at ground level, able to collect the ball at speed and dish off quickly to her teammates. When required, she gets her hands dirty and lays those fierce tackles.

The only poor decision was a handball to a teammate already under pressure in the first term, but other than that, the talented small generally picked out the right options while in contested situations. In the second term, she started on-ball and won the first touch giving off a handball to Zoe Venning who cleared the ball inside 50. Ballard pushed forward to lay a strong tackle, but after winning the ball unfortunately turned it over by hand due to an outnumber.

Ballard covered the ground well, finding herself in space at half-back and she has a neat, short chip kick that can be effective, and is always looking to run on for another touch. She laid another couple of strong tackles both inside 50 and on the wing as she continued to work into the game as it progressed.

SECOND HALF

From the get-go it was evident Ballard was in for a big second half, collecting the pill cleanly off the deck and handballing it well in the opening minute, before laying a strong tackle not long after. She won the ball at half-back via a holding the ball call for a second tackle and produced a neat kick to Lily Johnson. Her other major touch early in the third term was a lightning quick handball to a teammate in the defensive half.

Laster in the term, Ballard tried to pick up the ball at speed, but due to the pressure could not quite grab it, though immediately moved into defensive mode to apply pressure. She pressured a player across the boundary line with a tackle in the last 30 seconds of the term.

The fourth quarter was Ballard’s quietest, picking up the three additional touches, with two of the three disposals – all kicks – being effective. Her first was off a mark in the back pocket short to half-back and the second was similar from an intercept mark in defence to hit-up a target at half-back. Her final touch was a clearance out of the centre square from a handball receive, but her long kick was unfortunately intercepted.

CLOSING THOUGHTS ….

Ballard is a nicely balanced prospect in terms of her offensive and defensive abilities. Her clean hands and tackling pressure are her standout traits, as well as her running capacity and ability to play anywhere on the field be it inside or outside the contest.

Going forward, her production could life as could her kicking under pressure, with her technique consistently effective when afforded that time and space. With another year to go, expect Ballard to further develop and hope to follow in the footsteps of her sister.