SWAN Districts young gun Carys D’Addario took control of the midfield against Peel Thunder en route to a best on ground performance in the Black Ducks’ 63-point win. The bottom-ager was steadfast through the middle and her game earned her our WAFLW Player Focus for Round 2.

D’Addario is a strong inside midfielder who has some serious power and smarts. After missing most of last year due to injury, she looms as a natural replacement for Jaime Henry on the inside. After an impressive game in Round 1, the 2007-born D’Addario took her game to another level in Round 2.

Swan Districts, Western Australia GirlsMidfielder

Carys D'Addario

Height: 170cm

Weight: -

DOB: 01-03-2007

PLAYER FOCUS

Swan Districts 10.13 (73) defeated Peel Thunder 1.4 (10)

#5 Carys D’Addario (Swan Districts)
Stats: 24 disposals (17 kicks, 7 handballs), 4 marks, 6 tackles, 5 inside 50s, 3 behinds

FIRST QUARTER

D’Addario started in her familiar on-ball role and immediately had an impact with the first clearance of the game. She showed off her work rate and ability to get into the right spot by reaching the next contest and won a second clearance at half-forward.

Her third clearance came in the fifth minute, but it was recalled back after a teammate gave away a free kick to Peel Thunder. A minute later she put her body on the line at half-back to win a handball and get it cleanly away, before going for a second touch moments later only to be dragged down by Ebony Bilcich at half-back.

D’Addario’s knack for standing up in tackles is something special for the bottom-ager and her first term was arguably her most prolific, getting a handball clear whilst under pressure at the 11-minute mark and then again in the final few minutes. From the latter she ran forward to win it again and kick inside 50.

Along with the above notable moments, D’Addario also took a strong intercept mark in the 14th minute and was able to put a kick inside 50 which while not direct, was to her teammate’s advantage.

SECOND QUARTER

Once again D’Addario was quick to win a touch, collecting it in the opening 30 seconds to clear it forward. Her strength in close was on display earlier, standing up under pressure and delivering a low kick to Lily Paterson on the wing.

In the fifth minute, D’Addario and Patterson combined nicely in the forward half with the former making a lead which was honoured by the latter. When Patterson ran into space with a better angle, D’Addario capitalised on a loose checking Thunder defence to deliver it short and neatly to her teammate, and Patterson made no mistake with the set shot.

She continued to rack up the ball and under no pressure could hit targets, and was becoming a target for Peel Thunder around the stoppages. She won a free kick for being held and earned a set shot that missed to the right, but perhaps her biggest moment came a little earlier.

In the eighth minute, D’Addario shrugged off multiple opponents like they were nothing, freeing herself up to have a shot but like her other chance, it went to the right for a behind. Perhaps the only negative was at one stage, she was a touch slow to dispose of the ball when being tackled and though strong, sometimes would just shuffle it out to get it clear.

THIRD QUARTER

The third term was a little quieter for D’Addario, but she still found her fair share of the ball around the ground. She was involved in a quick handball chain at half-back, and laid a great tackle to win a free. Unfortunately as she charged off, the quicker Jorja Haines was on her case, and mowed her down in a huge run-down tackle.

At the seven-minute mark, D’Addario had a clean pick up, but her kick was half smothered as once again she just took that extra second too long to dispose of the ball. Thirty seconds later, D’Addario won the ball on the wing and went to fend-off an opponent as she took off, but was escorted over the line.

FOURTH QUARTER

The final term started with a trademark D’Addario clearance to half-forward, showing she could run out the four quarters and have an impact. A few minutes later she was at half-back winning it, releasing it by hand to a running teammate to take off into space.

At the six minute mark, D’Addario looked to pick up a bit of cramp with a limp, but after stretching she got back to work and still won a few more touches. Her third behind of the day came from a quick snap in the 12th minute of the term which went to the right, before capping off a strong performance a few minutes later with a low bullet kick inside 50.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

D’Addario is an AFLW Draft prospect in a similar vein to teammate Jaime Henry. She is strong, has clean hands and has outstanding power around the stoppages. D’Addario is more of a prominent kick-first midfielder, and though speed might be a query, she just finds the ball and can impact forward of centre with her smarts. As a bottom-ager, D’Addario still has two full seasons to develop.