WHILE her SANFLW season might be over, Central District premiership player Laitiah Huynh finished off 2024 with arguably her best performance of the year. Having really locked down a wing role over the past couple of seasons, the 21-year-old Huynh has become a vital contributor for the Bulldogs at League level.

Huynh came through the South Australian pathway as largely a small forward, first featuring for the Central Allies back in 2019 as a promising 16-year-old. After Covid-19 curtailed that following year’s championships, Huynh re-emerged this time donning the tri-colours of her home state at the 2021 AFLW Under 19 Championships.

Over the last few years, Huynh has had some up and down games, and she has certainly shown to have the athletic traits and skills to impact a game, but has not been a huge production player or maximising the traits at her disposal. However in 2024, it seemed to come together more, and she had a sustained impact on games, and covered more ground than ever before.

Across her 13 SANFLW games in 2024, Huynh averaged 13.7 disposals, 2.9 marks, 2.8 tackles and ran at 74 per cent disposal efficiency. She is a neat kick and looks to switch where possible, and has delivered many scoring shot opportunities. In the loss to Norwood on the weekend, Huynh finished with her equal season-high of 21 disposals, but notched up a season-high eight marks, four inside 50s and three rebound 50s in the process.

Central District Women'sWing

Laitiah Huynh

Height: 157cm

Weight: -

DOB: 05-11-2002

PLAYER FOCUS

2024 SANFL Women’s: Semi-Finals
Central District 5.5 (35) lost to Norwood 6.4 (40)

#41 Laitiah Huynh (Central District)
Stats: 21 disposals (15 kicks, 6 handballs) 8 marks, 2 tackles, 1 clearance, 4 inside 50s, 3 rebound 50, 1 behind

FIRST QUARTER

It did not take long for Huynh to get involved in the play, marking on the wing from the opening clearance and kicking down to half-forward where she pushed up and won another kick to go inside 50. Already her contest-to-contest work and work rate in general was high, indicating a standard she would hold for the game.

In the fifth minute, Huynh took a good mark at half-forward and delivered a sizzling short pass into Katelyn Rosenzweig inside 50, then had a shot herself a minute later off the handball receive which missed to the right for one behind. A brief time after that as she was running to the bench for a rest, the ball found her and she quickly handball off to Mikaylah Antony.

Upon her return, Huynh won the ball out of a half-back stoppage and was able to kick down the wing, something she would do on a number of occasions throughout the match. She had another couple of disposals in the last five minutes of the term, including a nice kick from half-back down the ground again, and then marked inside 50 and delivered towards Rosenzweig neatly, only for that ball to be spoiled.

SECOND QUARTER

Huynh entered the second term already on 11 touches, which was a career-high in one quarter. To put that in comparison, she had 11 in total the week before, but was looking in for a big game. However the second term was a little tougher for Huynh, who dilligently picked up Kiana Lee who had floated into attack to be an extra number as Norwood attacked.

Though Huynh is capable both in speed and in the air, Lee is one of the best contested markers in the competition, and also has a good 10-plus centimetres on Huynh. Therefore it should come as no surprise that Lee was able to win the one-on-ones, but once the ball hit the deck, Huynh had the advantage.

In the fifth minute she had a lovely switch across goal via a short pass, and then later in the term at half-forward her kick was smothered, but showed great intensity to win it again and kick it inside 50. After a huge first term, it was a quieter second term, but she did a lot of unrewarded running and team things in the defensive half of the ground.

THIRD QUARTER

The third term started with Huynh working back into defence, and in the fourth minute marked at half-back and delivered to a one-on-one down the ground. Her best traits were on show shortly after further afield, where she took it cleanly and delivered a precise weighted kick to Rosenzweig. Her attack on the contest to win that ball between opponents was crucial.

Midway through the quarter, Huynh again bobbed up at half-back where she marked at half-back and again found the target of Rosenzweig. A minute later the smaller Huynh was bumped off it by Norwood co-captain Steph Simmonds at half-forward, then found herself in another arm-wrestle with Lee in the defensive 50.

Though she gave away a free kick for holding on that occasion, what stood out was her ability to not drop her head and stick to the task at hand, laying a strong tackle on Sophie Armistead inside 50 to lock it up and force a ball-up in the dying minutes of the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

Huynh was back involved just 30 seconds into the term running hard to help the defence, and ran onto a loose ball from the first inside 50. She seemed to be pushed in the back but was not awarded a free kick. Playing to the whistle, Huynh scooped it up and handballed away to put it to space in front of teammates.

Filling in on whichever player was loose inside the Norwood attacking 50, Huynh opposed herself to Mykaela Walker who again is about 14cm taller than the Doggies wing. Despite giving that height advantage away, Huynh did not shirk the responsibility, though fortunately there was no high ball that came in which might have posed a problem.

Huynh did give away another free four minutes into the term after chopping Lee’s arms. However after coming off for a rest at the seven-minute mark, returned a few minutes later to win it under serious heat on the wing. She kicked into the corridor which was a little dangerous but then marked once more on the defensive side of the wing and this time chose the safer option down the line.

In the 16th minute, Huynh won a free kick herself for being held, and she thumped the ball inside 50 to create some offensive flow, with her last touch coming just under two minutes later with a kick out from defence after the last touch rule was enacted, going short to a teammate inside the defensive 50.

CLOSING THOUGHTS…

Laitiah Huynh earned State representation for the Croweaters during the SANFLW’s win over the WAFLW this year. Her work on the wing has been recognised across the league, and in terms of specialist wing’s, would be in the top two or three across the competition.

Her work rate matches her skills and speed, but it was always about maximising her traits to take the game on and have a higher impact-per-possession given she is not a high accumulator. On the weekend, she put her body on the line, looked to bite off some higher-risk, higher-reward passes, and then when needing to, pulled the trigger going inside 50.

These elements have been areas that have caught the eye throughout the season, and while there still are some ups and downs in her game, Huynh has become an integral part of the Central District lineup, particularly with the way she holds her width and works hard defensively. Specialists wingers are hard to come by at the top level, and while there might still be some areas she can further improve, her work from two years ago to today has been noticeable.