BOASTING ties to the AFL Women’s through her older sister, Murray Bushrangers’ Holly Egan is forging her own path at Coates Talent League Girls level. The sister of current Tiger and former Blue Grace, Egan is a very different player to her older sibling, though the mindset to reach the top level is the same.

The 18-year-old has enjoyed a consistent year for the Bushrangers, and since recording 12 disposals in her first game back in Round 4, Egan has not dipped below 17 touches at Talent League levels. Before the weekend, back-to-back 29-disposal matches in Rounds 8 and 9 were her best efforts, however she topped that in Round 13 with a 33-disposal effort against the Northern Knights.

Playing in defence and rotating through the middle, Egan had a huge ball-winning game, taking four marks, laying nine tackles and having six rebound 50s. Her first and third quarters were clearly her most dominant, so in today’s player focus, we have split it up into the two halves.

Murray Bushrangers

Holly Egan

Height: 176cm

Weight: -

DOB: 01-07-2006

PLAYER FOCUS

2024 Coates Talent League Girls:
Murray Bushrangers 2.5 (17) lost to Northern Knights 5.10 (40)

#9 Holly Egan (Murray Bushrangers)
Stats: 33 disposals (16 kicks, 17 handballs), 4 marks, 9 tackles, 6 rebound 50s

FIRST HALF

Egan’s first quarter was a massive one where she racked up no less than 11 disposals playing in defence then rolling into the midfield midway through the quarter. Her first touch was a handball receive two minutes into the game, where she was able to deliver the ball long to space.

She did with quite a few touches in the defensive 50, often intercepting both in the air or at ground level, while running hard to receive the handball and use her athletic gifts to great advantage. Egan has some distinguishable traits that make her such a unique prospect in this year’s draft, and they were on show on the weekend.

While Egan is a good size at 176cm, she moves well, leaps high and reads the game well behind the ball. Though tasked with a role in defence, her best work comes from rebounding the ball and creating some run in transition, which she did consistently in Round 13.

Egan’s pressure on the opposition – even if not rewarded by a tackle – was crucial, as she saved a certain goal midway through the first term with an attempted smother that corralled an opponent to miss from close range.

In the ninth minute, Egan went into the centre bounce, and was able to lay a tackle on Zoe Hargreaves her direct opponent, then got down at ground level and fed the ball away cleanly. That first possession-winning element is an area of her game that has improved, with her midfield craft improving at the level.

The Bushrangers utility did well behind the ball that even when Murray was inside 50, she held a good line at the top of 50, and was able to keep pressure on the Northern defence. Late in the first term, Egan forced another behind and saved a goal with a huge bump on Kira Lemire just 15m out.

In the final minute of the term, she won it at ground level then sidestepped an opponent and kicked to the top of 50, capping off a huge quarter where she brought her own ball and was clearly the most dominant disposal winner on the ground.

Her second quarter was not as prolific, but Egan still managed to find the footy, gathering well at half-forward by holding that strong line and giving away the quick handball. She would have another handball and a couple of kicks in the term, including forcing her opponent to give away a free kick at half-back when they were wary of her athletic jump.

By half-time, Egan was still leading the way as the prominent ball-winner and her gathering in challenging conditions that were not only wet, but muddy as well.

SECOND HALF

Back out after a break, Egan got straight onto winning the ball yet again. Her first impact came three minutes into the half where she competed in the air on the wing then pushed back into defence where she had started.

Kicking efficiency is an area for Egan to further improve, with a few turnover kicks in the quarter, but she was able to follow-up defensively and work hard to win the ball back for her side. Her most risky kick actually turned out effective though when she kicked across goal to half-back and hit a target and opened up the ground for her team.

In the ninth minute, Egan moved back on-ball once again, and had a couple more kicks through the middle of the ground. In one instance, Egan marked at half-forward and sidestepped an opponent cleverly to get it forward

Often under immense pressure when on the inside, Egan was clean at ground level, and even when tackled, was able to get her hands free and dish off the ball cleanly to a free teammate or to space for a teammate to run onto.

She was very effective by hand both in and out of traffic, and while another one of her five free kicks went to a one-on-on-two was intercepted, she finished the quarter with another big effort that had her well ahead of anyone else on the ground for disposals.

Like the second term, her fourth quarter was quieter compared to her third term, with her a key touch coming six minutes in on the wing. Egan used great vision to spot up a target in the corridor and managed to deliver it well.

She always competed in the aerial contests even if not able to bring it down, but once the ball hit the deck, Egan pounced and would apply defensive pressure on the opposition. Her game would finish kicking the last behind of the game in the 18th minute of the fourth quarter.

CLOSING THOUGHTS…

Egan is a promising talent with some high upside. She is tall, athletic and incredibly versatile. Though largely a defender/midfielder at the Bushrangers, and a defender at Vic Country, Egan can move up forward and provide a marking target inside 50 as well.

She has improved her ground level work in 2024 to have an even greater impact in that area. While always being a strong reader of the play and aerial player, Egan can complement that with her grunt work and contested ball-winning ability.

Egan is not afraid to lay tackles and it has shown most notably in recent weeks, with 25 tackles across her past three games at Coates Talent League Girls level. From here, her areas to further improve are her one-on-one contests and kicking consistency.

Her vision and understanding of the game are very good, and once again complement what she offers as an exciting rebounding defender who can pinch hit in the midfield. With more development throughout the rest of the season, Egan could become a well-rounded and great value player who could find a home in the middle of the draft with her upside evident.