EASTERN Ranges won a tough slog in Frankston and earned a league-high four players in our Coates Talent League Girls Round 14 Team of the Week. The remaining five winners all had multiple representatives, with each of the six losers having at least one representative for the weekend.

Skippering the side in Round 14 was Sandringham Dragons star and Carlton father-daughter prospect Sophie McKay after an impressive 27-disposal performance against Murray Bushrangers in a breakthrough win for the Dragons.

She is amongst a stacked on-ball group with the top two players in our Rookie Me Central Medal in Dandenong Stingrays’ Jemma Reynolds and Eastern Ranges’ Tayla McMillan.

Flanking McKay on one wing is her Sandringham teammate and captain Scout Howden after she also returned to the Dragons side for Sunday’s game, while on the other wing is speedster Maddison Meagher who showed plenty of talent for the Knights.

McMillan was one of four Ranges in the Team of the Week, with double bottom-agers Brylee Anderson (full-back) and Emily Rankin (interchange) both making it alongside Grace Belloni (half-forward). Northern also had Zoe Hargreaves and Kira Lemire to compliment Meagher.

Gippsland Power was the other side to earn three representatives, headlined by regular Team of the Week talent Ash Centra who was named at full-forward for Round 14. She had bottom-ager Rebecca Fitzpatrick next to her at half-forward, while Lilly Leighton was named on the bench. The Power’s opponent Western Jets was one of four clubs to have a sole representative with that being defender/midfielder Olivia Castello.

Tasmania Devils also picked up two players who slotted onto the bench in Priya Bowering and Josie Rose, with all four players in the match with Geelong Falcons named there. Geelong Falcons duo Sara Howley and Chloe Bryant were unluckily squeezed out of the starting midfield due to its strength.

Dandenong Stingrays forward/ruck Elli Symonds impressed in her second game back from injury to be named at centre half-forward, while GWV Rebels was the last remaining side with two representatives for the week. They are both at half-back with Millie Lang and Brook Ward making the side.

Rounding out the finalised team are three individual representatives in Calder Cannons’ Kyla Forbes, Bendigo Pioneers’ Sienna Hobbs and Murray Bushrangers’ Rain Dodd. Though Forbes and Dodd spent significant time on-ball, both spent time in defence and have played there at times as well as other roles such as forward or wing respectively. Hobbs was named starting ruck in the side.

The three emergencies were tough to pick for Round 14, but eventually the trio chosen were Sandringham Dragons’ Daisy Flockart, Murray Bushrangers’ Sophia Green and Northern Knights’ Olivia Gorman.

2024 TALENT LEAGUE GIRLS TEAM OF THE WEEK: ROUND 14

B: Olivia Castello (Western Jets) – Brylee Anderson (Eastern Ranges) – Kyla Forbes (Calder Cannons)
HB: Brook Ward (GWV Rebels) – Millie Lang (GWV Rebels) – Rain Dodd (Murray Bushrangers)
C: Maddison Meagher (Northern Knights) – Sophie McKay (Sandringham Dragons) (c) – Scout Howden (Sandringham Dragons)
HF: Zoe Hargreaves (Northern Knights) – Elli Symonds (Dandenong Stingrays) – Grace Belloni (Eastern Ranges)
F: Kira Lemire (Northern Knights) – Ash Centra (Gippsland Power) – Rebecca Fitzpatrick (Gippsland Power)
R: Sienna Hobbs (Bendigo Pioneers) – Jemma Reynolds (Dandenong Stingrays) – Tayla McMillan (Eastern Ranges)
INT: Chloe Bryant (Geelong Falcons) – Priya Bowering (Tasmania Devils) – Sara Howley (Geelong Falcons) – Lilly Leighton (Gippsland Power) – Emily Rankin (Eastern Ranges) – Josie Rose (Tasmania Devils)

EMG: Daisy Flockart (Sandringham Dragons) – Sophia Green (Murray Bushrangers) – Olivia Gorman (Northern Knights)