TWO mature-age talents have earned AFLW Draft Combine invites this year among 89 other top-age or over-age prospects. We take a look at the two players – hailing from the SANFLW and WAFLW respectively – and give a glimpse into their games.

Tiffany King (Christies Beach / South Adelaide)
Tall Defender | 179cm | 08/04/1999

King hails from the same SANFLW clubs as South Australian MVP Esther Schirmer, and has worked well alongside her at the Panthers. Standing at 179cm, she usually locks down on a crucial key forward, and rarely gets beaten one-on-one. She has taken some big scalps not just in 2024, but past seasons as well, and is a team-first oriented player. While it is not often lockdown defenders get much praise, King has done just that by earning a Draft Combine invite.

Throughout the course of the 2024 season, King averaged 10.3 disposals, 3.5 marks, 1.2 tackles and 1.8 rebound 50s, but the fact that she can not only lockdown, but provide some offensive drive is really impressive. Her aerial ability in particular stands out, as does her one-on-one work. She had some big games towards the back end of the season, including 18 disposals and seven marks against West Adelaide, while playing more defensive roles throughout the finals series which is why she had the four and seven touches respectively.

King is a readymade option who had interest in last year’s draft, and after another ultra-consistent season, is among the top mature-age names across the country. She could easily slot into the back six of a club and compete for a spot, having taken on plenty of AFLW-listed players at SANFLW level.

Poppy Stockwell (Bunbury / South Fremantle)
Medium Forward | 165cm | 24/10/2003

Our top-ranked mature-ager across the country on pure talent, the soon-to-be 21-year-old is a promising player. Despite being undersized for a marking forward, Stockwell is a serious threat in the air thanks to her strength overhead. She largely plays inside 50 but does work up the ground, having increased her work rate over the off-season to get involved further afield more consistently.

The dual sportsperson – who also plays high-level cricket – kicked 10 goals from nine games last season, and showed glimpses of potential, but really took her game up a notch in 2024. Throughout her 13 matches for South Fremantle, Stockwell averaged 14.5 disposals, 4.3 marks, 2.5 tackles and kicked 20 goals – at an average of 1.5 per game – while also having 20 behinds suggesting she could have added to that total.

Stockwell has that high-upside look about her, as she took several games by the scruff of the neck and was among the best afield time and time again. Her Round 15 match against Peel Thunder -which was 20 disposals, seven marks, five tackles and three goals – was the biggest of her season, though she was ultra-consistent, kicking a major in all bar two of her 13 games, including seven matches with multiple goals.