WITH the AFL Women’s season coming to a close, clubs are starting to award their club champions, recognising the stars of the season.

In this new series from Rookie Me Central, we take a look at the seasons of each best and fairest winner and what led them to have such stellar seasons. 

In the next edition of our series, we look at a ‘young pup’ from Whitten Oval, 2024 Best and Fairest Isabelle Pritchard.

Capping off what is a breakthrough season for the 22-year-old midfielder, Pritchard has taken the award home for the first time. She polled 38 out of 55 votes to win, finishing ahead of Rylie Wilcox and Jess Fitzgerald, with Elisabeth Georgostathis and Maggie Gorham rounding out the top five.

Considering the position that the Dogs are in, in terms of their team structure, there is a lot to like about their youth which included Pritchard’s impact this season. She averaged 19.9 disposals, 5.6 tackles and 5.2 clearances through the year.

This was illustrated with Pritchard’s finish in the W Awards voting, finishing at the top of the Bulldogs’ votes, managing 10 votes in 11 games across the season. She has already drawn level with teammate Ellie Blackburn for the most amount of votes in the league Best and Fairest award for a Bulldogs player across the years.

Having come into the side as a defender, she has successfully moved into the role as a midfielder who is tough but also a utility that can be played across the field in many positions. Despite her age, as one of the more senior heads at the kennel, Pritchard has added leadership to her growing list of attributes.

Since Season 6, Pritchard’s form has been growing, with consistency now at the front of mind for her. Now just short of her 50 game milestone (45 games played), she will surely continue to build as a still young player in a very inexperienced team.