TOUTED as one of the top players outside the National Academy, South Fremantle’s Renee Morgan is a well-balanced top-ager who plays her role week-in, week-out. In tough, wet conditions, she was best on ground for her side during the Bulldogs’ loss to South Fremantle in the WAFL Women’s over the weekend and was the subject of our player focus.

RENEE MORGAN PROFILE

DOB: 04/05/2007
Height: 169cm
Position: Midfielder
Strengths: Footy IQ, dual-sidedness, clean hands, defensive pressure, clearances
Improvements: Speed, athleticism

PLAYER FOCUS

2025 WAFLW: Round 9
South Fremantle 1.6 (12) def. by East Fremantle 3.3 (21)

#15 Renee Morgan (South Fremantle)

Stats: 26 disposals (19 kicks, 7 handballs, 15CP/12UP) 4 marks (1 contested), 9 tackles, 6 clearances, 5 inside 50s, 2 rebound 50s, 2 behinds, 120 AFL Fantasy points

FIRST QUARTER

Renee Morgan started as she always does, right in the thick of the centre square action. Lined up on Sharks skipper Ash Gomes, Morgan won the first clearance out of the middle. She quickly doubled her possession tally intercepting in the middle and kicking to a half-forward contest, before following up with a fierce tackle at the top of the 50.

Her clean hands were on display in the wet, and though her efficiency was naturally less than usual due to the conditions, she looked the most influential player on the ground through the first term. She was brilliantly clean out of a forward stoppage to take a flying shot, but rushed a tad and pushed it right. Morgan would continue to win plenty of the ball in what was a mammoth first term, the busiest of the game for her.

On several occasions, Morgan was involved in multiple efforts down the field, such as winning a clearance to half-forward, following it up, possessing the ball again and putting it deep to dangerous positions. A combination of just forcing the ball forward and the set up of the East Fremantle defence meant a lot of her kicks going deeper inside 50 were chopped off off, but she continually put pressure on the opposition.

By quarter time, Morgan had notched up 10 touches with her last being a clever gather one-on-one and then sidestep to kick inside 50. However once again this was turned over with the Sharks backs filling holes in the defensive 50.

SECOND QUARTER

Morgan took a little while to win her first touch in the second term, but dished off a clean handball on the wing as she was slung in a tackle. She quickly racked up another touch, and though it was turned over down the field, did well to gain her side some distance. Her accumulation continued to grow as the quarter went on, earning two free kicks in the middle for going in hard and getting there first.

In the 12th minute of the term, Morgan ran past for a handball and though run-down still got a quick pass off to a teammate. She did a lot of that through the game, winning the ball at ground level and able to dispose of it in rapid time. Naturally the South Fremantle top-ager was also fierce defensively, laying a number of strong tackles to lock the ball up. Her last touch came with a few minutes to go after a quick scoop one-touch and handball away to a teammate seamlessly.

THIRD QUARTER

Morgan started on-ball and got into the right spot to win the pill off hands and was immediately tackled. In a really unlucky decision, she was pinged holding the ball by Amber Kinnane, though there was not a great deal she could have done to dispose of it given her minimal time. Her first disposal came via a mark in the middle and with time and space hit it to Jasmine Bazeley‘s advantage inside 50.

Her contest-to-contest work was on show throughout the premiership quarter with a kick down the ground for distance often followed up with a strong tackle to give her teammates time to reset. Midway through the quarter she timed a leap at half-back perfectly amongst a pack of player to clunk a contested mark then ran off with a classy one-two both of which were effective.

Morgan would be involved a couple more times with limited space, but finished the term with a bone-crunching tackle on the attacking side of the wing.

FOURTH QUARTER

While not as prolific as earlier in the game, Morgan still played a key role through the fourth term, starting on-ball against former teammate. Noa McNaughton this time. In the 11th minute, the South Fremantle onballer gathered her 21st possession in defence, with a slick sidestep past an opponent to dish off cleanly while on the move.

Her game would conclude with a number of strong tackles and took another mark in a contest before thumping the ball further afield. Summing up the day, though the Sharks managed to win the ball back, Morgan charged forward to add another number to the contest. She would finish with 26 touches for the game, but also six clearances and nine tackles for her troubles.

FINAL THOUGHTS…

While perhaps not the most efficient game from Renee Morgan, she showed all of her other weapons that were headlined by her incredibly clean hands, as well as her work rate and defensive pressure. She has plenty of non-negotiables each time she runs out, and usually is a clean user on both side of her body.

By hand she was still just that and by foot her ability to at least clear the immediate danger and get the ball down the ground was important considering the wet conditions. Going forward, Morgan has areas she can continue to build on, though her main knock is her athleticism, mainly her speed. It is always an area that clubs weigh up when considering draft prospects, but outside of that, Morgan has a really well-balanced game.

Offensively she impacts from the stoppage going forward, and defensively she impacts all around the ground. The fact she can use either side of her body coming out of congestion is a big tick, and her transition game and ability to cover the ground is very good which is why she earned a place in the All-Stars side against the National Academy back in April.