TONIGHT is the SANFL Women’s night of nights, where a new League Best and Fairest will be crowd. In 2024, South Adelaide’s Nikki Nield won in a thrilling count considered somewhat of an upset given that even in her acceptance speech she admitted that previous winner Jessica Bates was her tip. Will a favourite win tonight? Or could there be a surprise packet who has caught the umpire’s eye.

CENTRAL DISTRICT

Tough to see a winner coming from the Dogs this year because they’ve had such an even spread. Katelyn Rosenzweig will naturally get votes because of her various bags of goals, but otherwise it will be a stack of players including Madison Lane, Dakota Williams, Tesharna Maher and Karissa Searle who might expect to hear their names read out at some stage.

GLENELG

Could Bates retire with another SANFL Women’s Best and Fairest? Her numbers suggest she could, but the issue being Glenelg lost a lot of games. The conundrum will be whether or not she gets the three or lower votes, but should be good enough to poll in 80 per cent of games. The biggest threats to stealing votes are likely to come from defenders Marie Martino and Ash Dyer-Pietsch, skipper Samantha Franson or young midfielder Georgie Fielder.

NORTH ADELAIDE

A Rooster could get up and win because they won enough games and had a relatively strong core group. A name such as Julia Clark should poll heavily, though defender Jamie Parish had an ultra-consistent year and Clark missed games at the end which makes it tricky. There’s little doubt Laela Ebert will attract votes but missed the second half of the season after being picked up by Melbourne. Aprille Crooks and then players such as Djimila Totham and Ash George will poll at points one would think.

NORWOOD

Ex-Port talent Jade Halfpenny is a sneaky good chance. Obviously the Redlegs finishing seventh won’t help, but she was very consistent all year and not only racked up the ball but provided plenty of scoring opportunities to her teammates. Will have less competition for votes one would think, though Kiana Lee, Shai Hiscock and right at the end, Lani Cocks might snatch some.

SOUTH ADELAIDE

The general consensus is that the favourite should be Soriah Moon and realistically she will be up there. Her season – where she has clearly been the top ruck and arguably most valuable player in the league – is deserving of the award. But, South Adelaide has so many potential vote-stealers which remains the problem. Emma Charlton is the main threat – and if umpires see her as the Nield of 2025, might be in the finish herself – while Shae Archbold up forward will get some for her bigger games, and Charlton’s bottom-age teammates in Taya Maxwell and Layla Vizgaudis will also poll.

STURT

In a similar boat to Halfpenny, Isobel Kuiper is a really sneaky good chance. Unlike the Redlegs, Sturt won more than it lost, and Kuiper was best-on most of the time. If the umpires favour her in the Sturt victories, then she should realistically be favourite. Monique Bessen has the extra polish and will no doubt be busy in the count, as will Georgia Swan when she came in.

WEST ADELAIDE

It will be a game of pick the inside midfielder when it comes to the Bloods and polling, with the trio of Zoe Venning, Hannah Button and Ruby Ballard all taking turns at different points to stand out. The three will likely poll the bulk of West Adelaide’s votes with an even spread after that, but hopefully Lucy Waye also polls well considering her impact this season off half-forward too.

WWT EAGLES

Prior to being drafted to Adelaide, Christina Leuzzi would have been red-hot favourite to take out the award. However missing the amount of games she did in the back end, it is hard to see her holding enough of a lead to land in front. She will likely race to the front then see who overtakes her. Because she will likely poll a lot of ‘3’ votes early, it makes it tricky for any other Eagles to poll a winning score. Klaudia O’Neill had some huge performances, while Imogen Trengove, Leah Cutting and Lucy Moore should also earn some votes.

TIP

Winner: Isobel Kuiper (Sturt)

Top 5:
Soriah Moon (South Adelaide)
Jess Bates (Glenelg)
Jade Halfpenny (Norwood)
Emma Charlton (South Adelaide)

SANFLW BREAKTHROUGH PLAYER AWARD:

Round 1: Sophie Eaton (Central District)
Round 2: Emma Kilpatrick (West Adelaide)
Round 3: Imogen Trengove (WWT Eagles)
Round 4: Emma Charlton (South Adelaide)
Round 5: Taya Maxwell (South Adelaude)
Round 6: Monique Bessen (Sturt)
Round 7: Lily Smart (Sturt)
Round 8: Layla Vizgaudis (South Adelaide)
Round 9: Maia Freemantle (WWT Eagles)
Round 10: Lucy Waye (West Adelaide)
Round 11: Lucy Moore (WWT Eagles)
Round 12: Ruby Lynch (WWT Eagles)
Round 13: Lani Cocks (Norwood)
Round 14: Julia Faulkner (WWT Eagles)

The most competitive Breakthrough Player Award in some time, just about everyone has claims and it even includes the drafted Emma Kilpatrick. Top-age prospects Bessen, Trengove and Waye have all had big years, while Charlton and Maxwell in particular have had match-winning moments from the strong bottom-age contingent.