FOUR teams were officially eliminated as four remained alive in the WAFL Women’s premiership hunt for 2025. The last round of the regular season took place over the weekend and we took note of how the State Academy members performed.

>> WAFLW Week 1 Finals wraps: Claremont vs. Subiaco | Swan Districts vs. East Fremantle

Claremont:

#11 Ella Gilbey (Forward)
Stats: 6 disposals, 2 marks, 4 tackles, 1 inside 50

The explosive forward applied some great pressure in the front half of the ground and worked hard in the wet. Though the conditions made life tricky to take the ball cleanly, Gilbey had second and third efforts and was able to have a few nice moments where she kept it moving quickly in transition.

#21 Emma Henderson (Defender)
Stats: 12 disposals, 2 marks, 2 tackles, 1 inside 50

Henderson has a high running capacity and dropped into the hole to win the ball when required, and also pushed up the ground to be an attacking option as well. Capable of being both a high half-back and wing, Henderson showed great repeat efforts and clean hands in the conditions to repel a number of Subiaco attacks.

#33 Juliet Kelly (Forward/Midfielder)
Stats: 24 disposals, 3 marks, 15 tackles, 4 inside 50s

An enormous game from Kelly who was steadfast around the ball and whose defensive game was on full display. In conditions that suited the defensively-minded midfielder to a t, Kelly was able to extract the ball time and time again, and set up a number of scoring opportunities including a third term goal to Megan Green. Kelly’s elite tank allows her to run out games strongly and she was still going hard until the final siren.

Subiaco:

#8 Olivia Crane (Defender)
Stats: 19 disposals, 9 marks, 5 tackles, 2 inside 50s

Crane was a lynchpin in Subiaco’s defensive half and not only able to be so dominant in the air, but was also happy to scrap at ground level. While her ball use was perhaps a touch short of her elite capabilities, her bodywork one-on-one, reading of the play, positioning and composure were all there in the big game. She followed up with tackling efforts after bringing the ball to ground and was not afraid to switch or pick out the riskier kick even if it did end up turning over. One of Subiaco’s standouts on the day.

#22 Olivia Wolmarans (Forward)
Stats: 14 disposals, 4 marks, 4 tackles, 1 inside 50, 2 goals, 1 behind

Kicked multiple goals in a low-scoring game and provided a nusiance for the Claremont defence. She kicked her first late in the opening term following a mark and subsequent set shot, before her second came from even closer in after a nice float across mark in front of her defender. While Wolmarans has great reach, she does better when able to leap at the ball rather than engage one-on-one where she got worked under the marking contest a couple of times. As soon as she sticks the dukes up and has found her position or and take it at speed on a lead or coming across without contact, she is near-impossible to stop.

#24 Sunni-Quay Peters (Defender)
Stats: 6 disposals, 2 tackles

Did not have a lot to do as she looked to shut down the likes of Taylah Orzel or Gilbey at different points, and applied a fair bit of pressure. A number of her six disposals came in a purple patch during the third term where she even won a holding the ball free for a great tackle on Gilbey. Showed courage in big moments by putting her body on the line.

#27 Layla Quinn-Schofield (Forward)
Stats: 9 disposals, 1 mark, 9 tackles, 2 inside 50s, 1 behind

After a long stint in midfield last week, Quinn-Schofield went forward again where her extreme pressure enabled the ball to be locked inside Subiaco’s front half of the ground. She might not have won a heap of it, but looked dangerous when she can freely swing onto her deadly left peg, just missing one attempt early in the fourth term, and otherwise looking like scoring or setting others up.

Swan Districts:

#5 Carys D’Addario (Midfielder)
Stats: 26 disposals, 3 marks, 2 tackles, 4 inside 50s

The pick of the State Academy members across the two games, D’Addario was huge working in tandem with Jaime Henry through the midfield. Even when her team was down, the top-age West Australian MVP got to work and was critical in feeding the ball out to her teammates. Her best quarter came in the last term where she set up both of her side’s majors to Kayley King and Adi Griffith with smart decision making, and also had a number of other score involvements in the match. Will have a huge job against the stacked Subiaco midfield next week.

East Fremantle:

#13 Maya Louvel-Finn (Defender)
Stats: 12 disposals, 4 marks, 6 tackles, 1 inside 50

Finished off her year with another strong performance, taking some crucial grabs in the wet where few others consistently hold their marks. Louvel-Finn saved a number of potential goals including a massive holding the ball free early in the second term, which came after a goal-saving smother when an opponent attempted to let fly. Followed up with great second and third efforts and competed consistently well one-on-one and even one-on-two as she had in the last couple of minutes.

#17 Alicia Blizard (Forward)
Stats: 7 disposals, 1 mark, 3 tackles, 1 inside 50

After a stint on the wing last week, Blizard was in her customary forward role, rotating between high and deep inside 50. She made her presence felt with a goal assist to Leanne Gubbins in the first term, producing a lovely weighted kick to her teammate’s advantage. Had a few moments in the course of the match that caught the eye, often followed by Swans skipper Eliza Gelmi. Applied great defensive pressure at ground level took.