LACEY Nihill’s bottom-age season with Bendigo Pioneers drew plenty of attention from those watching the Talent League Girls closely, and her top-age campaign is shaping as the season where she puts her name squarely in the draft conversation. The utility showed why in a losing cause against Gippsland Power Queen Elizabeth Oval, where the Pioneers went down 10.3 (63) to 4.8 (32) in Round 2.

>> AFLW DRAFT Q&A: Lacey Nihill (Bendigo Pioneers)

Lacey Nihill

Club: Bendigo Pioneers
Height: 172cm
Date of Birth: 01/05/2008

STRENGTHS:

+ Run and carry
+ Footy IQ
+ Versatility
+ Vision
+ Defensive pressure
+ Endurance

IMPROVEMENTS:

– Disposal under pressure
– Kicking at speed

SEASON SO FAR

Statistics: 31 disposals, 5 marks, 8 tackles, 2 clearances, 3 inside 50s, 4 rebound 50s, 2 behinds

FIRST QUARTER

Nihill started on-ball against Lily Milner and set the tone immediately — winning the ball, being tackled, then applying her own tackle on the next contest. She showed composure early, marking in the middle three minutes in and converting a clean kick to the forward line, before backing up with a lovely switch kick to space in the 13th minute that opened the ground up for her side.

Her speed through the corridor in the sixth minute was a glimpse of what makes her exciting — bursting through the middle at genuine pace. She was caught holding the ball on one occasion at half-back, but bounced back immediately with a huge smother from standing the mark, and then follow-up tackle on her opponent to lock it up. The ability to reset mentally and remain active so quickly like that after a setback was a big tick.

SECOND QUARTER

Nihill was again on-ball and continued to find it consistently, getting involved early in attack and showing clean hands through traffic. A lovely driving kick down the wing, followed shortly after by a mark and a clean hitup to Georgia Garlick, was her best passage — the kind of connecting play that doesn’t always show up in the stats but keeps a side moving.

She was racking the ball up at will through the middle portion of the term and using it nicely, with quick hands in congestion showing the anticipation and ground-level cleanness that underpins her game. By half-time, she had accumulated 17 disposals and three marks, and was looking like having a massive outing.

THIRD QUARTER

Funnily enough statistically Nihill’s third term was her least productive on paper – just four disposals – but they were ultra memorable, especially her first one. Starting on-ball, the Pioneers midfielder won the first centre clearance, reading off the ruck tap perfectly and bursting out of the middle to hit Alannah Prowse on the lead – a direct goal assist which showed what Nihill can do when given the space to attack.

Three minutes in she was tackled immediately after winning the ball at half-back but competed hard to give it off. Having a chance on goal herself, Nihill’s set shot from 35 metres out was touched on the line – unfortunate given it was on target and centimetres away from adding a major to her day out. She also spent time forward mid-quarter, showing even greater versatility, and she still showed great willingness to push up the ground and create scoring avenues through her disposals in transition.

FOURTH QUARTER

Nihill’s last quarter was productively her biggest, racking up double-digit disposals – 10 – to finish the game on 31. She showed some genuine class at times alongsidde a couple of errors that perhaps reflected some fatigue and rust being the first competitive game for points in a while. Midway through the quarter, Nihill had marked in the back pocket and went for the risky kick inboard but it was intercepted. Fortunately no damage was done however.

The Pioneers talent made up for that rare mistake with a nice mark at half-back coupled with a perfect long kick to the wing that opened up the game. Under pressure she made a couple of errors by hand, but the moments she saw daylight she was away, and always followed up her work. Perhaps the most impressive element late – that is not naturally instinctual with the game over – was her strong spoil at half-forward leaping up to bring the ball to ground. Less a minute was left, but she refused to let her standards drop.

SUMMARY

Lacey Nihill is a player who can do it all. Sure there are parts of her game she can polish up, but as a whole, she ticks a lot of boxes for her draft profile. Her run and carry and mix of speed-endurance helps her cover the ground and remain involved across each third, while her vision is generally a big tick as well. Add in her versatility to slot into any where on the ground, and she makes it work.

The knock on her game has been that final execution – which she flagged during preseason – but what was evident against the Power was when in space and able to have a moment to pause, she produced some ripping passes. Now it is just about doing when under pressure or at top speed streaming down the ground. That centre clearance to goal assist was a perfect example of what she is capable of doing, and showed a marked improvement.

While he side did lose on the day, Nihill was a shining light alongside a handful of her other top-age and over-age teammates, and it was no surprise she found plenty of it. Without a doubt, the Bendigo talent has draftable traits and should be one that clubs track closely throughout 2026.