FEW players in the 2026 AFLW draft crop do more with less than Julia Faulkner. The Woodville-West Torrens forward-midfielder kick-started her top-age season in style in Round 1, quietly engineering a series of scoring opportunities in a 5.4 (34) draw with Sturt that reflected everything that makes her such an intriguing prospect.

>> 2026 SANFLW 15 to Watch: #12 Julia Faulkner (Woodville-West Torrens)

Julia Faulkner

Club: Woodville-West Torrens
Height: 163cm
Date of Birth: 06/05/2008

STRENGTHS:

+ Clean hands under pressure
+ Creativity in the front half
+ Defensive pressure
+ Decision making in traffic
+ Footy IQ

IMPROVEMENTS:

– Production
– Direct scoreboard impact

SEASON SO FAR

Statistics: 16 disposals (8 kicks, 8 handballs), 3 marks, 6 tackles, 4 clearances, 2 inside 50s, 1 rebound 50, 71 ranking points (Round 1 vs Sturt)

FIRST QUARTER

With Sturt controlling the midfield in the opening term, Faulkner started forward and then shifted on-ball. The talented top-ager made an immediate difference, winning the Eagles’ first centre clearance, wheeling around and pumping it to the half-forward before scrapping at ground level on the forward side of the wing moments later.

A strong tackle at half-back in the ninth minute followed by an intercept mark deep in the middle and a clean hands-off was her best passage — a purple patch that underlined her ability to impact across multiple positions in quick succession. A big tackle on the wing that unfortunately landed in her back ended a first quarter in which she had already made her presence felt without ever drawing attention to herself.

SECOND QUARTER

A quieter term but no less impactful in moments. She moved on-ball again at the six-and-a-half-minute mark, winning a kick to the half-forward under pressure with lovely work through traffic. A strong contested mark in the middle and quick hands-off followed, before she was immediately tackled upon gathering at the next opportunity — a reminder of the close attention she was drawing from Sturt’s defence. Clean, efficient, and always available.

THIRD QUARTER

Her best quarter and the one that most clearly illustrated what Faulkner brings to Woodville-West Torrens. A handball receive from Alice Tentye led to a lovely, perfectly timed handball release to Jiarna Zerella that set up the Eagles’ first goal — reading the play two steps ahead of the contest and executing it with complete composure. A strong tackle just inside 50 on Georgia Swan won a holding-the-ball free that created another scoring opportunity.

A slick handball through traffic at the half-forward stoppage in the 12th minute, won back after it brushed her fingers, and a brilliant tackle on Lily Whiteman at centre half-forward rounded out a term in which she also forced a turnover inside 50 with suffocating pressure — the next kick ending in a goal to Klaudia O’Neill. Three separate scoring chains created in a single quarter. That is the Faulkner effect.

FOURTH QUARTER

Continued in the same vein — her best individual moment of the game came at the seven-and-a-half-minute mark when she read the ball perfectly off hands just inside 50 and delivered a magnificent kick to set up another Zerella goal before immediately rotating into the centre stoppage.

A smart lead out to the middle in the sixth minute ended with her laying a tackle on an opponent when the kick from Leah Cutting fell short, and she was involved in tight again at the 11th and 12th minutes, getting hands free and applying pressure at half-back. A late snap from 20 metres at a forward stoppage in the 16th minute — showing her instinct to contribute on the scoreboard — was the one moment where she backed herself to finish rather than create.

SUMMARY

Faulkner does not need to dominate the scoreboard or the disposal count to have a decisive impact, and Round 1 showed exactly that. Her ability to create scoring opportunities through slick handball releases and sharp reads in the forward half – twice directly setting up goals and forcing the chain that led to a third – is a genuine and under appreciated craft.

With her tackling pressure and football IQ already at a high level heading into this season, Faulkner looms as a player whose influence will consistently outweigh her stat line. AFLW clubs who dig deeper than the numbers will find plenty to like.