THE 2026 AFLW Preseason Draft on Monday, May 4 represents one last chance for those who missed out last October to hear their name called. Across the country, players who previously nominated for the AFLW Draft but missed out will be hoping for a recall.

South Australia has quite a number of players in the conversation. We’ve highlighted five prospects stand out as players AFLW clubs should be weighing up, each with a different story for why they’re still available, and each with a compelling case for why that should change on May 4.

Mikaylah Antony (Central District)
Midfielder/Defender | 169cm | 06/07/2007

Of all the players in South Australia’s over-age group, Antony’s story may be the most straightforward: she is simply a talented player who had the wrong year at the wrong time. Her bottom-age season at SANFLW level in 2024 was eye-catching enough to earn a call-up to the South Australian Under 18s side, where she played all three games at the national championships and recorded a kicking efficiency of 82.4 per cent — behind only Ash Centra and Sienna Tallariti in that carnival, both of whom were widely regarded as the two best kicks in that draft crop. That is not a coincidence. Antony is a genuinely elite ball-user.

A speedy, hard-running half-back and midfielder who came through the Barossa-based Willaston club before breaking into Central District’s League squad, Antony was building perfectly towards a proper top-age campaign in 2025. What she got instead were separate hip and ankle injuries that reduced her year to barely half a dozen games, robbing her of the continuous exposure and form line that drives draft visibility. She received a State Draft Combine invite anyway – a genuine reflection of how highly she was regarded regardless of games played – and fronted up with the mindset of someone hungry to prove a point.

Through three rounds in 2026, Antony has been lining up in the middle, adding midfield and defensive versatility to a Central District side still finding its best combination. She is quicker than most and uses it smarter than most – a player who gives clubs run and carry with elite kicking precision attached.

Why she was overlooked: A hip injury and then ankle complaint reduced her top-age SANFLW season to a handful of games, stripping her of the continuous form line clubs need to see before committing a pick.

Why she’s a chance now: Fully fit, playing regular SANFLW football and backed by an elite kicking efficiency data point from the national championships that holds regardless of games missed. There only needs to be one club who has done their homework.

Melissa Anderson (South Adelaide)
Midfielder | 174cm | 17/08/2005

Anderson is a 20-year-old who has been a consistent, high-quality contributor to the reigning SANFLW premiers for multiple seasons now and a player who is readymade. She can play on a wing, through the centre or as a half-forward, and in 2025 was so valuable to the Panthers that as teammates were called away for representative duties, Anderson was the player who stepped up to absorb those additional midfield minutes and thrive in them.

A genuine workhorse who excels around the coalface, Anderson’s ability to adapt to whatever role is asked of her – and to lift her output when teammates are unavailable – speaks to a football intelligence and physical capacity that translates well to the next level. She has been part of premiership-winning football at South Adelaide, has had her name mentioned in draft conversations for two consecutive years, and in 2026 is again lining up in the centre square for an undefeated Panthers side as one of their most trusted midfielders.

Why she was overlooked: A crowded South Adelaide midfield and a draft pool with significant depth in the midfielder-forward mould made it difficult for Anderson to stand out despite the quality of her performances across two seasons.

Why she’s a chance now: Consistent senior-level production, premiership experience, adaptable positioning and the football nous of a player who has been tested against the best competition South Australia offers. A readymade option who could slot into a senior round one squad.

Alice Tentye (Woodville-West Torrens)
Utility | 163cm | 09/09/2005

Tentye might be the most exciting player in South Australia’s group, and one of the more fascinating profiles in this entire Preseason Draft. She arrived at Woodville-West Torrens midway through the 2025 SANFLW season from the Gambier league in regional South Australia, an essentially unknown quantity at the state level, and proceeded to become one of the Eagles’ most important contributors as they drove to the SANFLW grand final.

Tentye is genuinely capable of influencing games from multiple positions. She is a two-way player – hard at the contest, productive with the ball and willing to do the less glamorous work that makes contested football function – and she shows up in the statistics in a way that mid-range SANFLW players simply do not. The Eagles are one of the competition’s strongest and deepest sides, which makes Tentye’s prominence in that environment even more telling.

Her story is one of late emergence and rapid development – a player who came from outside the traditional pipeline and has made up ground at a rate that raises the question of how much further she can develop with genuine elite-level resources around her.

Why she was overlooked: Came from outside the traditional pathway – no SANFLW background, no Under 18 Championships exposure – which means limited prior visibility with AFLW recruiters despite the obvious talent.

Why she’s a chance now: A strong SANFLW season behind her, including a grand final campaign and a dominant start to 2026 make the case clearly. A player who improves every year at every level she plays is exactly what Preseason Draft lists should be built around.

Tiffany King (South Adelaide)
Key Defender | 179cm | 08/04/1999

King is the experienced head in South Australia’s Preseason Draft group, and in some ways the most need-filling selection case of the five. She is a 179cm key defender who has spent seven seasons at South Adelaide being one of the SANFLW’s most reliable lockdown defenders – a player who has taken on and regularly subdued AFLW-listed key forwards throughout her career at state level, including in multiple finals campaigns and across multiple premiership seasons. She rarely gets beaten one-on-one. She has the aerial quality to compete for the ball overhead and the ground-level toughness to compete in one-on-one physical contests against heavier opponents.

King earned a Draft Combine invite in 2024 on the back of another ultra-consistent SANFLW season and attracted genuine draft interest from multiple clubs, most notably as a local option for Adelaide and Port Adelaide who might value her readymade defensive quality in their back six. She has also been a train-on at Port Adelaide, which confirms that at least one AFLW club has had a close look and liked what they saw.

At 26 years of age, King is not a long-term project. She is a readymade, experienced key defender who can compete for a spot in a senior side from day one, take on the opposition’s best forward, and hold her ground. There are not many of those available.

Why she was overlooked: The draft has consistently prioritised younger players with more projected growth, and King’s steady, unglamorous defensive quality is easier to overlook than an explosive midfielder or a goal-kicking forward.

Why she’s a chance now: Seven seasons of SANFLW excellence, a Draft Combine experience, a train-on at Port Adelaide, and the simple reality that a club needing a key defender who can compete immediately has no better option available in this draft.

Isla Wiencke (Glenelg)
Midfielder | 174cm | 30/03/2007

Wiencke’s case is the one that will linger longest if May 4 passes without her name being called. She was a National Academy member, represented the Allies at the AFLW Under 18 Championships, won the Allies’ MVP at the 2024 national championships as a bottom-ager, and arrived in her top-age year as one of the most anticipated inside midfielders in the draft crop.

A contested beast with elite inside traits, a booming right boot and the knack for turning coalface work into direct clearances at a rate that made her clearance-to-disposal ratio one of the more remarkable in any competition she played in.

She crossed to Glenelg ahead of the 2026 SANFLW season after spending her top-age year with the GWS Giants Academy, where Glenelg coach Talia Radan openly targeted her as the replacement for the retired Jess Bates – a direct comparison that signals how highly the Bays view her contested ball qualities. In three rounds of the 2026 SANFLW season, she has been exactly what Glenelg needed and exactly what AFLW recruiters have been told to expect — competitive, physical through the stoppages and capable of winning the ball in tight spaces where others cannot.

The outside game is the ongoing development area, and it is an honest one. But the inside traits are elite. She uses her strong frame to bully through contests, gets her hands free under pressure and delivers cleanly when she does. A booming right peg means that when she does find space, the ball goes far and it goes where it is aimed.

Why she was overlooked: A top-age season with the Giants Academy in the Talent League Girls that did not fully showcase her best – the national championships is where her quality was most visible, but by draft night, the form line from club football had not been consistent enough to push her over the line in a competitive year.

Why she’s a chance now: The 2026 SANFLW season has been consistent, physical and impactful from the first bounce. A former National Academy member and Allies MVP who is now playing her best football at state level could be one to get her opportunity at the second chance of asking.

FINAL WORD

South Australia has long been one of the country’s most reliable producers of AFLW talent, and the five players above represent both the depth of the Croweaters’ pipeline and the imperfection of the draft process that leaves good players behind each year. An injury-interrupted speedster with elite kicking efficiency, a readymade South Adelaide premiership midfielder, a regional-product forward/midfielder who has come from nowhere to become one of the SANFLW’s most exciting players, a seven-season lockdown key defender who is ready to compete at the next level now, and a former National Academy member and Allies MVP who is playing the best football of her career. Each story is different. The conclusion is the same: Monday night is the night.