ANNIE Clish announced herself to the Talent League Girls competition in emphatic fashion on Saturday, booting four goals from 17 disposals and six marks as the Dandenong Stingrays romped to a 95-point win over the Bendigo Pioneers at Queen Elizabeth Oval. While she has started the season in great form averaging 2.5 goals per game, her performance bettered her three-goal haul from Round 3.

Annie Clish
Club: Dandenong Stingrays
Height: 170cm
Date of Birth: 25/05/2009

STRENGTHS:

+ Goal sense
+ Contested marking
+ Forward craft
+ X-Factor
+ Scoreboard impact

IMPROVEMENTS:

– Defensive pressure
– Explosiveness

Statistics (Round 6 vs Bendigo Pioneers): 17 disposals, 6 marks, 2 tackles, 1 clearance, 4 inside 50s, 4 goals, 3 behinds

Clish is a 2027 draft prospect and bottom-ager for the Stingrays – she won’t turn 17 until later this month – and performances like Saturday’s underline the forward threat she brings to Dandenong’s attacking half. Her six-mark haul was the standout number, reflecting a forward who knows how to present and hold her position when the ball comes inside 50. Four goals from those opportunities speaks to composure in front of goal that most teenagers at this level are still developing.

FIRST QUARTER:

Clish was active from the opening bounce, taking a strong mark in the first couple of minutes and delivering to the hotspot that led to an early Stingrays goal. Her own shot for goal at the four-minute mark went just wide for a behind, but two minutes later she was back at it – a great contested mark in front of Mia Clark, followed by a short, well-weighted kick inside.

When the delivery fell short, she read the flight perfectly, roved the loose ball and snapped truly from close range. First goal. She continued to lead strongly before the first change, marking 30 metres out from a good lead in front of Beth Morris though this time her attempt pushed just wide for another behind.

SECOND QUARTER:

The second quarter showed a different dimension of Clish’s game – her ability to create in tight. At the two-and-a-half-minute mark she took a handball receive 25 metres out, used clever forward craft to get front and centre on her opponent, turned onto her right side and snapped cleanly through for her second goal.

Her football sense was equally on show in the passages that followed – a half-volley pickup led to a tackle but she managed to handball cleanly to a teammate who converted, and moments later she read the flight of the ball perfectly, taking it on the chest and immediately hitting up Amelia Hamod at the top of the goal square for another assist. Three contributions – a goal, an assist from the tackle, another assist from the chip – in the space of barely 10 minutes. She came off for a rest shortly after.

THIRD QUARTER:

Returned to attack to face Clark again and continued to influence play beyond just personal scoreboard entries. She took a mark at the top of 50 and handballed to Jasmine Whitten to set up a goal for Georgia Goss, then surged forward in the 12th minute and handballed to Lily Brittain who ran onto it and slammed home – two goal assists in the third quarter before she’d kicked one herself.

She fixed that up at the 14-and-a-half-minute mark, getting over the back of Harper Delamare and running onto an easy goal having worked hard to establish position. A late behind when cleared off the line was the only blemish in an otherwise industrious term, and she was still applying pressure at half-forward as the quarter wound down – a forward who doesn’t switch off when the ball goes the other way.

FOURTH QUARTER:

Clish saved one of her best moments for last. Opposed to Tahlia Thorpe at the start of the final term, she took it cleverly away from a forward ruck stoppage, assessed the situation in a split second, and slammed home her fourth goal of the day.

She continued to be dangerous with ball in hand – a handball under pressure in the forward pocket, a forced turnover with a well-timed tackle at the 12-minute mark, and a clean half-forward pickup to release Lily Brittain for another burst deep inside 50. A juggling mark just inside 50 in the final minutes – nearly spectacular – ended with a kick to the hotspot intercepted, a rare moment where the execution didn’t match the ambition.

SUMMARY

What stands out most about Clish’s day is not just the four goals — it is the volume of her involvement across all four quarters and the variety of ways she contributed. Two of her goals came from roved or crafted efforts rather than clean leading marks. Three of the Stingrays’ other goals had her fingerprints on them as the creator. She tackled, she pressure-forced turnovers, she released teammates at the right moment.

For a bottom-ager who won’t turn 17 until May, that football IQ is the most promising sign. The marking game and the goal sense are the headline acts, but the willingness to contest when the ball doesn’t come to her – and the ability to make something of it when it does – is what will have clubs keeping a close eye on her.