IN ONE of the Talent League Girls games of the season, Western Jets stunned reigning premiers Eastern Ranges by a point in a thriller at Avalon Airport Oval. In the first game of a double-header with the respective boys regions, the Jets girls lead by as much as 21 points six minutes into the fourth quarter before Eastern mounted its late, and ultimately too little, assault. In the end, the Jets held in an 8.7 (55) to 7.12 (54) result.

We took note of some of the players who caught the eye, including a returnee from a long-term injury.

WESTERN JETS:

#1 Charli Parsons-Jones
Midfielder/Forward | 167cm | 02/10/2009

Stats: 22 disposals, 3 marks, 7 tackles, 6 clearances, 4 inside 50s, 1 rebound 50

The bottom-ager started on-ball in every quarter and shaped as the Jets’ second stoppage option behind West, pairing a team-high seven tackles with six clearances in a genuine two-way shift. She takes the game on when the option is there, gathering on the wing and backing herself with a bounce rather than the easy handball, and thumped a long kick from a centre clearance in the dying seconds of the opening term. A good shrug off front-on contact in the last hinted at developing strength, and the balance of contested and outside work is the thing to like for 2027.

#2 Addison West
Midfielder | 167cm | 16/05/2008

Stats: 30 disposals, 6 marks, 1 tackle, 7 clearances, 9 inside 50s, 1 rebound 50

A monster game from the top-ager, whose 30 touches and game-high nine inside 50s tell the story of a midfielder who turned stoppage ball into forward-half entries all afternoon. Her transition work was elite – winning it at the coalface with good positioning, then hitting lace-out targets or damaging kicks inside 50 – and the precision that has been a flagged improvement area looked far sharper here. She is strong overhead for a midfielder and her hands were consistently quick, while a nicely seen centring ball to Boyd in the last showed the vision. One of her best games of the season.

#4 Ruby Jones
Wing | 172cm | 02/03/2008

Stats: 17 disposals, 2 marks, 3 tackles, 1 clearance, 3 inside 50s, 5 rebound 50s

Jones held the wing but did plenty of her work rebounding out of the back half, and her evasion was the highlight with a couple of neat sidesteps to create space. Ball use is the inconsistent part – a rushed entry inside 50 was turned over, a handball spilled in defence and a high kick under pressure was picked off by Semple – but she was a reliable kickout receiver option and applied good pressure at half-back.

#5 Tayla Olivieri
Forward/Midfielder | 160cm | 14/02/2008

Stats: 20 disposals, 3 marks, 4 tackles, 1 clearance, 3 inside 50s, 1 rebound 50, 2 behinds

Olivieri covered all three lines, pushing up from attack, rotating on-ball in the second term and drifting back to intercept and hold up the defensive half. She has a nice instinct for the moment, getting a handball away in a tackle and immediately laying one of her own, and her cleanest act came marking at half-forward and hitting Elbayeh with a lovely pass inside 50. The way she streams forward by hand in traffic remains her most projectable trait with her pressure.

#7 Jacinta Eteuati
Defender | 169cm | 27/05/2008

Stats: 13 disposals, 6 marks, 1 tackle, 1 inside 50, 3 rebound 50s

Six marks from just 13 disposals sums up Eteuati’s day as the Jets’ designated interceptor – she read the ball in flight superbly and made her possessions count. Composure under pressure is her calling card, best shown by a standing-up release by hand in the third that sent Elbayeh into a run at half-back. Kicking was mostly efficient with one lapse turned over, and she did exactly what a defender in her mould should do: intercept, mop up and find the right teammate.

#9 Kiara Boyd
Midfielder/Defender | 173cm | 02/06/2008

Stats: 20 disposals, 7 marks, 6 tackles, 1 clearance, 4 inside 50s, 1 rebound 50, 1 goal

Arguably the most influential player afield, Boyd started on-ball each quarter, showed great strength in the contest and had no hesitation thumping it long to keep the ball in attack. Drifting forward in the final term she marked in the corridor and slotted a 40m set shot in the sixth minute, then was sent back with the game on the line to produce an enormous one-on-one mark in the goalsquare that saved a certain goal and the match. A midfielder who can win it, mark it at both ends and defend a goalsquare in the last two minutes is a genuine draft watch.

#16 Piper Dixon
Forward | 158cm | 16/10/2008

Stats: 5 disposals, 1 mark, 1 goal, 2 behinds

Making her return from a long-term injury, Dixon did not need much of the ball to make an impression, snapping a behind from her first touch and pushing a 20m set shot from a tight angle before running hard forward to slam home a goal in the third. The defensive intent stood out just as much, smashing the pack at half-back to force a spoil and laying a crunching tackle in the middle. Encouraging signs for someone who has not played for some time.

#18 Nartasha Elbayeh
Wing | 167cm | 01/05/2008

Stats: 12 disposals, 3 marks, 2 tackles, 2 inside 50s, 4 rebound 50s

Impact per possession was excellent from Elbayeh, who had a hand in three Jets goals from just 12 touches and saved a certain one at the other end with a rushed behind. Her running power is the standout – she dropped a mark and immediately cleaned it up, burst away with explosive speed, took a couple of bounces along the wing to set up Dixon, and shrugged a tackle to hit half-forward. Delivery to a leading target and a snap boot to create a Alana D’Ambrosio goal showed the finishing touch, while her positioning was on point all day.

EASTERN RANGES:

#3 Scout Semple
Midfielder/Forward | 162cm | 03/10/2008

Stats: 19 disposals, 3 marks, 1 tackle, 3 clearances, 1 inside 50, 1 rebound 50, 1 goal

Semple started on-ball throughout each term and her strength through the contest stood out, happy to fire out handballs forward to keep the ball moving even if the cleaner version came in the front half. She has good goal sense, pushing deep in the third to win it in the goalsquare and slam it home. She almost became the match-winner twice in the dying minutes with a long-range shot clunked by Boyd in the goalsquare, before a second attempt – from a set shot just inside 50 – was on target before being spoiled and rushed to the boundary.

#6 Alira Barnard-Rossely
Forward/Midfielder | 167cm | 05/10/2009

Stats: 17 disposals, 1 mark, 2 tackles, 1 clearance, 5 inside 50s, 1 rebound 50, 2 behinds

The bottom-ager was a big part of Eastern’s forward-half supply with five inside 50s, while also missing a couple of chances on goal. She goes hard and gets the ball into dangerous spots – breaking away from the middle to kick deep, switching at half-back and following up – yet missed on the near side in the second and then hit the post running into an open goal from 10m out. The finishing will come with greater experience, because when around the ball and streaming forward she looks ultra-dangerous.

#7 Bridie Neale
Wing | 167cm | 03/03/2008

Stats: 22 disposals, 4 marks, 3 tackles, 3 inside 50s, 2 rebound 50s, 1 goal

Neale found it consistently from the wing with a heavy lean towards short, efficient ball movement and she rarely wasted a possession. Her reading of the play is the strength, never better than the brilliant positioning to intercept 40m out all alone before launching a shot that bounced home. Only blemish was a turnover after breaking down the outside, with the link work between the arcs a heavy feature of her game.

#10 Perri Goulding
Forward/Midfielder | 161cm | 05/07/2009

Stats: 17 disposals, 4 marks, 6 tackles, 2 clearances, 1 inside 50, 1 behind

Busy is the word for Goulding, who worked between the arcs relentlessly and was as prominent for her pressure as her ball-winning. Her competitiveness showed when tackled in the middle, winning the hard ball back and going forward, while a post and a wide snap after being spoiled kept her off the scoresheet. Moved on-ball in the fourth, the bottom-ager was hurt after charging forward and running into Eteuati, with trainers coming out – hopefully nothing serious, because the work rate and pressure profile are exactly what recruiters look for.

#12 Emily Rankin
Midfielder/Forward | 166cm | 11/05/2008

Stats: 33 disposals, 1 mark, 2 tackles, 7 clearances, 8 inside 50s, 3 rebound 50s

A game-high 33 disposals with team-highs of seven clearances and eight inside 50s made Rankin the primary engine for the Ranges. Her handball is the weapon – lightning quick, clean in congestion and often released with a fend-off – and her drive forward was relentless, popping one to the goalsquare to set up Semple’s goal. Not everything came off, but the volume and willingness to keep attacking are first rate.

#17 Lara Williams
Defender | 168cm | 29/08/2008

Stats: 15 disposals, 3 marks, 3 tackles, 1 clearance, 3 inside 50s, 1 behind

Williams played a genuine attacking defender’s role and was not shy about pushing to half-forward, with her kicking the weapon – thumping entries to the hotspot and switching well out of the back half. She can hit the safe option too, marking to intercept and finding a lateral target. Two chances went begging in a 45m set shot that fell into the goalsquare and a flying shot across the face, but the drive is genuinely damaging.

#29 Ellie Busch
Defender | 174cm | 13/03/2008

Stats: 14 disposals, 3 marks, 3 tackles, 1 clearance, 4 rebound 50s

Busch was the reliable exit option out of the back half and worked well in tandem with Williams and Glew. Her long kicking mostly gained the required metres after one early attempt bounced out of bounds, and she showed a willingness to take the game on by charging out of defence to the wing. Not flashy, but composed, and the offensive add-on sits nicely on top of her defensive base.

#34 Sadie Glew
Defender | 164cm | 25/11/2009

Stats: 15 disposals, 4 marks, 3 tackles, 1 clearance, 1 inside 50, 1 rebound 50

Glew simply keeps making herself available, presenting as an option all day and getting quick hands away out of defence. Her most valuable moment came intercepting on the wing and thumping it forward to create a turnover goal, and she showed real strength for her size by breaking through tackles and releasing. Reads the ball in flight well and is a bottom-ager with plenty to like. One can see where the nickname ‘Super Glew’ comes from.

#35 Brylee Anderson
Midfielder/Forward | 173cm | 25/03/2008

Stats: 17 disposals, 3 marks, 6 tackles, 2 clearances, 3 inside 50s, 2 rebound 50s, 1 behind

The 173cm top-ager brought the tackling pressure that has become her calling card, and her long kicking was a genuine asset – setting up Isabella Lord with a deep entry in the second and thumping one inside 50 in the last that led directly to a goal. She started on-ball in the bulk of the quarters and won her share, though a quick shot into the behind post and a high free given away on the wing were the blemishes. The size, pressure and penetrating kick are a good package.