AFLW 23 Under 23: #2 Charlie Rowbottom
OVER the next three weeks, Rookie Me Central will be counting down our 23 Players Under 23 years of age to watch in the upcoming 2023 season. The criteria is the player must be born in 2001 or later, and must have played at least one AFL Women’s match in Season 7. As the list is completely subjective, the opinion is that of the individual author.
#2 Charlie Rowbottom (Gold Coast)
DOB: 04/10/2002
Height: 180cm
Position: Midfielder
Games: 20
Former number one draft pick Charlie Rowbottom went from strength to strength over the past two seasons, having a promising debut in Season 7, before coming one of the best young players across the league in Season 7. Rowbottom played her junior football with the Oakleigh Chargers, and was an All-Australian in 2021, before the Suns convinced her to nominated Queensland as her state with Gold Coast boasting the number one pick.
The sister of Sydney Swans’ James, Rowbottom earned the league’s Best First Year Player in season one, and came runner-up in the AFLW Rising Star Award to Mimi Hill by one vote. Always regarded as a tough inside midfielder, Rowbottom shone for the Gold Coast Suns in Season 7, winning the club’s best and fairest award.
SEASON 7 KEY STATS:
Games: 10
Disposals: 22.5
Disposal Efficiency: 56
Marks: 2.6
Metres Gained: 253.6
Tackles: 6.9
Clearances: 6.2
Contested Possessions: 13.7
Inside 50s: 2.5
Rebound 50s: 1.7
Intercepts: 2.8
Score Involvements: 2.3
Time of Ground %: 81.3
In Season 7, Rowbottom lifted her disposal average by almost seven per game, going up from 15.7 touches in her first season, to 22.5 per match in her second. Spending exclusive time on-ball, Rowbottom was incredible on the inside, boasting elite clearance (6.2) and tackle (6.9) numbers. She still recorded a strong 253.6 metres gained per match, to have an influence on her side’s attacking forays even if she did not hit the scoreboard herself.
Her lowest disposal tally was 15 disposals, which was her average in Season 6, and while her first three games were sub-20 touches, she would only dip below that in the remaining seven rounds of the season. Though her tackling numbers remained consistent throughout, her clearance numbers rose, as did her metres gained, with the last seven weeks among the best in the competition.
In that time, Rowbottom averaged 25.0 disposals, 2.9 marks, 6.7 clearances and 280 metres gained. In that stretch, Rowbottom picked up a career-high 30 disposals against St Kilda in Round 4, while having two matches of 27 – against Port Adelaide in Round 5 and GWS GIANTS in Round 10 – also managing seven or more clearances in four matches.
LOOKING AHEAD
Charlie Rowbottom is already a young star in the AFL Women’s competition and she can continue to build her game to become one of the best players in the league. She is an incredible contested ball-winner and tenacious tackler, while still adding offensive drive. As a club best and fairest winner already, expect the former number one pick to add to that tally – along with many more awards – in the future.
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OVER the next three weeks, Rookie Me Central will be counting down our 23 Players Under 23 years of age to watch in the upcoming 2023 season. The criteria is the player must be born in 2001 or later, and must have played at least one AFL Women’s match in Season 7. As the list […]
AFLW 23 Under 23: #2 Charlie Rowbottom
OVER the next three weeks, Rookie Me Central will be counting down our 23 Players Under 23 years of age to watch in the upcoming 2023 season. The criteria is the player must be born in 2001 or later, and must have played at least one AFL Women’s match in Season 7. As the list […]
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