TOP-AGE winger Megan Norbury had a role change for a half on the weekend, with the traditional outside runner starting on-ball during West Perth’s clash against East Fremantle. Norbury worked well playing inside before moving to her more familiar outside position after the main break.

Though the Falcons ultimately suffered a 17-point loss in the top three clash, Norbury was one who caught the eye with her ability to put her body on the line a few times in aerial contests, to match her already known elite endurance base and defensive running.

Norbury was the subject of our WAFL Women’s Player Focus for Round 11, picking up 18 disposals and clunking an impressive 11 marks in the game at Pentanet Stadium on Sunday.

West Perth, Western Australia GirlsWing

Megan Norbury

Height: 171cm

Weight: -

DOB: 09-03-2006

PLAYER FOCUS

2024 WAFL Women’s: Round 11
West Perth 4.2 (26) lost to East Fremantle 6.7 (43)

#1 Megan Norbury (West Perth)
Stats: 18 disposals (13 kicks, 5 handballs), 11 marks, 1 clearance, 3 tackles, 1 inside 50, 5 rebound 50s

FIRST QUARTER

Norbury was named on-ball at the team selection table, earmarking a role change for the Round 11 match, and sure enough the 17-year-old lined up in the middle. Rotating between East Fremantle skipper Ash Gomes and speedster Zippy Fish at the stoppages, Norbury has the pace to burst from congestion and she was quick to start notching up touches.

In the opening 30 seconds she led all-comers with three handballs, working to half-back for a one-two before winning another touch from a stoppage. At the two-minute mark, Norbury notched up her first kick following a mark in the centre, where she opted to go lateral and backwards to open up the fat side of the ground for the West Perth spare player to run into.

At times her confidence can waiver in games and it looked like that for a split moment when she dropped an intercept mark on the defensive side of the centre square, but would make up for that moment late in the quarter with a terrific contested mark at half-back. Unfortunately the latter resulted in a rare turnover fro a quick kick down the line.

The first term was easily Norbury’s best in terms of her impact, laying a couple of tackles and spreading well to the outside from the stoppage. A handball receive on the wing to open up the game with a corridor kick in the fifth minute summed up what she is capable of, but she can also play the percentages, taking yet another mark in defence where she found Liliana Grassenis at half-back.

SECOND QUARTER

Starting the second term, Norbury found herself opposed to Fish with both players best known for their outside run and carry, and ability to work into space and impact from behind the ball. Her first touch following a mark at half-forward went astray and out of bounds in what was her sole inside 50.

However Norbury is most comfortable behind the ball, mopping up at half-back in the sixth minute, laying a good tackle after seemingly hesitating for a moment when having the ground ball between her and her opponent.

Midway through the quarter she took a huge contested mark against Ash Atkins who is known for her safe hands, taking front position and clunking it well, then delivering to Emily Bennett at half-back. Still learning when to go hard and when to stay back, Norbury erred on the latter when going for a loose ball upon seeing an opponent, but then cracked in for the former for her last touch of the half.

THIRD QUARTER

Returning from the break, Norbury was back out on her familiar wing, and though not as influential in terms of volume of touches, her disposal when finding space and delivering was far more damaging. Her first touch came via a handball on the wing with a clean pass to a free teammate outside congestion.

Stationed as a defensive winger through the second half of the quarter, Norbury marked from the kickout in defence at the 14-minute mark and delivered nicely to half-back, then spoiled an opponent a couple of minutes later by using her speed to work to the front position.

She would take another couple of marks in the final three minutes, and on both occasions delivered perfect passes to teammates, one into the corridor and another to Kayla Van Den Heever on the forward side of the wing.

FOURTH QUARTER

Norbury’s start to the fourth term was rather anti-climatic starting on the bench and coming onto the field at the seven and a half-minute mark. She rolled onto a wing with her first touch being a rushed handball under pressure that proved effective to Mia Russo.

At the midway point of the term, she had a brilliantly clean ground ball win in defence, sidestepping one way then the other, before being able to deliver effectively down the ground. When a teammate turned it over, Norbury took another contested intercept mark, before delivering an effective lateral kick.

Norbury’s last impact for the game was a summary of her best traits. She completed another great spoil, and then under pressure gathered cleanly to dish off to Russo by hand for the bottom-ager to use her speed to get away. By the end of the match, Norbury was clearly one of West Perth’s best and the coaches thought so too, awarding her best on ground.

CLOSING THOUGHTS…

Megan Norbury is a player who has some super draftable traits. She has a huge tank – dominating the yo-yo test in the WAFL Women’s Preseason Testing – along with some great speed and fantastic agility, athletically she is gifted and that is already a huge tick.

On-field, her outside game is one that can be highly damaging when she is on-song, with her decision making and skill execution – particularly in the way of her short-to-medium kicking and handballing – helps open up the game for her teammates.

Norbury is not afraid to bite off those 45-degree kicks into the corridor or take the opportunity to switch. She assesses the situation, and will generally make good decisions with ball-in-hand. Her on-ball move this week was a good one for the top-ager to develop her contested game.

The outside runner can at times be a little skittish at ground level under pressure and her confidence can waver. This in turn leads to inconsistent performances, such as her six disposals against Peel Thunder in Round 9.

Norbury is capable to stringing together a few strong performances, with her Round 1 game against the Thunder (17 disposals, seven marks and four tackles) and then back-to-back games in Round 7 and 8 against the Sharks and Swan Districts also highlights of her season.

Overall, on talent and traits alone, Norbury is a draftable prospect, it will come down to her consistency and whether she can close the gap between her best and worst games. The performance on the weekend showed she has the capacity to take on more contested roles and it will be fascinating to see if this role change becomes a more permanent fixture.