ONE of the most consistent ball winners in this year’s AFLW Draft class, Geelong Falcons midfielder Sara Howley had another huge day for her side in Round 11 of the Coates Talent League Girls. As the Falcons stormed past Murray Bushrangers in the second half of the match, Howley was at the forefront of a lot of transitional play and she was the subject of our Player Focus.

Howley collected 33 disposals, took three marks, laid six tackles and finished with four inside 50s and two rebound 50s, and while incredibly she has had bigger days, it was her balance across the four quarters that caught the eye.

Geelong Falcons, Vic Country GirlsMidfielder

Sara Howley

Height: 173cm

Weight: -

DOB: 29-01-2006

PLAYER FOCUS

2024 Coates Talent League Girls: Round 11
Geelong Falcons 7.9 (51) defeated Murray Bushrangers 4.2 (26)

#41 Sara Howley (Geelong Falcons)
Stats: 33 disposals (16 kicks, 17 handballs) 3 marks, 6 tackles, 4 inside 50s, 2 rebound 50s, 2 behinds

FIRST QUARTER

Howley started in the midfield as she always does, wasting no time to get involved with the opening centre clearance. A minute later she was lucky not to be pinged for holding the ball as she ran through multiple opponents to try and break the lines, but just managed to get the handball clear.

That pressure would be an element of the game the Falcons midfielders would feel, as there were no easy exits from in close. At one stage in the opening minutes, Howley was tackled, dispossessed and then the Falcons midfielder became the tackler.

Howley’s ability to read the ball off the ruck tap – often thanks to set plays – was on clear display as she won it in that fashion and was able to quickly dish off cleanly. The lightning quick disposal was following a case where she had been in a similar instance a couple of minutes earlier and caught holding the ball.

Midway through the term after a break, Howley won a free kick on the wing and went lateral to a teammate with a clean disposal. She would go on to win a number of touches on the wing, including a clever clearance and another couple of handballs in transition.

SECOND QUARTER

The second term opened with Howley pulling out the early party tricks. Though it did take until the third minute for the touch, she had a brilliant fake one way at half-forward to then ankle break her opponent and dish off by hand to a free teammate on her left side.

Though the game would not be one of her more prolific aerial matches due to the high congestion rate around stoppages, Howley did find some space and take a nice mark on the wing early in the term and passed off cleanly to half-forward. With time and space, Howley can be very damaging by foot.

Midway through the quarter, Howley worked into defence and had a moment where she could not quite cleanly kick it away after hitting the side of the boot, but worked to win it again and switched the ball effectively to a teammate in space. A moment later she was up the other end, intercepting at half-forward and then unloaded on goal that just fell short and was marked in the goalsquare.

Howley maintained her consistent accumulation throughout the quarter with a second shot on goal in the 12th minute that missed to the left, while taking her second mark at half-back a couple of minutes later. She showed great vision in that instance to have her head on a swivel and pass inboard on that 45-degree angle to hit up teammate Stella Huxtable in the corridor.

Her first half would finish as it started, winning the last clearance as the siren sounded.

THIRD QUARTER

Howley started the third quarter on Sophia Green in the middle, with the pair scrapping hard for the ball and having a basketball jump ball situation where they faced each other while trying to wrestle it clear. The Falcons midfielder had plenty of involvement with the umpires early, as she was pinged for incorrect disposal in defence, before winning a high free kick at half-back no less than a minute later.

Able to pinpoint a pass to Hayley Peck with the kick, Howley would go back to getting involved in handball chains around the ground for the most part in the quarter, often under immense pressure. She was able to successfully extract the ball on a number of occasions where few others could thanks to her ability to get her hands to it and get it away in the blink of an eye.

In the fourth minute she did what she does best in running hard for the handball receive and then kicking long down the line to disrupt the defence. Her contest-to-contest running when there is an opportunity to break lines, is the crux of her game and often separates her from most of the other midfielders in the draft crop.

Howley finished the term with a few more disposals, and was able to get a handball away while being spun in a tackle, eventually laying a tackle on the player who intercepted that handball. Her defensive pressure when turning over the ball ramps up, desperate to win it back.

FOURTH QUARTER

The fourth term was Howley’s quietest, but she also spent time outside the midfield as she has at different points. From a game perspective, she would win an early handball out of the opening stoppage, then had a flying shot on goal midway through the quarter that would miss.

From a role perspective she was stationed up forward at times, as she has been identified as one to play that as a secondary role – perhaps even for Vic Country given the strength of the midfield there – with her 173cm frame and ability to find space.

She had a couple of impactful handballs away, and though the final term also featured getting caught holding the ball once more and then taking a fourth shot on goal that she shanked and went out of bounds, she still had some big moments.

Her best came in the same play as that shot on goal, having intercepted a handball and got one away just inside 50 on the boundary. Hanging back behind the stoppage she scooped up the loose ball, faked a handball to step inside and take the shot herself, showing off more of her party tricks.

CLOSING THOUGHTS…

Sara Howley is a promising midfielder who has long been in the top group of players since debuting for the Falcons a couple of years back. She loves to run and carry, break the lines and has the potential to be impactful by hand or foot, and clearly has no trouble finding the ball.

The knock can come on her defensive running when not able to win the ball at times, as well as her efficiency when racking up large numbers. However while some players might be more consistently efficient, Howley’s efficiency comes from her metres gained and her ability to get forward and hit the scoreboard.

Among the top Victorian prospects in the AFLW Draft, it will be fascinating to see where Howley lands, as she definitely has some great points of difference. She has the size and the speed to be a huge factor, and while she does have those areas to work on, she can be a player who fits in well to a team with a strong inside presence who needs a runner on the outside or as a second possession winner from the stoppage.