ATHLETIC and powerful top-ager Maya Louvel-Finn joins the countdown in our WAFL Women’s ones to watch for 2025, having had a much improved bottom-age season as she prepares for her draft year. Louvel-Finn is best known for her one-on-one ability but also her ability to break away from opponents with a great blend of speed and agility.

MAYA LOUVEL-FINN PROFILE

DOB: 20/02/2007
Height: 169cm
Position: Defender
Club: East Fremantle

West Australian Female Talent Manager Trent Cooper says:

“Maya was put up by East Fremantle last year as a prospect and then she tested really well, really powerful athlete. Plays as a defender and really good at the contest and can play on different players because of her power and athleticism.”

SUMMARY

Louvel-Finn on talent will likely make her way up the list throughout the course of the season, but has had limited exposure compared to some of her peers. The talented defender is a relative newcomer to football and unfortunately copped her fair share of injuries that have thrown up challenges along the way including an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury through her double bottom-age season.

Returning to the side after missing 2023, Louvel-Finn returned via Rogers Cup in Round 2, playing four games before getting her chance at League level. There, the powerful bottom-ager would go on to play eight consecutive matches, only to unluckily make way ahead of the semi-final. She did manage to return for the Sharks in the WAFLW Grand Final, though her team ultimately went down to Claremont on the day.

Still, Louvel-Finn showed throughout the course of the season that she could handle taking on the bigger bodies of senior football, with the strength to match taller forwards, and the speed to go with smaller ones too. In 2025, the top-ager hopes to get some midfield minutes as well as play higher off half-back, with her reading the play another strength of hers. While needing that continuity this season, Louvel-Finn looms as one with plenty of upside for the future.