BOASTING outstanding athleticism and high-level X-factor, South Fremantle forward Alira Fotu is a wildcard in this year’s AFLW Draft. On talent alone she is likely to be one of the most watched prospects, but as a Perth Lynx train-on, has also spent the summer in a balancing act between her two sporting loves of Aussie rules football and basketball.

ALIRA FOTU PROFILE

DOB: 17/09/2007
Height: 178cm
Position: Tall Forward
Club: South Fremantle

West Australian Female Talent Manager Trent Cooper says:

“Alira’s on the Lynx roster and she’s playing for Lynx at the moment so we don’t see too much of her. Hopefully once that’s finished she’ll get back into her footy. Really exciting prospect as a forward, really good mark and one of the best exponents of the handball I’ve seen in the female game. Hopefully when she finishes that basketball season we get to see her a bit of her at that stage.”

SUMMARY

Fotu is one of those players who has some enormous potential and is hard to ignore as a player. After spending her previous two years at Rogers Cup level, Fotu cracked in for her WAFLW League debut in Round 2. While she did have an interrupted season, Fotu would return in Round 11 and had a purple patch of three consecutive games, averaging 14.7 disposals and 3.3 marks.

Her year finished off a little quieter at the level, but she found her groove hitting the scoreboard with five goals in her final three games. Looking dangerous early in her first state game against Queensland, Fotu suffered concussion which meant she ultimately missed not only most of the first match, but the second one as well. She returned for the final game against South Australia where she had six touches and kicked a goal.

Fotu is still building the fundamentals in her game and acquiring knowledge to become even more damaging as she develops. With her outstanding athleticism and ability to not only take big grabs, but compete at ground level once the ball hits the deck, Fotu is a unique prospect in the forward half.

A member of the National Academy, the South Fremantle talent is a target inside 50 and could play as a tall and agile midfielder with further progression. While her production can waver, her high impact-per-possession is evident and when everything clicks consistently, she will be a nightmare for opponents to try and defend or quell.