NATIONAL Academy member Mizuki Brothwell set the tone early for the Dandenong Stingrays in their 41-point victory over Oakleigh Chargers which propelled them into the 2025 Coates Talent League Girls Grand Final. Brothwell had a huge first quarter of 12 disposals, before finishing the game with 23, and being crucial off half-back.

Playing a sacrificial role while still finding plenty of the ball, Brothwell ended the game as Dandenong’s leading disposal winner, and cut off numerous Oakleigh attacks, even if just through pressure and assisting her teammates. Her performance was the subject of our Player Focus with a particular look at her opening term.

PLAYER FOCUS

2025 Coates Talent League Girls Preliminary Final
Dandenong Stingrays 8.8 (56) def. Oakleigh Chargers 2.3 (15)

#5 Mizuki Brothwell
Stats: 23 disposals (9 kicks, 14 handballs) @ 74% disposal efficiency, 4 marks, 2 clearances, 3 inside 50s, 2 rebound 50s

FIRST QUARTER:

Stats: 12 disposals, 1 mark, 1 clearance, 2 rebound 50s

Mizuki Brothwell has plied her trade as an intercepting half-back, but in season 2025, the talented tall has also spent time on-ball, and then in the final round of the regular season, up forward too. However against a quality opposition like Oakleigh, her reading of the play and smarts were needed down back, so that is exactly where she lined up.

Coming off a three-goal first quarter the week before, Scarlett Bown loomed as a tough opponent despite only being a double bottom-ager. Bown is athletic and hard to beat in the air or at ground level, and Brothwell went straight to her. With Bailee Martin back in the Oakleigh side, Bown played higher up, with the Chargers always looking to isolate Martin one-on-one in the attacking 50.

What Brothwell did well was not allow that one-on-one to happen. Tactically she was willing to let Bown to move up the ground in order to stay back and help out teammate Gabrielle Mehrmann with Martin. While Martin did kick the Chargers’ first goal from a clever mark and set shot, the tactic worked perfectly given the star forward only kicked the one having not booted less than three goals in a game this season.

By quarter time, Brothwell had racked up 12 disposals and kept her direct opponent statless, all while the pair kept Martin to just one goal. It gave the Stingrays a seven-point lead at quarter time – with Dandenong able to convert two majors up the other end, and really build the confidence when their side had the wind.

From a ball use perspective, Brothwell looked calm and composed, using the ball well despite immense pressure. Her clean hands and ability to dispose of it well really stood out, and though her aerial prowess was not really on show in the opening term, she continually worked back defensively to help out. On occasion when the ball had reached the other end, Brothwell ran had proactively to impact up on the wing.

Her one-on-ones at ground level were great, and at one stage in the 14th minute, she tapped the ball away from Martin who was closing in, then had the composure to keep the ball in and handball clear to a teammate before being tackled. After six disposals in the first six minutes in a hot start, she would double that tally by quarter time to lead all-comers and really have belief that Dandenong could topple the Chargers.

REST OF THE GAME:

Stats: 11 disposals, 4 marks, 2 clearances, 3 inside 50s

Given the conditions, the ball was seldom up the non-windy end, though Dandenong certainly had more of it against the breeze than the Chargers. The second term saw Brothwell pick up a further three disposals, before an unsurprising busier five-disposal third term battling against the breeze in defence. She would finish off with three disposals in the last quarter, but one of which was a crucial intercept at half-back and drove it long down the ground.

Her aerial strength certainly came into the game across the last three quarters, clunking four marks and controlling the play. It was helped by the fact Bown was sent to defence to try and assist Zara Neuwirth with Dandenong’s athletic talls, so Brothwell spent more time on Chloe Thorn in the second term and even Chloe Bown when she drifted forward. Thorn is ultra-clean at ground level, but Brothwell is the more dominant aerial player which suited her gamestyle.

In the end, Brothwell finished with 23 disposals, and made very few mistakes for the match. Most of the time, even her inefficient disposals did not hurt her side, with that first term being a brilliant start, and the rest of the game still important as the opposition was wary of her at half-back.

CLOSING THOUGHTS…

Mizuki Brothwell is one of a number of players in that second round range, with her upside certainly capable of sneaking into that late first round. Good overhead, able to read the play and critically be clean under pressure, Brothwell has developed in leaps and bounds over the past two seasons.

Her kicking in particular has really honed in and is actually quite damaging on a good day, with most of Brothwell’s disposals at the very least being advantageous for her side. Against one of the league’s most damaging offensive setups, the National Academy member shone, and alongside Mehrmann were two crucial keys as to why Dandenong is now into the Coates Talent League Girls Grand Final.