AS THE last of the competitions come to a close and the off-season begins to take off, the 2025 AFLW Draft hopefuls are still hard at it preparing for the December draft. With the upcoming AFLW National and State Draft Combines n the horizon, we take a look at state-by-state how the prospects are shaping up.

We start our series over in Western Australia, a side that split its National Championships results at 2-2, but have its best ever draft crop on offer ensuring plenty will land on AFLW lists.

>> AFLW U18s review: Western Australia

TOP DRAFT CHOICE

It’s always good when there is no guarantee who might be picked up first from a state, and that is certainly the case from Western Australia. The 2025 AFLW Draft looks to have the most versatile top-end crop to-date, with players available across all positions. The Sandgropers are a microcosm of this, with up to five players all in that first round mix.

In our latest Power Rankings we had tall forward Olivia Wolmarans marginally ahead of Mia Russo and Evie Cowcher, but you could throw a blanket over them depending on the needs, while Olivia Crane and the fast-rising Carys D’Addario all shape as locked in first round talents.

Olivia Wolmarans

Key Strengths: Athleticism, aerial ability, upside

Wolmarans is the high-upside, ultra-athletic marking forward who has the highest variation between her ceiling and floor week-in, week-out, but when she is on, she is also the hardest to quell. Whether it’s long bombs from 50m or snaps around her body bursting away from smaller opponents, she provides all the tricks of the caper.

Mia Russo

Key strengths: Explosive power, contested work, strength

The Under 16s MVP has claims among the best smaller midfielders in the draft crop and if she was 100 per cent fit every game she played, she might well have gone even better than her All-Australian national carnival. Her competitiveness and explosiveness from the contest is something you love to see, and she’s the ‘jump on my back, we’re going to the promised land’ type.

Evie Cowcher

Key strengths: Intercept marking, kicking, reading the play

Unfortunately stress fractures in her back meant Cowcher has not been sighted since early in the season, and missed the entire national carnival. Internally she is regarded as the top pick given her sheer consistency and back-to-back MVPs. If you’re after an intercepting key back, there are none better. Few read the ball and position themselves as well as Cowcher, and she rarely plays a bad game when on the park.

Olivia Crane

Key strengths: Intercept marking, vision, skills

Not too dissimilar to Cowcher, Crane is not quite as high-volume as Cowcher, but she has that ability to be better one-on-one. Her skills by hand or foot are high-risk, high-reward and she captained the Under 16s side. One of the most popular players amongst her peers, she returned from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury to have a really strong 2025 campaign.

Carys D’Addario

Key strengths: Stoppage craft, footy IQ, kicking

The draft has often been harsh to players who have great footballing abilities but lack a yard of pace. However D’Addario is one with plenty more than just her nous. She is so clean and strong of course, but her kicking from the stoppage be it under pressure or in space is a real point of difference compared to other inside midfielders. Her score involvements are always high and her reading off hands is elite.

OTHERS

Talls

Western Australia has a plethora of talls, and along with Wolmarans, there are two others with elite athleticism. One is East Fremantle’s Alicia Blizard, whose groundlevel play is better than her aerial work, and her goal sense and defensive pressure really standout. She has to continue working on her marking, but once the ball hits the deck, Blizard’s follow-up work is fantastic.

Already at a national level with basketball, Perth Lynx’s Alira Fotu had a delayed start to the season. She is similar to Blizard in being that raw tall with plenty of upside. She can take a mark, but is still developing areas of her fundamentals. Her evasive work and pure footy IQ is outstanding and it will be a fascinating watch to see how she juggles football and basketball.

A third athletic tall who is more of a late draft chance is the improving Ava Stewart. Unfortunately the top-ager missed out on selection for the WAFLW Grand Final, but she can play up either end which is a point of difference to the rest of the talls from the Sandgropers’ crop. Has great athleticism which is a plus.

Midfielders

The ultra-consistent Renee Morgan leads the charge here, and like D’Addario does lack that explosive speed. However, Morgan boasts fantastic smarts and clean skills, with her most notable point of difference being her ability to use either side of her body. Like Russo and D’Addario, Morgan is a competitive beast and she’s another player you want running out beside you.

Speaking of competitive, Claremont’s Juliet Kelly is a coach’s dream. She will put her team first every time she runs out, and whether she is needed in the middle, down back, up forward or in a tagging role, she will do it, no questions asked. Three-time premiership coach Jack Schwarze sung her praises mid-year and she has the runs on the board, just falls into that lack of explosiveness category too. Elite tackler and defensive bull.

Medium-Smalls

If teams have a need for speed, then forward duo Ella Gilbey and Sienna Gerardi have that in spades. Gilbey is the taller of the pair at 170cm, and can also play off a wing. Her elite speed and endurance makes her a nightmare for most opponents, and she is still developing some of her fundamentals, but her upside is undeniable. If she gets goalside, watch out.

Though if there’s one player you cannot let get goalside it is Gerardi, with the Swan Districts small one of the fastest players in the draft crop. As she showed at the Under 16 Championships two years ago, she will explode forward and burn off anyone with ease. Her finishing and final execution is still developing, and she has had her injury interruptions in 2025, but boy she’s a human highlight reel.

Least but certainly not last is East Fremantle defender Maya Louvel-Finn. She’s actually our highest ranked West Australian from the State Draft Combine invitees, and with good reason. Her WAFLW year has been sublime in the back half, with a powerful right boot and great positioning and one-on-one abilities. Louvel-Finn has taken some big scalps including Majella Day at the National Championships, where she finished the carnival as an All-Australian.

SUMMARY

As is evident from above, Western Australia has a stack of draftable prospects, with likely five first rounders, and then a sprinkling of possibilities after that. There’s a good chance they could hit the double-figure draft tally in 2025, but there are some question marks on the later prospects as one would expect. Still, an exciting year for the Sandgropers and it will be fascinating to see how many find AFLW homes at year’s end.