ONE OF the most dedicated and thorough AFLW Draft prospects, West Australian Maya Louvel-Finn could not have done much more to justify her place at AFLW level. The talented defender finished third in East Fremantle’s Best and Fairest despite missing six games, earned All-Australian honours at the national championships and rarely had a quiet game in an outstandingly consistent year.

Just over a month out from the AFLW Draft, Louvel-Finn spoke to Rookie Me Central about her season and goals ahead of the December 15 draft, with the Shark youngster feeling “pretty good” about what she had accomplished in 2025 after an interrupted 2024 season.

“Not being overly confident or anything, but I’ve worked hard this year and hopefully it paid off, it felt like it did to me a little bit, but it felt so good just having my first state season,” Louvel-Finn said. “I had so much fun during it, and just putting in the effort and for our team to win two out of our four games which is the most we’ve won in years now, it felt really good to be a part of that journey with everyone and I’ve made so many new and great connections along the way with that one.”

Louvel-Finn missed out on plenty of experiences leading up to her top-age campaign, having battled through some frustrating times with her knee, and then when returning last season, was in and out of the East Fremantle WAFLW team. However in 2025, the athletic defender made herself irreplaceable, stepping up alongside good friend Madison Evans to hold down the fort for the Sharks.

“Last season it was really hard as a young player being so in and out, same as my friend Maddy Evans,” Louvel-Finn said. “Like we weren’t particularly locked in with the League position yet, but this year I felt like I really made myself part of the team.

“I definitely showcased my talents and I felt like I deserved to be playing at that level and just the support along the way. “All the older girls helped so much just with little things like before and after trainings, just getting the hands in and everything. “That actually helped so much more than people realised.”

Though East Fremantle did miss out on advancing past the elimination final stage, Louvel-Finn said the team was proud of the season, and how the Sharks dealt with dire conditions two weeks in a row against eventual grand finalists Swan Districts.

Outside of her state league commitments where Louvel-Finn put her name on the map, she also was given one of the biggest jobs a defender could be handed ahead of Western Australia’s clash with the Allies. Female Talent Manager Trent Cooper and coach Beau McDonald told Louvel-Finn she would be given the task of quelling the red-hot Majella Day who was coming off a 19-disposal, four-mark, three-goal game against Vic Metro.

“I just went upon it myself that I knew how she played and I watched back a couple of her games that she had played and how she would go about her attack on the footy and everything,” Louvel-Finn said of the preparation she did as part of the lead-up to the clash.

“I would just have to adjust myself, like I was saying to myself ‘oh if she does this, I then need to hold onto her and stay on her and body on her’ and that’s just basically how I prepped for it. “I was asking Beau and Trent what I could do, what they think I should do just to the lead-up for it.”

Whatever she did worked, because Louvel-Finn kept Day to just 13 touches, one mark and one behind, while the West Australian picked up 18 touches, two marks, seven tackles and eight rebound 50s to win the head-to-head against the likely first round prospect next year.

“I just made sure when I was given my role I wanted to do it properly and well, because I’d never been given a tagging role before so I made sure that my first time doing it I wanted to do good and do it properly, and I think I did a pretty good job, that was probably my best game of the champs, so I made sure what I did, I did it well,” she said.

It was that performance which turned heads as Louvel-Finn was named All-Australian from the national carnival, and while it was a huge honour, it was something she had not prepared nor expected from the championships.

“When Trent called me and he told me that I got an invite to the State Combine and then just added the All-Australian on the end and I couldn’t believe it,” Louvel-Finn said. “That was obviously something that is amazing and so many people would be grateful for, but I was not expecting it at all.

“It was my first champs carnival, its such a hard league to be a part of and to compete in, and just to be rewarded with that, it built my confidence up, but it obviously shows that a lot of my hard work has been recognised and the effort that I put in all of this year was recognised and they saw that when selecting it.”

Louvel-Finn hit personal bests across the board in her 20m sprint and vertical jumps, while her agility was “still pretty good”. Though her 2km time trial “wasn’t my best”, she knew that the combination of fatigue and nerves played a part, and overall she was “happy” with how she performed as a whole.

With the on-field component and lead-up draft events now completed, Louvel-Finn is honing in on some of specific skills she wants to improve, while working on aspects that she has built thoughout the year. In particular her groundballs and endurance have come a long way, and she gave an insight into how precise and driven she is to improve.

“I’m always looking to improve on everything,” Louvel-Finn said. “Like the other day I went for a kick with my dad, I just told him what I wanted to do, I wanted to focus on speed and acceleration and then trying to get that low, penetrating kick down so that’s always something I’m working on too.”

It has been a “pressure-filled” year for Louvel-Finn, but the defender has taken it all in her stride and wit that pressure has come excitement and she is looking forward to what might come next.

“Obviously I want to get drafted, but the whole build up to it is just an experience that if it doesn’t end up going my way in December, then I’m obviously going to be so happy with how far I’ve come, and all the clubs that gave me opportunities to interview me and give me a shot, but whatever happens, happens in the end,” she said.

Most players are content with the possibility of relocating, however Louvel-Finn goes beyond that and is actively excited about the adventure component that comes with such a big life change. Happy to go anywhere in the county to chase her dream the West Australian will have no qualms uprooting her life.

“Honestly I’ve been saying this to everyone that’s asked me about relocation, I think its a whole different experience and it would be a completely different reality and that’s something that I love,” Louvel-Finn said. “I love change, I love doing new things.

“My mum she said to me ‘I know that if you got picked up by a WA club it would be so awesome and you would still be happy for it, but it wasn’t probably what you’re looking forward to’, but obviously I would just develop and adapt to where I am and that’s enough for me. “I would honestly happy to be put anywhere, its a dream of mine and I would be happy with whoever takes me.”

Ever the planner for the future, Louvel-Finn took a gap year in 2025 to focus on her football, and is a part of the UniReady pathway which allows her to study at a university wherever she ends up. That means she can wait until the result of the December 15 draft to see if, and where she might study next year and beyond.

As for what it would mean to Louvel-Finn to be drafted, the answer was emphatic.

“It’s been a dream of mine for years now,” she said. “I’ve been playing footy since I was a little girl. “I played Auskick and I never thought that I would get to that level where I thought I could potentially play AFLW.

“When I was going through my whole knee surgery I was thinking when I come back I do potentially want to missing that whole year where all my close friends were getting recognition, like they were doing the Futures games and all that it made me really realise that I wanted to be part of that and I wanted to make that next level.

“That idea helped me through my rehab and everything because it made me train and do everything harder because I wanted to get to that next level, so that would be an amazing opportunity and a dream of mine that I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember now.”