MOLLY Ferguson entered 2026 as arguably the most unlucky player to miss the National Academy – a slick inside midfielder who is a ‘plug-and-play stoppage expert’ with the work rate and fight of her idol Belle Dawes. Against Sandringham Dragons in Round 5, she produced her most complete performance of the season to-date, collecting 31 disposals, eight tackles and five clearances in a 65-point Lions Academy win.

>> AFLW DRAFT Q&A: Molly Ferguson (Brisbane Lions Academy)

Molly Ferguson

Club: Brisbane Lions Academy
Height: 165cm
Date of Birth: 20/04/2008

STRENGTHS:

+ Clean skills
+ Stoppage craft
+ Footy IQ
+ Defensive attributes
+ Ground coverage
+ Composure under contact

IMPROVEMENTS:

– Kicking under pressure
– Strength

SEASON SO FAR

Round 5 Statistics: 31 disposals (17 kicks, 14 handballs), 6 marks, 8 tackles, 5 clearances, 5 inside 50s, 3 rebound 50s, 1 goal, 1 behind

2026 Talent League Girls: 24.0 disposals (12.3 kicks, 11.8 handballs), 4.5 marks, 3.5 tackles, 3.5 inside 50s, 1.0 rebound 50s, 3 goals (4 games)

FIRST QUARTER

Ferguson’s best quality announced itself in the opening 30 seconds – a clean pickup and handball off the deck, with automatic pressure acts around the contest that showed why she has been described as a plug-and-play stoppage expert. She reads the ruck tap as well as anyone in the competition and was constantly moving into space ahead of the ball, getting crunched at ground level in the second minute but getting straight back up.

Her best moment came in the fourth minute – winning the centre clearance off hands, sidestepping an opponent and kicking inside 50 to advantage. She spent time applying defensive pressure on the wing through before producing a piece of elite side-to-side movement in the ninth to kick long down the wing from the defensive 50. A rare fumble off a handball from Ameleia Murray was quickly recovered and cleared cleanly, and after rotating forward she took a mark in the 14th minute before capping the quarter with a goal – a composed set shot from 35 metres that she converted with complete certainty. Eight disposals, two marks and a goal. A controlled, high-quality opening term.

SECOND QUARTER

The defining quarter of her day, racking up 15 disposals that reflected a player operating at the peak of her powers. She was on from the first centre bounce with two quick handballs in the opening 30 seconds, then covered the fat side of the ground in space to offer inside 50 before tracking back to the defensive 50 within 90 seconds, showcasing the kind of ground coverage that defines her game.

She gathered cleanly off the ruck tap in the defensive 50 in the second minute, took a good mark in the middle shortly after and delivered accurately to the wing, before she won it again in the middle at four minutes and got the handball clear despite being tackled.

Her cleanness off the deck in the seventh minute – a quick handball away in the defensive 50 under pressure – was the purest distillation of what makes her special. A burst from a centre clearance at the 10 and a half minute mark lead to a clean mopping up at centre half-back and a neat short kick. Finishing up her massive quarter, Ferguson took a clean intercept mark with the last kick of the half on the 45 was the perfect full stop to her best period of the game.

THIRD QUARTER

Ass the Lions pulled away, with Ferguson did her best work through pressure acts and defensive intensity rather than accumulation – seven disposals but with quality throughout. A big tackle in the opening 15 seconds set the tone, a clean mark in the back pocket and short pass in the first minute was efficient, and a free kick at half-back in the second minute where she had to rush a high kick that still worked out showed her composure under pressure.

A handball receive on the wing at three and a half minutes that started a chain for an eventual Lions goal showed her awareness – she knew exactly where to put it. A set shot from 25 metres in the eighth minute under pressure drifted right for a behind, and an unlucky holding-the-player call in the 12th minute – her opponent dropped the ball and she didn’t realise – was a rare blemish. Continued tackling pressure at half-forward through the 13th and 18th minutes showed a player who never stops competing even when the ball isn’t coming her way.

FOURTH QUARTER

A managed final term where her sole disposal came in the opening few seconds with a handball out of the centre stoppage. She came off midway through the quarter for a decent rest on the bench before returning late.

But the stat line doesn’t capture her contribution: affecting a kick on the wing to go out on the full in the first minute, laying a tackle immediately after winning first touch off the hitout in the third minute, and getting a hand to it in the defensive 50 in the eighth minute as the defence scrambled. She competed in the air at half-back in the final minute, brought the ball to ground but was immediately tackled and dispossessed without winning a disposal – a fitting image of a player who kept working hard to the final siren regardless of the scoreboard or her own output.

SUMMARY

Ferguson is building a top-age campaign that is demanding serious attention from AFLW clubs. A total of 31 disposals, eight tackles and five clearances – with the work rate never dipping even in a final quarter where she barely touched the ball – is the profile of a player whose impact consistently goes beyond the stat line. She averaged 22.5 disposals across the Lions’ four games last season and is already exceeding that this year. The National Academy missed her. The AFLW Draft won’t.