AN ENTERTAINING first round of the AFL Women’s Under 18 Championships saw massive wins to South Australia and Vic Metro, as well as a hard-fought victory to the Allies, culminating in our Round 1 Team of the Week. The Croweaters, Metro and Allies all have five representatives apiece, while Western Australia (four), Vic Country (three) and Queensland (two) round out the 24-player squad.

DEFENDERS:

Given the dominance that South Australia had, most of Western Australia’s back half players were in defence, and it made the trio of Mia Carlshausen, India Bonadeo and Bella Nelson all among the locks in the team. They patrolled the airways and clunked a combined 29 marks from 56 disposals and 15 rebound 50s making up half of the back six.

One of South Australia’s best was the smooth-moving Emily Mableson, while her counterpart Charlotte Tidemann on the other half-back flank was an easy one thanks to her impressive performance against Vic Country. The sixth spot in defence was a tricky one to nail down, but we opted for Queensland talent Stephanie Aguinaldo who was just one of two Maroons in the side with her team jumped in the first half. She was very staunch in the back half however.

MIDFIELDERS:

The midfield choices were plentiful as you could imagine, so the first locks were those who were right at hte top of the tree. Bottom-age Tasmanian Matilda Lange was arguably the best individual performance of Round 1 so she had to be in there, as did South Australian pick one contender Emma Charlton who racked up a weekend-high 32 touches against the Sandgropers. That left a tough call for the third spot, but in the end we opted for Vic Country talent Ava Bilyk who was a clear standout for her side, booting two goals and causing havoc between midfield and attack.

Fortunately the wingers for the team were fairly straight forward with plenty of impressive players, but the two standouts being Allies’ Frances Walsh and Vic Metro’s Maddison Meagher. Both covered enormous ground and were highly impactful in the way they went about it, which helped their sides pick up the win. Walsh’s footy IQ and Meagher’s speed stand out, while the final spot – in the ruck – was actually far tougher than usual. In the end, we opted for Western Australia’s Cara Dziegielewski who had the best all-round game of the rucks, though there were three players who easily were deserving of the starting ruck spot.

FORWARDS:

The forwardline usually writes itself for the most part, and it did quite often here. The locks are those with three ore more goals, which meant pick one contender Bailee Martin (Vic Metro, four goals), Majella Day (Allies, four goals), Madeline Nuss (South Australia, four goals) and Tayla Olivieri (Vic Metro, three goals) all slotted in. That provided the makeup with a really well balanced lineup given Martin and Day are traditional tall marking targets, Nuss is that medium-tall versatile type, and Olivieri does her best work crumbing at ground level.

Picking the last two spots was tricky given the amount of midfielders who rotated forward, but in the end double bottom-age star Lily Moana – who was arguably her side’s best with two goals out of the midfield – earned her spot at half-forward, with the tenacious South Australian Elke Cameron‘s ability to provide a link between midfield and attack earning the other place.

INTERCHANGE

Admittedly the interchange is midfield-heavy and tough to decide, with backup ruck Sophie White – who dominated with 38 hitouts against the Allies – the one point of difference there. She was joined by Eastern Ranges pair Brylee Anderson and Emily Rankin who were both fantastic through the middle for Vic Metro.

South Australian bottom-ager Lani Cocks was a prime mover for the Croweaters in their big win, as was Allies’ Evie Bowie. The Sydney Swans Academy member played a number of positions from midfield, wing and in attack, while Gippsland Power’s Grace Dillow kicked a nice goal and was a prominent player in the front half.

EMERGENCIES

It was just as tough to cut down the amount of players to three emergencies, with Vic Country’s Greea McKeegan, South Australia’s Lucy Moore and Allies’ Aurelia Russell the final choices. But you could throw a blanket over the likes of Julia Faulkner and Layla Vizgaudis (South Australia), Rose Bell and Peggy Rock (Allies), Olivia Holmes, Carmela Perri and Georgia Garlick (Vic Country), Addison West and Alli Allen (Vic Metro) and the likes of Molly Ferguson, Jade Brazier, Asia Single and Sienna Clinch (Queensland) who were all very close.

2026 AFLW UNDER 18 CHAMPIONSHIPS: ROUND 1 TEAM OF THE WEEK

B: Mia Carlshausen (Western Australia) – India Bonadeo (Western Australia) – Steph Aguinaldo (Queensland)
HB: Emily Mableson (South Australia) – Bella Nelson (Western Australia) – Charlotte Tidemann (Allies)
C: Frances Walsh (Allies) – Ava Bilyk (Vic Country) – Maddison Meagher (Vic Metro)
HF: Lily Moana (Queensland) – Majella Day (Allies) – Elke Cameron (South Australia)
F: Maddie Nuss (South Australia) – Bailee Martin (Vic Metro) – Tayla Olivieri (Vic Metro)
R: Cara Dzi?gielewski (Western Australia) – Matilda Lange (Allies) – Emma Charlton (South Australia)
INT: Brylee Anderson (Vic Metro) – Evie Bowie (Allies) – Lani Cocks (South Australia) – Grace Dillow (Vic Country) – Emily Rankin (Vic Metro) – Sophie White (Vic Country)

EMG: Greea McKeegan (Vic Country) – Lucy Moore (South Australia) – Aurelia Russell (Allies)