MURRAY Bushrangers came away with a handy 30-point win over Tasmania Devils in a battle of the second and third placed Country Division sides at Highgate Recreation Reserve on Sunday, running out 8.10 (58) to 4.4 (28) winners in Round 18 of the Talent League Girls.

At the centre of it was Skylah McPherson, the 169cm midfielder-forward who booted five goals from just 16 disposals – the most majors of any player across the competition for the round – to be named best on ground in a performance that was as ruthless as it was economical.

BACKGROUND

Name: Skylah McPherson
Height: 169cm
DOB: 22/01/2008
Position: Forward/Midfielder
Clubs: Murray Bushrangers / Myrtleford

McPherson’s football journey started as the only girl in an otherwise all-boys team at Myrtleford, before she trialled for the Murray Bushrangers two years ago and never left. She arrived at the club without knowing anybody, and has since built into one of the more consistent top-age prospects in the region, earning Vic Country selection along the way following a breakout bottom-age campaign in 2025 with a steady, high-pressure 2026.

The left-footer has always been a two-way player first. Her tackle numbers through the middle stages of the season – 9.8 per game across the opening 13 rounds – tell the story of someone who impacts without the ball as much as with it, and her Round 3 masterclass against Bendigo, where she racked up 33 disposals with seven marks, seven tackles, seven clearances, seven inside 50s and three goals, showed the ceiling when the accumulation comes with it. Round 18 was the other side of that coin: a lower-volume, high-conversion game where almost every touch hurt.

PLAYER FOCUS

Stats vs. Tasmania Devils, Round 18: 16 disposals (8 kicks, 8 handballs), 11 contested possessions, 5 uncontested possessions, 3 marks, 4 tackles, 3 inside 50s, 2 rebound 50s, 5 goals, 1 behind.

QUARTER ONE

McPherson started forward and had the game on its head inside five minutes. Her first goal came at the two-and-a-half minute mark, gathering inside 50 and producing a lovely sidestep before getting the kick away quickly – a finish that required composure as much as craft. Two minutes later she had her second, after another clean take and assured conversion.

The Devils could not contain her. She attempted to gather inside 50 again shortly after but could not hold it cleanly under pressure, then in the 10th minute, McPherson took a flying shot on the run that pushed to the right for her only behind of the afternoon. A high handball out of the pocket was intercepted – one of the few blemishes in her ball use – but she made amends in the 13th minute, winning a free kick 20 metres out directly in front and slotting her third of the term.

Having done the damage inside 50, McPherson moved on-ball at the 17-minute mark and immediately made her presence felt with a strong tackle on Evie Bingham. Three goals in one quarter, and the midfield rotation had not even started.

QUARTER TWO

The second term showed the full breadth of her game. She came out to lead early but the delivery fell short and she was wrapped up inside 50, before turning to defensive work – a good tackle on Sophie Dean who tried to sidestep her close to the boundary, locked the ball in for a Bushrangers stoppage. Quick hands to Ruby Newton presented a chance that just missed with a dribble attempt.

Her fourth goal arrived in the sixth minute, and was arguably the pick of them. Marking in front, she sidestepped her opponent on the play-on, worked the ball onto her left side and drilled it. Just 30 seconds later she was rotated on-ball again, and the midfield stint produced some of her cleanest work of the day – a sharp take at ground level and burst away to kick inside 50 at seven minutes, then a mark in the middle shortly after and McPherson kicked to a one-on-one that was eventually worked out after an initial opposition spoil.

The best individual moment came in the 13th minute when she shrugged a tackle just inside 50 – a crucial break at an important time – and handballed to Natalie Spokes for a goal assist. She stood up in another tackle in the 19th minute to get the handball away, the kind of core strength that has been a quiet feature of her top-age year.

QUARTER THREE

The only quarter where McPherson did not hit the scoreboard, and the one where the Devils’ attention was most concentrated on her. Starting forward again, she pushed up to the wing to gather but was tackled, before rotating on-ball midway through the term and producing good clean hands out of the stoppage.

Her final involvement of the quarter came on the wing, marking and playing on with another sidestep to get a handball away just before the siren sounded. Not a productive term by the numbers, but the work rate did not drop.

QUARTER FOUR

McPherson was involved from the opening 30 seconds, gathering and getting a quick handball forward with the resulting shot rushed across the line. From there, the final term became a masterclass in pressure before she kicked a fifth major.

In the third minute, a kick inside 50 sailed over her head and she simply laid the tackle instead. Not long after, McPherson produced a massive tackle in the middle of the ground. Then she went looking for a holding free kick, and laid another tackle that went the other way for a free against – the only time her intensity cost her.

Then came another moment in the match. In the seventh minute, a kick in to Eliza Roche came off her hands in the contest and fell to McPherson who gathered cleanly. In one motiobn, the in-form top-ager turned onto her preferred left side and slammed home her fifth from long range – an incredible piece of play that required awareness, clean hands and the leg power to finish from distance.

Two minutes later she showed the other side of her forward craft. Running hard forward into the goalsquare, she could have stolen one off a snap from Isabella Klein, but let it bounce through instead – an unselfish read of the situation that spoke to her positioning. She was still going hard late, competing over her head and pressuring her opponent with the result long since decided.

SUMMARY

Five goals from eight kicks is a conversion rate that speaks for itself, and 11 contested possessions from 16 total disposals confirms the game was not just a case of a forward feeding off a dominant midfield. McPherson won her own ball, then made it count.

What makes the performance significant in a draft sense is how directly it addresses what she has identified in her own game. She has spoken about wanting to improve her kicking and get into more contested situations, and Round 18 delivered both – more than two-thirds of her possessions were contested, and her finishing was near-flawless across three different quarters and from all different distances. It is also a marked step forward from Round 17 against Northern Knights, where the half-chances were there but the execution took until the third term to arrive.

The tackling remains the constant. Four tackles undersells the pressure she applied, particularly in a final term where she was as damaging without the ball as with it. Add the two rebound 50s and the midfield rotations that started at the 17-minute mark of the first quarter, and this was a genuinely complete performance from a player who can win it inside, damage on the scoreboard and defend the front half.

Best on ground honours and the weekend’s leading goalkicker across the competition make it the standout individual outing of her top-age campaign, and a timely reminder to recruiters of what she offers as a midfielder-forward heading into the back end of the season.