THE first and second-placed teams on the TAC Cup Girls ladder had the most representatives in the AFL Draft Central Team of the Week. After big wins on Tuesday, the Geelong Falcons and Northern Knights each have three players in the side. 

Olivia Purcell’s performance paid dividends as she has backed up her AFL Draft Central Player of the Week Award with a place in the Team of the Week. Fellow midfielder Nina Morrison also earned a spot in the team, continuing her consistent season for the Falcons.

For the second-placed Knights, Abigail Bennett and Alex Pronesti continued their fantastic season on Tuesday in their 16-point win over the Greater Western Victoria (GWV) Rebels. Ellie McKenzie has made the Team of the Week as many times as games she has played, with her second consecutive nomination.

GWV’s Georgia Clarke backed up her best-on-ground performance last week with another solid outing in round four. Teammate Sophie Van De Heuvel was lively at Mill Park Lakes Recreation Reserve with two goals, but unfortunately just missed out on Team of the Week selection. It is the case mainly because of wonderful performances from Western’s Caitlin Greiser and Geelong’s Renee Tierney. Grieser kicked all three of the Jets’ goals at Euroa while Tierney kicked four goals in the Falcons’ 70-point win over the Chargers. 

But it was not all doom and gloom for Oakleigh, with a top performance earning Nicola Xenos a spot on the half-back flank. Western’s Sharnie Whiting joins her in defence and makes her first appearance in the AFL Draft Central Team of the Week. Eastern’s Lauren Szigeti also made the team for the first time after a great performance against Bendigo. 

For the Pioneers, it was hard to look past captain Megan Williamson, who keeps producing wonderful performances for her side. Although teammate Kate Douglass did not make the Team of the Week, be sure to keep an eye out for her during the season as she continues to be one of the standouts for Bendigo. 

Williamson was not the only captain who made this week’s best 22, with Calder captain Madison Prespakis, Eastern co-captain Emerson Woods, Dandenong captain Jordyn Allen, Sandringham captain Jemma Owen and Gippsland co-captain Tyla Hanks all earning spots in the side. 

Prespakis and Hanks in particular have made the side every round and so has Murray captain Rebecca Webster, who continues to shine for the Bushrangers in the midfield. Fellow star midfielder Tamara Smith just missed out on making it two consecutive weeks in the Team of the Week.

There was no shortage of Dandenong Stingrays in the midfield though with both Jordyn Allen and Isabella Shannon both lining up in the middle of the ground. But arguably the most unlucky to miss out in the entire competition was Courtney Jones, in what was a tough decision to leave her out this week after an excellent outing on Tuesday.