STRENGTHS:

+ Clean hands
+ Contested work
+ Clearances
+ Defensive pressure
+ Class
+ Balance

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Durability
- Scoreboard impact

PROFILE:

Tara Harrington is a well-balanced player with a variety of offensive and defensive traits. On the inside, her hands are clean and she is generally a one-touch player who can win the contested ball and feed it out to her teammates consistently. Not afraid to put her body on the line, Harrington is quick to make decisions and has a great awareness of where her teammates are to dish off look-away handballs or quick kicks that even if not pinpoint, are effective.

If Harrington is given any sort of time or space, then that spells danger for the opposition. The talented midfielder has the speed and evasion to work out opponents and given her quick assessments of the options ahead of her, she will slice up any lagging defenders. That is both coming out of a centre stoppage, or around the ground where she gets on the move and looks to like up by hand or foot.

Outside the contest, Harrington is all class, and has a nice technique to hit targets down the field, and while she admits she can further get penetration on her kicks - having had setbacks due to the ankle injuries - will be able to get back on that job once fully fit again. Essentially for a player who might not start on-ball at the top level, Harrington is a wonderful outside player and arguably even more damaging given her smarts and skills.

But for a player who had more than seven clearances per game at Coates Talent League Girls level, it is hard to deny that a future on-ball is what lies ahead. She is just as strong defensively with her tackling and pressure acts, and is not afraid to lay a block or put her body on the line to help a teammate, which makes her the ultimate team player.

On pure ability, it is not farfetched to suggest she could have been knocking on the door of the top 10 with a full year, and she is clearly a first round prospect when fully fit. Her successive ankle injuries leave just the little question mark as to where she falls, but it should not be much further down the order. Getting her ankle right and maintaining that durability will be her main focus of improvement going forward.

Outside of that, the one area that she can further develop is in her goalkicking. A naturally defensive mid or player who is more of a facilitator, Harrington does not kick a lot of goals herself. It is not a major issue, but all the great midfielders do hit the scoreboard, especially when their teams are struggling to find an outlet. She has the capacity to do so, but it is just about getting it done and adding that weapon to her game.

As a whole, Harrington ticks so many boxes that make her a great prospect. It is a shame that she was limited to only half a dozen games this year and no national carnival games. Had she run out for Queensland, then the Maroons would have had that extra strength through the middle and been even more exciting. Regardless though, fans will get to see her in action for many years to come.