2025 AFLW Draft Q&A: Sienna Burnham
A DELAYED start to the season due to injury and being part of an incredibly stacked Gold Coast Suns Academy, Sienna Burnham is one of those players who could be fantastic value for another AFLW club. The Suns have nine Draft Combine invitee-tied players with six or seven of them expected to land at the […]
Well-travelled Wain determined to succeed
DRIVING 12 hours return to train and play football, it is fair to say talented athletic ruck Amaia Wain is hellbent on chasing her AFL Women’s dream. The top-age talent lives on New South Wales’ north east coast, with a six-hour trip one-way to Sydney where she has represented the Swans Academy, and played for […]
AFLW dream within reach for talented Louvel-Finn
ONE OF the most dedicated and thorough AFLW Draft prospects, West Australian Maya Louvel-Finn could not have done much more to justify her place at AFLW level. The talented defender finished third in East Fremantle’s Best and Fairest despite missing six games, earned All-Australian honours at the national championships and rarely had a quiet game […]
Match practice the key for determined Janschek
ASPIRING AFL Women’s footballer Yasmeen Janschek is under no illusions she has a long way to go to succeed at the top level. The former netballer spoke to Rookie Me Central about her journey recently, with part one of the two-part series looking into her background and decision around choosing the code. Part two will […]
Underrated Berry focused on getting better
BEING CUT from the Swans Academy and missing out on Allies selection might have been a couple of bumps in the road for talented Giants Academy member Aoife Berry, but the UTS Bats best and fairest winner, AFL Sydney Team of the Year representative and 2024 Premier Division Rising Star is trending in the right […]
Anderson goes to work after draft omission
SOUTH Adelaide’s Melissa Anderson was one of the many thousands of people each year who missed out on reaching the elite level in her top-age season. In what was only her first year of SANFL Women’s football back in 2023, the talented Panthers prospect never lost hope, and always had the faith that she could […]
2026 AFLW Academy Girls squad announced
NEXT year’s 2026 AFL Women’s Academy has been announced with 25 promising bottom-age players included amongst the group. Seven of the eight states or territories are represented with eight Victorians leading the way. After Victoria, the growing talent in NSW/ACT was rewarded with five players, while South Australia and Queensland (four), Western Australia (three) and […]
TOP 5s | 2025 AFLW State Draft Combines
A WEST Australian speedster and agile Gippsland draft bolter were among the most prominent individual results at the AFL Women’s State Draft Combines across October. Claremont’s Ella Gilbey is known for her all-round athleticism, while Power player Baia Pugh showed no signs of the broken collarbone that ended her top-age season early. Gilbey recorded the […]
Honest Mackereth concedes year was “challenging” but “unforgettable”
SOMETIMES your top-age season is not everything you want it to be, and that is okay. At least it was for South Australian draft hopeful Eloise Mackereth who conceded the “pressure” of needing to go to another level in 2025 provided challenges, though at the end of the day, she was grateful for the amount […]
Baxter found balance in Panthers, state experiences
TOP-AGE AFL Women’s draft prospect Lily Baxter did not mind the extra time or energy it took to juggle her footballing commitments between South Adelaide and South Australia over the last couple of years, with the hard-running utility more “sad” when she couldn’t be part of training at either. While now studying occupational therapy at […]
