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 […]
2025 AFLW Draft Profiles to start next week
NEXT Monday our road to the AFL Women’s Draft commences with the first of our AFL Women’s Draft Profiles to kick off. Each day throughout the week there will be two National Draft Combine, and one State Draft Combine profile that will be completed over the next month running until the end of November. In […]
2026 WA Girls Summer squad announced
WESTERN Australia has announced its Girls Summer Squad talent program for the upcoming off-season with some of the brightest AFLW Draft prospects for the 2026-27 drafts. The squad of 38 players – which includes bottom-age All-Australian Cara Dziegielewski – features a league-high nine West Perth players, two more than Peel Thunder, while East Fremantle has […]
Omission helped Lily Smarten up and blitz year
BEING dropped from the SANFL Women’s side back to the Development League was a blessing rather than a curse for Sturt’s Lily Smart who credits that as the catalyst behind her strong finish to 2025. Recalling the moment after a Round 3 win over Glenelg, Smart said her three weeks in the second tier helped […]
2025 AFLW Draft Q&A: Jade McLay
NATIONAL Academy member Jade McLay suffered a season-ending shoulder injury early in the year, but kept herself involved in the game through Calder Cannons where she was appointed captain at the start of the season. While 2025 might not have gone to plan for the talented tall, she has put enough runs on the board […]
2025 AFLW Draft Q&A: Charlie O’Connor Moreira
WESTERN Jets big improver Charlie O’Connor Moreira was a late call-up to the State Draft Combine and the hard-running winger got her opportunity to flex some of her biggest strengths. After having a delayed start to the season. O’Connor Moreira moved though the pathway from local football to the Jets, and had a blistering end […]
Usher “super grateful” for support after frustrating 18 months
ONE OF the brightest young talents to have ever graced a football field, Ava Usher had ‘future star’ written all over her after an incredible double bottom-age campaign where she made a living breaking ankles and producing highlights that many would dream of being able to do. However life, and in her case, injury does […]
Gold Coast wins three-way race for Sunny
GOLD Coast Suns have gained a massive boost ahead of the AFL Women’s Draft, as their only Academy member with multiple club ties in Sunny Lappin has committed to nominating the Suns. Lappin, the daughter of 251-game Matthew, turned down the option to nominate Carlton and St Kilda where her dad played 196 and 55 […]
