PROFILE

Emily Bennett pieced together an ultra-consistent season and showed off her natural footballing abilities to be able to have impact both offensively and defensively coming out of defence.

STRENGTHS:

• Overhead marking
• Clean hands
• Defensive pressure
• Rebounding
• Kicking
• Composure

KEY IMPROVEMENT:

• Endurance

Emily Bennett has been a consistent performer across the 2021 season, not only standing out in the WAFL Women’s competition, but then going on to have a really important 2021 AFL Women’s Under 19 Championships having missed out in her top-age year.

The Claremont rebounding defender might be a 2002-born player, but she only scrapes into the 19th year by five days. A traditional footballer who just does everything right, Bennett is strong overhead, good at ground level and provides both the defensive pressure and offensive run required of a half-back. She puts her body on the line, and when having the chance of disposing of it, will generally use it well, with a lovely long kick down the field.

By her own admission, endurance was a key improvement for her this season, but her consistency and weight of numbers across the WAFL Women’s and then AFL Women’s Under 19 Championships – where she averaged an eye-catching 16.3 disposals, 3.3 marks, 5.3 tackles and 4.0 rebound 50s – earned her a well-deserved AFLW Draft Combine invite this year.

Bennett is the type of player who would thrive once getting into an elite environment, and whilst she understands she has continued areas of growth, her footballing nous and ability to beat opponents one-on-one is impressive. She is someone coaches can rely upon to do a job each and every week, and has the potential to play further up the field if required.

Whilst she might not have been drafted in her 18th year, Bennett has not done much wrong in 2021, and has certainly put her best foot forward to prove to AFL Women’s clubs that she deserves the chance to shine at the top level.

QUOTES

“It (2020) was definitely difficult because it was my second year of state was last year and I was so keen to just smash it out and it was like a year I was hoping for because I could have been drafted last year as well. “It was pretty tough, because fitness had dropped off because I didn’t have many people to train with so I’m glad it’s happening this year, but it was definitely hard.” - Emily Bennett via "Bennett enjoying season after "difficult" 2020 season" "The Claremont rebounding defender might be a 2002-born player, but she only scrapes into the 19th year by five days. A traditional footballer who just does everything right, Bennett is strong overhead, good at ground level and provides both the defensive pressure and offensive run required of a half-back. She puts her body on the line, and when having the chance of disposing of it, will generally use it well, with a lovely long kick down the field. By her own admission, endurance was a key improvement for her this season, but her consistency and weight of numbers across the WAFL Women’s and then AFL Women’s Under 19 Championships – where she averaged an eye-catching 16.3 disposals, 3.3 marks, 5.3 tackles and 4.0 rebound 50s – earned her a well-deserved AFLW Draft Combine invite this year." - Peter Williams via "2021 AFLW Draft Positional Analysis: Tall/Medium Defenders" "Found herself lining up more in the backline than midfield and was a really strong presence for WA, with her push from the backline on loose balls being really strong, where she would win it and deliver it well to a teammate, usually on the inside. She bobbed up at vital moments, with one particular time being a chest mark on the goal line to stop a certain Metro goal." - Declan Reeve via "Top Performers: 2021 AFLW U19s Championships - Thursday, April 15" "Bennett played an underrated but vital role in the victory for WA, splitting her time between the rover role and half back, her natural sense of the game meant she was dangerous particularly around stoppages in the midfield and as a half back cutting off Allies attacks, holding onto marks even with incoming pressure or contact. A big highlight came at the beginning of the game, where she followed up a tap won by Allies’ Ally Morphett, running directly at the ball and oncoming pressure, and as soon as she collected the ball she fired out a lighting handball to her teammate running off the back line, to set up an early scoring opportunity." - Declan Reeve via "Top Performers: 2021 AFLW U19s Championships - Monday, April 12"

INTERVIEW

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STATS