STRENGTHS:

+ Two-way running
+ Outside game
+ Agility
+ Positioning
+ Aerial ability
+ Run-and-carry

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Strength
- Inside game

PROFILE:

Emma Juneja's key point of difference for her role comes in her aerial ability. Measuring 169cm at the recent National AFLW Draft Combine, Juneja competes far better in the air than a player of her size might. While wings are known to take a lot of uncontested marks, Juneja can cop contact and still clunk grabs, or use smarts to position herself early and maximise the time to take the grab unimpeded.

Once Juneja has taken the mark, she loves to play on and step around the opposition, which she did just about every time in the Coates Talent League if given the chance. Her step to the left, then swing straight back onto the right to burst away was a rinse and repeat, but it kept working. Even though her testing data did not jump off the page at the draft combine, her on-field athletic attributes are far better.

In a game setting, Juneja can reach a handy top speed, but is more about her ability to wrong-step an opponent to give herself more time, and then she will tuck the ball under the arm and take off to gain serious metres down the ground. While fully an outside player, she did lurk around the stoppages at times, ready for a second or third possession win where she could use her athleticism and smarts to full advantage.

Her areas of improvement are pretty simple. As an outside player who loves to run and gun, Juneja could further develop her inside craft, with not a great deal of time spent around the stoppages. Given her work rate and ability to cover the ground, Juneja is unlikely to be that inside midfielder as she does the outside role so well. However it is still an area that can further develop, as could her strength.

Identifying her strength and tackling pressure as deficiencies in her game that could further improve, Juneja prides herself on her two-way running. More than a few times she would work back from the middle and find herself intercepting in the goalsquare. In a number of highlights throughout the national carnival, the ball is in midfield heading towards the defensive 50, and Juneja will dash past the camera and shortly after be deep in defence to intercept or mop up.

The New South Wales talent has really taken her game to another level in 2024, with her marking and consistency further cementing her case as a draftable prospect. An AFLW Academy member who has not put a foot wrong this season, and her traits she has shown at the elite junior level will translate to the top grade without too many issues.