STRENGTHS:

+ Clean hands
+ Competitiveness
+ Contested game
+ Power
+ Tackling

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Endurance
- Outside game

The core of Wardlaw’s game revolves around the contest, with his strength and competitive nature allowing him to thrive in contested situations and around stoppages, never backing down when the ball is there to be won. On top of this, Wardlaw is effective when moving the ball on from inside the contest as well, with his quick hands and vision leading to him often getting the ball away from congestion into the path of outside runners, or backing himself to power his way out with ball in hand.

Wardlaw’s power is truly a weapon around stoppages, outpacing most opponents with just two or three steps to get front position and win the ball from the ruck's hands, and running into open space when it’s there to be taken. Around the ground, Wardlaw’s elite leap allows him to be a strong aerial option despite being short in comparison to others, taking the opportunity to get on to opponents shoulders, or get above packs when it’s there.

His tackling and general defensive work rate is nothing short of remarkable, arguably the best of the draft class in this regard, Wardlaw doesn’t let opponents get free when he gets a hand to them, generally pinning an arm as well to stop opponents handballing it out mid tackle. There have been times over the last two years where Wardlaw has pushed past teammates around stoppages to lay a tackle on an opposition ball carrier, highlighting that drive and competitiveness well.

With all this, there are still areas in which Wardlaw could improve to round out his game, his endurance being one of those. With limited exposure in other positions, it really is midfield only for Wardlaw currently, and there is a way to go with his endurance in comparison to other highly rated prospects. Wardlaw’s pure accumulation numbers are also a little bit behind other highly rated midfielders, and could do with improvement to give him more chance to impact throughout the game. His endurance base and ability to impact on the outside are other factors which affect his numbers.