Picture credit: AFL Photos

Jess Bates remains one of the most consistent players outside the AFLW, and arguably perhaps the best one not on a current list. She has a stack of accolades she has built up over the years including a SANFL Women's league best and fairest, then moving to Collingwood VFLW where she continued her dominance, winning a club best and fairest and Team of the Year honours again. Over the years, Bates has developed her game from being a defence-first tackling machine, to being a well-balanced player across both offensive and defensive attributes.

When looking at players who can provide depth and be ready to step up at any stage, few could be more prepared than Bates. She is strong around the clearances, wins the contested ball, feeds it out to teammates and then runs hard to receive it back. For Bates, the main improvement is continuing to add polish to her kicking, as she is often disposing of the ball under immense pressure with composure going hand-in-hand with that, but her growth in hitting the scoreboard for Collingwood VFLW last season was impressive.

Sometimes clubs can focus too much on what players can't do rather than what they can, and there is plenty that the Tiger-turned-Magpie can do, and has done over multiple top state competitions. Already named as an emergency for the Magpies after being a train-on player, everything has been put in place for her to make the jump, wherever that club willing to take a chance might be.

Strengths:

- Production
- Defensive pressure
- Clearance work
- Clean hands
- Consistency

Improvements:

- Kicking consistency
- Composure