Maya Crestani Draft Profile

Gippsland PowerRuck

#30

Maya Crestani

height: 185cm

weight:

D.O.B: 02-08-2007

Leagues: AFLW U18 Championships, Coates Talent League Girls

Snapshot
Analysis
Summary

SNAPSHOT: “A developing tall ruck who is clean at ground level and natural defensive tendencies.”

Maya Crestani is a raw, but developing ruck who has made great strides over the last couple of seasons. Representing Gippsland Power and earning a spot with Vic Country, Crestani is viewed as a long-term ruck option who is not a huge ball-winner but can influence around the stoppages with her height and follow-up work.

Crestani is not new to football, as she started back in Beaconsfield where she played 42 games prior to the global pandemic. While missing a year due to said pandemic in 2020, Crestani returned the following year with the same passion for the sport. By 2022, she had moved up to the Under 16s competition, and was firmly in the Stingrays’ zone for her footy, though right near the border for Gippsland.

As her double bottom-age season rolled around, Crestani switched to Nar Nar Goon to play in the Gippsland league, where she ran out for seven games. Her performances at local level and impressive mobility in trials for the Power saw her picked up by Gippsland Power, where she locked in a spot throughout 2024.

A low-possession, but high-upside prospect Crestani averaged 10.1 hitouts and 2.6 tackles from 4.5 disposals in her maiden Coates Talent League Girls season. By the end of the year given the lack of top-age rucks in the Vic Country region, Crestani was selected for the Vic Country hub, where she followed on from that early support to make the ‘Big V’ squad.

Leading the ruck division at the national carnival, Crestani averaged 8.0 disposals and 21.3 hitouts, finding herself more involved around the ground than even at the Power. For her top-age Gippsland campaign, Crestani managed 5.5 disposals and 24.7 hitouts, and as a whole her performances were enough to show AFLW clubs she has traits to work with, and the Power prospect earned a State Draft Combine invite.

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STRENGTHS:

+ Ruck craft
+ Competitiveness
+ Defensive pressure
+ Follow-up work
+ Groundballs
+ Upside

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Production
- Overhead marking
- Consistency

Crestani has shown a body of work now at Coates Talent League level to give clubs a good idea of what she does well, and where she needs to improve. First and foremost the expectations of a ruck is the ruck craft, and she does get first hands to it often, and her work to direct her taps has also come a long way.

Following the initial ruck tap, Crestani does apply some great follow-up pressure and is not afraid to get her hands dirty by laying a tackle, or winning the ball at ground level and firing it out to a teammate. She clearly could lift that production rate to do it more often, but the understanding and ability to do that is the first step.

Around the ground is still a work in progress, but Crestani made strides during the national championships and it showed in her disposal numbers. She only took 10 marks across the combined 19 games, so that element is another way she can further develop, getting into positions to take the ball at the highest point and utilise her 185cm frame.

While those aspects and her consistency are clearly areas to build on for the future, outside the initial ruck contest and defensive pressure, Crestani is also quite good below her knees. For a player of her size, she can gather the ball well and find a target, with her kicking generally effective too. While a small sample size considering the production rate, what she has done has impressed.

Of course the flip side to being a raw, developing ruck is the upside that comes with it. Crestani has just that, and her ability to win the hitout, follow-up well and then show mobility around the ground at the least, means she has the foundations in place to grow in her game.

DRAFT RANGE: Late

SUMMARY:

Maya Crestani is still developing her overall game, but made marked improvements across the last 12 months and showed she could hold her own at the national championships. While she is more of a long-term ruck option, Crestani has potential that a club could build on going forward.

AFLW U18 Championships

Season	Team	K	HB	D	M	CP	UP	T	HO	CLR	I50	R50	GL	GM	K	H	D	M	HO	T	G	DC
2025	Vic Country Girls	13	19	32	2	19	14	8	85	3	6	2	0	4	3.3	4.8	8.0	0.5	21.3	2.0	0.0	48
Total	-	13	19	32	2	19	14	8	85	3	6	2	0	4	3.3	4.8	8.0	0.5	21.3	2.0	0.0	48

Coates Talent League Girls

Season	Team	K	HB	D	M	CP	UP	T	HO	CLR	I50	R50	GL	GM	K	H	D	M	HO	T	G	DC
2024	Gippsland Power	19	48	67	6	0	0	39	152	0	10	2	1	15	1.3	3.2	4.5	0.4	10.1	2.6	0.1	23
2025	Gippsland Power	20	63	83	8	60	28	37	370	20	16	10	0	15	1.3	4.2	5.5	0.5	24.7	2.5	0.0	45
Total	-	39	111	150	14	60	28	76	522	20	26	12	1	30	1.3	3.7	5.0	0.5	17.4	2.5	0.0	68