STRENGTHS:

+ Clean hands
+ Stoppage craft
+ Footy IQ
+ Defensive pressure
+ Reading the play
+ Kicking

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Endurance
- Strength

PROFILE:

Mia Salisbury's move from half-back into the midfield certainly paid dividends for the teenager, with her footy IQ and reading of the play still able to work despite far more congested situations. While her kicking efficiency took a hit given the rushed nature of being under immense pressure, Salisbury was able to maintain a high level of stoppage craft.

Looking at said stoppage craft, Salisbury was clean by hand and quite often a second-possession inside midfielder. She still had the chance to feed it out to teammates, but was quite often stationed at the back of stoppages ready for either the ruck tap or the flick handball to the defensive sweeper stoppage position where she could use a quick first few steps to breakaway and deliver down the ground.

As soon as she was able to get separation on her opponent and buy herself time, Salisbury used the ball well, and with any sort of room was able to execute well by foot. When closed down around the stoppage she tended to rush it a little more which lead to the lower efficiency by foot, but it was not a true indication of how impactful she can be with ball in hand.

Around the ground as she showed coming off half-back in her bottom-age season, Salisbury has that poise and understanding of how to dispose of the ball cleanly, often "stopping time" before dishing it off. Without the ball, she was fierce and applied great defensive pressure, having averaged four or more tackles per game the past two years at both Coates Talent League Girls and AFLW Under 18 Championships level.

While athletically she is sound across the board and can breakaway from most players, it is more her evasion ability to change directions quickly and spot up a target in space. Her endurance is one athletic measure that needs to further develop, but that will come with time and a full-time elite environment. That, along with building strength will allow Salisbury to impact more around the ball as a lighter bodied midfielder.

In saying that, Salisbury is still tough and will win her own ball, but as it stands, she is the inside receiver and one who can extract the ball and breakaway in order to find the next possession in the chain. As one of a number of Gold Coast Suns Academy members, expect the Suns to have kept close tabs on the midfielder, and she could even be a player who attracts interest as a rebounding defender such as in her bottom-age season.