#25

Monique Corrigan

height: 186cm

weight:

D.O.B: 06-04-2007

Leagues: AFLW U18 Championships, Coates Talent League Girls

  • Snapshot
  • Analysis
  • Summary

SNAPSHOT: “A towering ruck who looms as Brisbane’s top Academy prospect in this year’s AFLW Draft.”

Monique Corrigan stands at 186cm and is one of the tallest top-age players available in the AFLW Draft crop. The Brisbane Lions Academy member has spent plenty of time travelling down from Hervey Bay, but from her limited exposure has shown great progress and could be one to watch as a long-term ruck.

Corrigan actually started her footballing journey down at Palm Beach Currumbin during the global pandemic when her preferred netball stopped and she took the chance to play another sport. That was before her family moved to Hervey Bay which is a few hours north of Brisbane. There, the developing tall played seven games for the Bombers in her first season, and after another season, she was noticed by the Lions Academy.

Donning the Lions jumper at the National Development Championships as a bottom-ager and then as a top-ager the following season, Corrigan gained great senior experience at Bay Power where she ran out for 10 games in the AFL Wide Bay competition. She was named among the best five times from her 10 games and while her side went down in the 2023 grand final, Corrigan still played a key role in the season.

Corrigan’s career continued to grow through her bottom-age campaign, representing the Lions Academy in the Northern Academy series, before also doing it through the Coates Talent League Girls competition. Travelling south to Maroochydore in order to test herself in the QAFL Women’s competition, Corrigan also played a National Championships game as a bottom-ager against the Allies.

An invite to the National Under 17 Futures clash followed late last year, and while Corrigan had a delayed start to her top-age campaign, she would return to play one game for the Lions Academy in dour conditions at Windy Hill, and then hold down a key ruck spot through the National Championships. For the Maroons, Corrigan averaged 17.8 hitouts and 7.5 tackles from her 6.0 disposals.

At the end of the season, Corrigan earned a State Draft Combine invite where she was able to test herself against her cohort. While not the most athletic player, Corrigan still has a great vertical leap, and her mobility for her size also shows out on the ground.

Click the ANALYSIS tab for more

STRENGTHS:

+ Competitiveness
+ Ruck craft
+ Second efforts
+ Defensive pressure
+ Team-first nature
+ Vertical jump
+ Upside

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Production
- Consistency
- Endurance

Corrigan is first and foremost a really competent ruck, with her craft among the better ones in the draft crop. She can get her hands to it and diversifies her hitouts in different directions, and she is helped by the fact she often competes against 180cm players who, while perhaps on paper not looking too much different, when you can jump at 186cm, it makes life difficult for them.

From the stoppage, Corrigan is able to palm the ball down and give her midfielders first use, with only Madeleine Quinn (187cm) measured as taller than her at the recent Draft Combines. Following the initial stoppage, Corrigan does follow up exceptionally well and her defensive pressure is possibly the best of any of the rucks, laying a whopping 7.5 tackles per game across the National Championships.

Though a small sample size, Corrigan laid eight in the pouring rain against Western Jets in the Coates Talent League Girls, while having 23 hitouts from seven touches. The latter is one of the main knocks, with Corrigan arguably the lowest production player of the rucks, though there are a few in that boat. She only averaged the six to seven touches, so her around the ground work can still develop.

Likewise, most of Corrigan's ball-winning takes place at the coalface, and though she can present as a target, it is an area that she can improve, which will come with a bigger tank. Given her reduced exposure and availability over the years, it has been tougher for the tall, but what she has shown has been promising. If her aerial work can measure up to her efforts at ground level, then she will be a good one for the future.

Corrigan's team-first nature by doing the non-individually rewarded elements of the game such as blocks or bodywork in general is a big plus in her game, and she can work well with any midfield because of that. Not the finished product just yet, Corrigan has the upside that will come with improving the aforementioned areas.

While Corrigan has had less exposure compared to others between the Coates Talent League Girls and AFLW Under 18 Championships - just 10 games in the past two years - she has been around the mark thanks to her efforts when she was on the park.

DRAFT RANGE: Late

SUMMARY:

Monique Corrigan still has a bit to work on, but what she has shown in patches has been promising, particularly for the Brisbane Lions who she is club tied to through the Academy. In a lean year for the Lions before a bumper crop next season, Corrigan is sole player from the Academy with a Draft Combine invite, and given her potential value late, should attract interest not just from the Lions but elsewhere, ala Chloe Gaunt last season.

AFLW U18 Championships

SeasonTeamKHBDMCPUPTHOCLRI50R50GLGMKHDMHOTGDC
2024Queensland Girls33605223011013.03.06.00.03.02.00.021
2025Queensland Girls13112411673071433043.32.86.00.317.87.50.039
Total-16143012193274444053.22.86.00.214.86.40.060

Coates Talent League Girls

SeasonTeamKHBDMCPUPTHOCLRI50R50GLGMKHDMHOTGDC
2024Lions Academy2013333001784044045.03.38.30.821.04.30.048
2025Lions Academy527142823201015.02.07.01.023.08.00.052
Total-25154044225107245055.03.08.00.821.45.00.0100
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