STRENGTHS:

+ Speed
+ Agility
+ Endurance
+ Outside game
+ Kicking
+ Decision making

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Production
- Inside game

PROFILE:

McMullen was highly touted entering her top-age year, with the talented winger spending time inside at points, but her best performance came in the Under 17s showcase last June. There, McMullen showed off her best traits which included her speed and agility weaving through traffic before delivering cleanly down the field.

In 2023, McMullen again balanced her roles but primarily played on a wing and then rolled to half-back where she could utilise her running power and skill in transition. She is capable of hitting targets at full speed and when she is up and going is one of the best players in the 2023 AFLW Draft crop.

McMullen is not a huge ball-winner that perhaps holds her back from some of her contemporaries, averaging 12 disposals, three marks and three tackles from her three state games, and picking up the six touches, two marks and two tackles in her sole Suns Academy outing against the Oakleigh Chargers.

Her production rate will increase with greater consistency, and though she has spent time on the inside, still has a way to go to be able to impact there, especially against bigger bodies in the midfield. Once she has the ball in her hands though, good things generally happen with her combination of kicking and decision making deadly.

The fact she can hit targets when on the move is a positive and will always look to break the lines where possible. While generally a kick-first player because that is what she does well, McMullen is capable of firing off multiple quick handballs after drawing opponents to release teammates.

As with every top-end athlete, McMullen's speed and agility pairs well with her endurance and allows her to run all day and impact from contest to contest. She is a player who teammates will look to get the ball in the hands of with her precision and ability to breakaway and pinpoint pass down the field a work of art.

Her outside game as a whole is natural to McMullen, who covers the ground and gets into the right spots, even if she does not win as much of the ball as she would like. Her defensive pressure is good enough for a winger, and though not overly strong compared to other midfielders, McMullen is able to breakthrough tackles with her quick first few steps.

In terms of her future, McMullen has the areas of her game to improve on that will see her get more of the ball and influence for longer, but the base she has now - both athletically and from a football IQ sense - will certainly help her attract interest from across the country.