STRENGTHS:

+ Explosive speed
+ Physicality
+ Clearances
+ Scoreboard impact
+ Goal sense
+ Big game player

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Defensive running
- Endurance

PROFILE:

Sophie McKay is an eye-catching prospect with explosive speed - that would be Top 10 across the nation in tests - being her greatest asset. Her ability to win the ball in close and extract it using brute strength to breakaway helps her gain extra time, along with the ability to get her hands free and fire off a handball.

That explosiveness does not just apply to straight line running, with the Carlton father-daughter prospect testing incredibly well through the agility test too, and it shows with her knack to side-step opponents and change directions on a dime.

McKay's power and strength is also observed when flying for overhead grabs, doing so exceptionally well for a medium-sized player at 167cm. Her marking numbers do not jump off the page, but she positions herself well to clunk some big grabs for her size, and can do it both contested and when finding pockets of space inside 50.

McKay's point of difference to a lot of other players is her incredible offensive ability, not just in regular games, but on the biggest of stages. She often goes to another level when playing against the best of the best, and her better games have come in the Under 17 Futures match, AFLW Academy and Vic Metro colours.

Around the stoppages, McKay is a consistent extractor of the ball, and averaged 4.3 clearances at AFLW Under 18 Championships level, and 5.2 clearances per match for the Dragons. She can have ebbs and flows at times with her consistency in-game, but her most consistent outings have come in those bigger matches.

Right now McKay's endurance is an area that is her main focus, especially after a major injury. Her athletic profile is among the best going around, but her aerobic capacity is one element that can take her game to another level, and will assist in helping that in-game consistency. She covers the front half of the ground well, and often rests forward to have an impact on the scoreboard there, but can improve her running behind the ball.

McKay's biggest area of improvement is her defensive running, and the potential Top 10 prospect is self aware in that regard. She joked in the preseason that she "probably couldn’t think of being anything worse than being a backman" and that she needed to work on her two-way running. That is still a flaw in her game, but her incredible offensive attributes help negate the lack of defensive ones when she is up and about.

Going forward, McKay has those areas to work on, but both are very manageable within an AFLW program. The lifelong Carlton supporter is sure to cost the Blues a first rounder, but given she is right amongst the Top 10 prospects in the AFLW Draft, Carlton will have not problems paying up to bring her to IKON Park where she has spent most of her footballing life.