STRENGTHS:

+ Aerial ability
+ Explosive speed
+ Versatility
+ Athleticism
+ Offensive-defensive balance
+ Kicking efficiency

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Endurance
- One-on-ones

PROFILE:

Taya Chambers is a high-upside player who comes with big wraps over her leadership. She showed throughout the course of her junior career she can play both in defence and on the wing, using her run and carry to full advantage. Her full suite of athletic traits catch the eye and she looms as a player with the potential to take her game to another level again.

Over the course of the last 12 months, Chambers has grown two centimetres up to 176cm, and considering her damaging athletic traits, that spells danger for talls and smalls alike. She clocked a 3.24-second 20m sprint in the AFLW National Draft Combine, which was no fluke, having gone even better during the preseason where she blew others away through a 3.22-second time.

Her speed is an asset she uses out on the field, much like her impressive vertical leap. She challenges opponents in the air and is quick to react at ground level too. Her agility also stands out as an above average trait, able to remain mobile when trying to evade opponents.

From a role perspective, her offensive-defensive balance is something that is really valuable to an AFLW club, with defenders too often very good at one, and not as capable of the other. In Chambers' case, she can do both comfortably, and while not consistently a big ball-winner, she can provide some drive out of defence.

Chambers herself said her best role is where she can play as a third tall, peeling off an opponent to take a good grab, or assisting teammates to provide rebound out of defence. She is composed with ball in hand and generally uses it well, possessing a neat kick. Her efficiency by foot is high because she plays it safe with her disposals, placing a high emphasis on ball retention and will almost always hit a target. If no option forward presents itself, Chambers has no qualms going backwards or kicking laterally to switch.

When it comes to her one-on-ones, she will compete and can bring the ball to ground, but is not as suited to the contested grappling that some bigger and stronger key defenders are. At the end of the day she is slightly undersized to be a key defender, but her athletic attributes allow her to play taller than her 176cm.

A nightmare proposition for future coaches could be Chambers' ability to play off a wing. A 176cm wing with lightning speed and a booming kick is not something opponents want to face, and that is certainly a future that the East Fremantle talent could have. She needs to further develop her endurance - her number one goal - but when she does, watch out.

As a whole, Chambers has a terrific array of eye-catching traits, with her leadership and upside other additional ticks in boxes for the West Australian. With her potential, she could go on to become a really reliable defender who can impact through her run and carry as well as her negating tactics.