STRENGTHS:

+ Agility
+ Clean skills
+ Composure
+ Decision making
+ Inside-outside balance

IMPROVEMENTS:

- Speed
- Strength

The grandson of Hawthorn legend Graham Arthur, Will Lorenz has been a prospect with eyes on him for 18 months given his strong lineage. The AFL Academy member came into the season highly touted as a midfielder-forward, but initially flirted with a move to half-back and has played majority of his football at Talent League and representative level on the wing.

Lorenz has been consistent through the season, averaging a touch over 19 disposals for the Oakleigh Chargers and bang on 19 disposals for Vic Metro. He’s a player that coaches have been able to rely on week-on-week to play his role.

Despite playing mostly on a wing for the season, Lorenz has arguably looked his best when inside the centre square, able to showcase his ability to accumulate, sound stoppage craft, a neat side step, and the knack for picking out good options in congestion.

All of the above was best shown in Vic Metro’s match against the Allies earlier in the year. Lorenz is by no means a contested beast, but showed a good capability for his slim frame when playing on the inside, doing well to feed the ball out to runners by hand as opposed to bombing the ball long.

Lorenz has still managed to bring a lot of those traits out to the wing with him though, confidently taking on opposition with his side-steps and often looking to move the ball forward with distance once he gets past.

Lorenz rarely took on opponents when unnecessary though, generally favouring getting the ball to teammates over running with it too far himself. He consistently keeps his opposition accountable as he works hard to assist in defence and use it well on the rebound, whilst presenting as a dangerous attacking player, averaging over five score involvements in both the Talent League and national carnival.

Whilst it wasn’t the season Lorenz would’ve wanted given the high wraps on him heading into the year, he has adapted well to a wing and still shown his ability on the inside when given the opportunity.

Heading into AFL level, Lorenz will be focusing on building his slim frame to be able to handle the physicality better, particularly if he is to be used on the inside. Lorenz would also benefit from working on his speed, particularly over his first five steps, to allow more separation in contests and around stoppages.