{"id":214733,"date":"2026-05-14T16:25:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T06:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/?p=214733"},"modified":"2026-05-14T16:25:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T06:25:49","slug":"head-to-head-lani-cocks-vs-emily-mableson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2026\/05\/14\/head-to-head-lani-cocks-vs-emily-mableson\/","title":{"rendered":"Head-to-Head: Lani Cocks vs. Emily Mableson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TWO OF the most compelling South Australian prospects over the next couple of AFLW Drafts crossed paths in the second game of the X Convenience Oval triple-header on Saturday, with Norwood’s Lani Cocks<\/a> and West Adelaide’s Emily Mableson<\/a> producing contrasting but equally striking individual performances in the Redlegs’ 10.6 (66) to 4.5 (29) Round 4 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

>> AFLW DRAFT Q&A:<\/strong> Emily Mableson (West Adelaide)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We take a look at both players, their backgrounds and how they shaped up against each other on the day, with Cocks dominant through the midfield and directly involved in multiple Norwood scoring chains, while Mableson was the Bloods’ most combative presence – her 18 tackles a remarkable individual effort in a result that reflected the gulf between the two sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STATISTICS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lani Cocks<\/strong><\/th>vs<\/strong><\/th>Emily Mableson<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
15\/09\/2009<\/td>DOB<\/strong><\/td>05\/05\/2008<\/td><\/tr>
161cm<\/td>Height<\/strong><\/td>171cm<\/td><\/tr>
Midfielder<\/td>Position<\/strong><\/td>Midfielder\/Defender<\/td><\/tr>
36<\/td>Disposals<\/strong><\/td>26<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>Marks<\/strong><\/td>2<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>Tackles<\/strong><\/td>18<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>Clearances<\/strong><\/td>5<\/td><\/tr>
8<\/td>Inside 50s<\/strong><\/td>7<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>Rebound 50s<\/strong><\/td>7<\/td><\/tr>
1<\/td>Goals<\/strong><\/td>0 (1 behind)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STRENGTHS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lani Cocks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

+ Football IQ
+ Stoppage craft
+ Clean hands
+ Contested ball
+ Class
+ Upside<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to run out of superlatives when describing what Cocks brings to the contest. The 2009-born bottom-ager, who won the South Australian MVP at the AFLW Under 16 Championships last year and was ranked fifth in our SANFLW 15 to Watch countdown, has already drawn comparisons to Port Adelaide’s Shineah Goody<\/strong> – a country kid who relocated to maximise her development – and performances like this one show exactly why that comparison has legs. Her 36 disposals and seven clearances were the product of elite football smarts that consistently put her a step ahead of opponents. Where other players find the ball, Cocks finds it in positions where she can do something with it, and the distinction matters enormously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emily Mableson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

+ Decision-making
+ Kicking variety
+ Tackling
+ Composure
+ Smooth movement
+ Football IQ<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mableson is one of the most technically polished players in the 2026 class \u2014 a National Academy member who is the “Rolls Royce” of the draft crop, and her Q&A from earlier this season revealed a player who has worked extraordinarily hard to get where she is, having only returned to football in 2022 after a stint away with netball. Her 18 tackles on Saturday were the most striking number on the field \u2014 a tally that reflected a player who, even in a losing side being outworked around the clearances, was never willing to concede the fight. The spatial awareness and smooth movement that have made her a household name in South Australian football circles were still evident throughout, and her seven rebound 50s showed she was doing everything she could to stem the tide from Norwood’s relentless inside pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Emily Mableson representing South Australia in last year’s national championships. Image credit: Rookie Me Central<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IMPROVEMENTS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lani Cocks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Strength
\u2013 Aerial ability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As noted in last week’s player focus following her Round 3 display, the improvement areas for Cocks are genuinely narrow. Her marking return – just two from 36 disposals – reflects a player whose impact is primarily at ground level, which gives opposition teams a template to work from even if her reading of the play and stoppage craft compensate significantly. There were also one or two moments where the execution didn’t match the intent under pressure – a kick out on the full hugging the boundary line in the second quarter was the most visible – and there were glimpses against Stevie-Lee Thompson<\/strong> late in the final term where her physical limitations were briefly exposed. At 16 years old the frame is still developing, and those moments are minor footnotes. But they are there for further improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emily Mableson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Strength
\u2013 Explosiveness<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mableson was tackled immediately on receiving the ball throughout much of the afternoon, and while that reflects both the attention she attracts and Norwood’s pressure game, it is also the area her development is most pointed toward. She can still add to her frame to better withstand that immediate contact and convert even more first possessions, while she is still building on her explosiveness out of the stoppages. As he has always been the comparison, Scott Pendlebury’s time and space element applies to Mableson as a player who is not ridiculously fast, but finds the gaps and looks ultra-smooth when able to get those first few steps away. Those are relative quibbles about an elite player, but the physical development is the path from very good to exceptional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lani Cocks has been an offensive force for the Redlegs. Image credit: John Emery\/Norwood FC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

STYLES OF PLAY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lani Cocks<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cocks was on-ball from the opening bounce and established her presence immediately, breaking out of the centre left-foot and setting the tone for what would be a dominant day through the stoppage. Eight disposals in the first term included a deft two-on-one handball at half-back, a great gather at half-forward where she burst away after being caught initially and kicked effectively inside 50, and a clever moment late in the quarter where she resisted a Mableson fend attempt and got a clean handball away that eventually led to an Elke Cameron<\/strong> goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second quarter was where her value to the Norwood scoring chain became most vivid. In the opening seconds she threw a clever decoy block to allow Jade Halfpenny<\/strong> to get her kick away cleanly in the attacking half, and just minutes later produced one of the passages of the match – gathering cleanly off the deck at ground level, pushing into space, taking a bounce, and feeding Ashley Baker<\/strong> for a goal. She won the next centre bounce too, threading a quick one-two before a left-foot kick under pressure was intercepted – one of the few moments where the execution didn’t match the intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third quarter brought the headline play of Cocks’ afternoon. After a strong tackle in the middle, a composed gather and spin out of a tackle, and a downfield free kick won at half-forward that led directly to an Elle Lineage<\/strong> goal, she capped the quarter with a moment that summed up exactly what she is \u2014 won the ball forward of centre, took three consecutive bounces at full pace, and launched an absolute rocket that bounced home for a goal that drew every eye in the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She never let the foot off the pedal in the final term. Three disposals in a single 30-second burst out of the centre – two handballs in a one-two down the wing and then ran hard run to receive it again, and a deep kick into the pocket – were followed by a perfectly weighted pass to a leading Halfpenny after intercepting a Mableson kick at centre half-forward, and a pair of typically composed low handballs while being put under tackle in the last ten minutes. Her football IQ remained the thread running through everything she did all afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emily Mableson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mableson’s day had a different texture entirely, shaped almost immediately by the contest around her. She was on-ball from the first bounce and laid two tackles in the opening minutes – the first to lock the ball up in the middle, the second a run-down chase effort on Kate Alexander<\/strong> that earned West Adelaide a free kick and led to a kick inside 50. She found space on the wing at times and kicked cleanly, though a behind from a left-foot attempt under pressure was the closest the Bloods came to a genuine advantage from her work in those opening stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second quarter showed both sides of what she was dealing with. She had racked up 13 tackles by the seventh minute, locking the ball up in the defensive 50, winning a physical contest in the middle, and showing relentless defensive intensity even as Norwood began to build their lead. Her best ball-moving moments came later in the quarter: a thumped kick after intercepting at half-back, a lovely 45 kick inside 50 from a gather, and a late centre clearance where she pushed Elke Cameron<\/strong> under the ball beautifully to win possession cleanly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third quarter was arguably her most complete. She won an early free kick from the opening centre bounce after being held off the ball by Cameron and delivered it neatly to half-forward before running on to receive the handball and nail an elite low bullet in to set up a Jemma Ellis<\/strong> goal. Her quarter continued by intercepting a handball on the wing and kicking well inside 50, before rotating efficiently between defence and on-ball without ever losing concentration or engagement. The transitions she set up in those passages were the clearest evidence of what her smooth movement and football IQ look like when the game gives her even a moment of space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final quarter was more attritional, with Norwood in control and Mableson frequently tackled immediately on receiving the ball – a measure of the attention she was drawing as much as anything else. A strong mark and a 25-metre penalty midway through the term allowed her to kick effectively into the middle, and she continued to win the ball cleanly right to the final minutes even as the result was long settled. She never stopped hunting it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SUMMARY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cocks’ 36 disposals, seven clearances and a goal in a dominant team performance represent another statement from a bottom-ager who is rapidly establishing herself as one of the most exciting players in the competition regardless of age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ranked alongside Maia Freemantle<\/strong> as the two standout South Australian prospects for the 2027 AFLW Draft, Cocks is operating at a level that already invites debate about where her ceiling sits. The football intelligence and stoppage craft are already elite; the physical development is still to come. When those two things fully align, the result will be something special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mableson’s 26 disposals and 18 tackles in a losing side was a performance that underlined exactly why she is rated as the most technically polished prospect in the 2026 class. West Adelaide were outplayed, but Mableson was not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Academy member and 2024 Under 16s South Australian MVP brought the full suite of her qualities – composure, defensive pressure, clean ball use – and will be better for the four-quarter workout against one of the competition’s most dynamic midfields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of South Australia’s finest, separated by a draft year – and both making their case with every performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentions<\/span><\/span><\/div>