Not sure that second bit is true; below is from an article by @acat493.
My argument is not whether she plays better back or forward; it’s about the gaping hole we have if Manfre is our “big” forward.
Brendan Rhodes says list deadline for VFL(W) is next Tuesday, March 5th.
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Shows you what I know.
After that goal vs Hawthorn, I guess I could be forgiven for making such an observation.
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That goal is why they’d have two players trying to stop her marking anywhere inside the forward fifty…
Confirmed:
Ava Jordan
Ellie Hoggard
Karly McNiece
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Whoops 
… but I’m claiming the scoop regardless!
ELLIE HUGGARD
https://central.rookieme.com/afl/player/ellie-huggard/
10 games for the Dogs in 2021/22. Was at Willy last year but didn’t play a game.
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She must be bloody skilled to play Nationals at a not-fast 145cm!
STRENGTHS:
- Footy IQ
- Goal sense
- Skills
- Forward craft
- Defensive pressure
- Vision
QUESTION MARKS/IMPROVEMENTS:
- Size
- Speed
Standing at 145cm, Jordan is always going to be up against it when it comes to being drafted. If selected, she would comfortably be the smallest AFLW player. In saying that, to get as far as she has in the elite junior pathway, there has to be an immense amount of talent, and the Northern Knights star has it in spades.
Without a doubt, Jordan’s footy IQ is among the best going around. She reads the ball well off hands, gets into the right spots, and has been able to take up a role as a small forward this season. The Knights were well aware that at her size, Jordan would not be playing midfield at the elite level, so instead threw her a new challenge.
Jordan averaged 15 disposals per game and kicked nine majors in 10 matches. Though equalling out to a goal a game on average, all of her goals came within four games. She kicked a bag of four against Murray Bushrangers in Round 9, then kicked a couple of goals against Dandenong Stingrays and Sandringham Dragons in Rounds 15 and 17 respectively.
Though not consistently hitting the scoreboard, Jordan’s value as a forward comes in a mix of her ability to pressure opponents, and more importantly, set up teammates with great looks at goal. The small forward will be the first to lower the eyes and nail a difficult inboard kick, or pop it up for a teammate to jump at. In any case, Jordan’s value to both the Knights and Vic Metro transcends the pure number of individual goals.
Impressively, Jordan’s numbers at the national carnival were spiked, with the small forward revelling off her taller teammates to be at their feet, kicking four goals from her three games and stepping up on the big stage. It gave the biggest indication that Jordan is able to match it against the best of the best.
However, Jordan does have a lack of leg speed which hurts any aspiring small. She recorded below average at prior testing events, and though she has the smarts to either draw free kicks or evade opponents, it will be another question mark when it comes to clubs considering her as a draft option.
Overall, whether or not a club decides to take a chance on Jordan will come down to the importance of speed and size, up against natural footballing ability. On pure traits, the Northern Knights young gun has the ability to play at the top level, it will just be whether or not a club pulls the trigger.
Ellie Huggard played 10 games for Footscray VFLW across 2021-2022, and was a train-on for their AFLW list.
Nominally went to Willy last year; no games, but she instead won the EDFL B&F in the Premier Division. Played 14 games for Aberfeldie, got votes in 11, tallied up 30 votes!
Named as ruck-rover in the EDFL Team of the Year.
Was not getting high disposals at VFLW level, but only once was named in the midfield and hopefully last year was her break-out.
Not sure when she started playing, but is 30yo (so I was amused by the club post about “young guns” when at best only one of the three was that).
I covered Karly McNeice before she played for us in Darwin. Was in the Darebin leadership group last year.
That’s 26 27 players officially announced.
Tracey, Melnikas and Maddi Shaw not officially announced after playing in Darwin I believe.
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According to this article Ava Jordan has reached at least 150cm.
(This article also has comments on Amy Carris-Brett.)
Defender who has also ventured to the wing.
March 1, 2023
LIKE many fellow footballers, Darebin defender Karly McNiece has faced serious injury throughout her career, but has come back stronger and more motivated than ever.
The 24 year old suffered a knee injury just as she was coming into senior footy, but a return to the game she loves is what kept her motivated through the year long recovery.
“I’m glad to say it’s pretty far behind now,” McNiece said.
“It still feels ages ago now, but sort of when I was 19/20, I had knee surgery. I had a year out of the game, which was really hard, and I think that’s what motivated me because I just felt that, not even exaggerating, life was just better when I was playing footy.
“When I was around at Darebin, when I was around my mates, and just the exercise and the fun of playing football, after being away from it, I figured out was just life was better in it. “I think that was pretty motivating to get back into it and then getting back to VFLW level I think it was just wanting to see how far I could take it now that I was able to do everything that my body needed to do to. Then I was keen get to get back to see how far I could push and how good I could get.”
Her introduction into footy, like many other Australians, came via family.
“I suppose I didn’t really have a choice,” she said when asked about what made her fall in love with the code.
“I started playing at the Preston Bullants, my dad was president there and my parents helped found the footy club so I was just spending every Sunday at a footy club all day, and then all my mates were playing so it was sort of the next step and then came down to the Falcons and fell in love with footy all over again with the culture and the people.”
McNiece played juniors with the boys down at the Bullants, before moving across to the Falcons at about the age of 15 and has stayed there since. She also played TAC Cup (now known as Coates Talent League) and Vic Metro as an 18 year-old.
Word of mouth, and some very convincing school mates, is how McNiece found herself at Darebin.
“If you ask a lot of the girls back in the day it’s just word of mouth,” McNiece said. “I went to school with one of the other players, Shannon Egan and one of our forwards coaches Elise Casamento, so we all went to school together and I think I played school footy and they were sort of like ‘you should come play at Darebin’.
“I didn’t have a good sense of girls footy, when I left playing with the boys, so to hear that there was something else to move onto I was like ‘ooh I might give it a go’ and I think they were just happy to get girls down and they just got me into it.”
Although now known as a defender, that was not always the case for McNiece.
I did have a bit of a stint on the wing, but getting to that higher level I don’t think I have quite the running capacity to stick it out at a high pace the whole game. I do like a bit of a stint here and there,” she said.
“I’m pretty naturally defensive. I think that the advantage of being able to sit off one end and read the flight of the ball is probably where my strengths lie and sort of being able to call shots from further away can help the whole team move to where we need to be positionally I think is probably where I can be most helpful to the team.”
Although she wants to make it to the next level, she is still thinking bigger picture in terms of her goals.
“Yeah absolutely, I think that is the goal,” McNiece said. “I think maybe the overall goal is to play the best footy I can and play the best role in this team that I can, but absolutely definitely got aspirations to play at the highest level.”
Ha. Brendan Rhodes liked but ignored my comment that Kendra was truly ruly retired. He has however added one new name:
Kiara Henry (Western Bulldogs VFLW)
Three games with Footscray last year. Fast but small midfielder?
Aaaaaaaaand it looks like Essendon ≠ Southern Saints, so ignore the above.
https://www.sandringhamfc.com.au/latest-news/three-more-saints-sign-on-for-2024
More of a training report to come later, but how about resolving that via… SARAH PERKINS.
