SNAPSHOT:
Chloe Adams might be the most well-rounded Victorian draft prospect in the sense that there are next to no serious flaws in her game. While others might be elite in one area or another, Adams is just so balanced across the board, that she can impact games in multiple ways, and fill out any role required of her. Though predominantly a midfielder, Adams can also play off half-back moving well around the ground.
STRENGTHS:
- Contested work
- Clean skills
- Defensive pressure
- Dual-sided
- Consistency
- Leadership
IMPROVEMENTS:
- Ground balls
- Scoreboard impact
PROFILE:
Adams is the quintessential coaches dream. She can win the ball inside or out, use it effectively both sides of her body, bring plenty of defensive pressure and do it each and every week. As captain of Geelong Falcons and co-captain of Vic Country, Adams is a player who has quickly endeared herself to both coaches and players alike.
Starting with her game itself, Adams is a natural contested ball-winner, but is just as capable on the outside. She can thrive on being that first possession winner, as her hands out of traffic and ability to kick off both sides of her body allow her to win her fair share of clearances. As a second possession winner, she can also pick the right options, showing fairly strong decision making processes as well.
While her hands are her best asset from a disposal perspective, her opposite foot is strong enough she can still fall back onto it if corralled, and that decision making will ensure it is at least into an advantageous area for her team.
Without the ball, Adams is a consistent and relentless tackler, and it showed with eight per game at Talent League level. Her tackling was just as impressive as her ball-winning, and while again, there were others that were slightly higher, she still averaged an incredible 25.6 disposals, 3.5 marks, 5.1 inside 50s and 2.2 rebound 50s from 14 games,
What has been the most impressive aspect of Adams’ game this year has not been what she has done, but rather what she has improved on. At the start of the season she was still solid across the board, and elite defensively, but it took until mid-season to really impact offensively. She begin winning more of the ball forward or centre and in the forward half, and getting it inside 50 to build up her score involvement numbers.
A massive 11 inside 50s against Northern Territory was the start of a purple patch for Adams, and from there, the balance between offence and defence was set. She carried that form into a national carnival where she had a lower production of 11.0 disposals but still laid 7.3 tackles per game. For Vic Country, Adams also spent time in defence and lead by example at each contest.
In terms of her improvements, Adams herself sighted her ground balls as a way to grow further. Though not fumbly, Adams can still be better at ground level and become a more consistent one-take player. Given she has her days where she is, further focus on this area of the game will only fast-track her development.
The other area of improvement is in her scoreboard impact. When playing midfield for the Falcons, Adams only kicked the three goals in the season, and though she had some chances on goal at different points, could not quite find the range or just went off target. Though not a detrimental aspect of her profile, adding a goalkicking element to her game will add another weapon to an all-round consistent style.
Overall, Adams is a player who is ready to go in terms of every area of her game. She might not be the best in any one area, but would be above average to great in just about everything. Adams is a no frills player on the surface with her work rate, clean skills and defensive pressure, but when digging deeper, she has plenty of weapons in her arsenal that, if required, she can put to good use and haul her team over the line.
SUMMARY:
Chloe Adams is a player who has improved significantly this season, and put herself on the map. Though always regarded as a really strong contested and defensive player, she has rounded out her game in 2023. Currently in the top 25 of our Power Rankings, on ability Adams should be inside that range. Any club that picks her up is getting a talent with a great foundation base to work with going forward.
FFS, this thread is already the third match on Google.
June interview:
Chloe Adams
Adams would be the standout in just about any other midfield in the Talent League but flies under the radar in a Falcons side containing ball magnet Sara Howley.
It speaks to Adams’ productivity that she averages more than 25 possessions but is probably just as regarded for what she does without the ball as her work rate, pressure and contested craft help others shine.
Adams does the dirty work as well as anyone inside, ranking third for the most tackles in the league. She is clean below her knees and able to extract the football and make quick decisions by hand.
While the Cats aren’t short on options that can run through the midfield, the chance to snare Geelong Falcons captain Chloe Adams is there for them, and I’ve got the Cats taking her on with their first pick. She’s an elite inside midfielder but can also work her way on the outside to receive the ball and send it forward. She also averaged good tackling numbers in the talent league, averaging over eight per game in 14 matches. She’d be good depth for the meantime.
And also from Alex Docherty, tipped for #24:
Talent League Stats: 25.6 disposals, 8.1 tackles, 3.5 marks, 4.6 inside 50s, 2.2 rebound 50s – 14 games, three goals
Chloe Adams is an old-fashioned footballer – She doesn’t possess the athleticism that others around her may have, but she has an elite set of skills with the ball that very few can rival.
She’s an excellent contested-possession winner but can just as easily win the ball on the outside, such is her smarts and positioning. She can use the ball on both sides of her body and is an impressive tackler, averaging over eight tackles per game for Geelong Falcons in the Talent League and over seven per game for Vic Country this year in the championships.
Another slight on Adams’ game is that she’s not a prolific goalkicker; she kicked nothing in the championships and just three goals this year in the Talent League. But at least in the defensive half and the middle of the ground, she ticks all the boxes.
Her brother, at least, is ONE OF US.
Last round of this year she had:
1 goal
38 disposals
11 tackles
8 rebound fifties
4 inside fifties
4 frees for / 0 against
Liked what I saw from her first up today on the VFLW can play!
Yep!
Second for disposals (both teams), second for clearances, team-high for tackles, umpires like her even in a Bomber jumper.
When she was sent to defence for a bit (which included picking up the much larger Frew) she looked perfectly comfortable and provided rebounds.
Haven’t fully-checked the Port team, but I am pretty sure she was the youngest of the 42 players.
EDIT: confirmed. The youngest by 14 weeks (7.5 months vs the youngest Port player).