2024 AFLW Draft Player Profiles including highlights

[Pie 4 Life]

Hey everyone,

Noticed this forum has been a little dead this year and given the draft is less than two months away, I thought I'd share with you highlights and details about the top prospects. I'll keep the OP for threadmarks and links to the full profiles, but will post summaries in each individual post.

I'll be doing draft profiles on each of the players with AFLW Draft Combine invites, as well as a handful of others outside that group. As always Rookie Me Central's AFLW Draft Guide is coming at the start of December. But I'll share the profiles I've done with the key information here and if you choose to read them in full then great

AFLW Draft Profiles:

Ash Centra | FULL PROFILE | HIGHLIGHTS
Havana Harris | FULL PROFILE | HIGHLIGHTS
Zippy Fish
Sophie McKay
Mackenzie Williams
Tatyana Perry
Esther Schirmer
Lou-Lou Field

 

[Pie 4 Life]

Ash Centra

DOB: 02/06/2006
Height: 176cm
Club: Gippsland Power
State: Victoria

>> FULL PROFILE <<


SNAPSHOT: “Arguably the greatest and most consistent ball user to come through women’s football, Centra has a plethora of weapons highlighted by her clean hands, composure and vision with ball in hand.”

STRENGTHS:

• Clean hands
• Elite kicking
• Vision
• Decision making
• Production
• Composure
• Aerial ability
• Versatility

IMPROVEMENTS:

• Speed
• Set shot goalkicking

With Centra it is genuinely a case of where do you begin with her strengths? Her combination of clean hands and elite kicking is what sets her head and shoulders above the majority of players, and few would argue she is clearly the best Victorian prospect in this year's AFLW Draft.

Watching her highlights alone is enough to get a taste for what Centra is capable of, with a "bad game" not only few and far between, but still at a level that is higher than 90 per cent of other players. If you look at her two lowest production games at Talent League Girls, both come with excuses, not that Centra would ever use them.

In Round 3 against the Sydney Swans Academy, illness saw her have to stop after just over a quarter and three touches, while she was heavily tagged by Tasmania Devils in Round 11 when she still managed the 13 disposals at Shepley Oval. Taking out those two games, her next lowest disposal performance for the Power was 23 disposals against GWV Rebels in Round 15, and she still kicked two ripping goals.

Excluding the two bottom performances, Centra averaged 31.3 disposals per game at Coates Talent League Girls level, as well as 5.0 marks, 4.6 tackles and 3.5 inside 50s. While predominantly spending a 50/50 split between midfield and forward, there were times where Centra dropped into defence to be an intercepting force again as she had been in her bottom-age campaign.

A one-touch player both in the air and at ground level, Centra is a strong aerial player who can clunk some strong grabs even with contact coming her way. Off the deck, she can use a terrific low centre of gravity to swoop in collect the pill and spin out of a trouble. But unlike a lot of players who might pull out the party tricks for show, Centra can do all of that and still find a target in space and nail the kick under immense pressure.

Her vision is second to none, able to spot a needle in a haystack, and her split-second decision making is equally an incredible trait. Never flustered, Centra assesses the options in front of her like anyone, but does it at a rapid rate. Seldom will you ever see Centra hack kick from a stoppage or bomb away without looking. Each possession is calculated, and even in the odd occasion it does miss a target, usually there was merit to the decision.

Outside of her ball use, vision, composure and decision making, Centra is also an incredibly versatile player as shown by her career playing across all three lines. Coming through the Power pathway, Centra was always known as the player who could do magical things with ball in hand, but the main question mark was her understanding when not in possession.

At times she would look lackadasical to the lay person, but when digging deeper, it was more about still developing her understanding of off-ball work and positioning. That was what lead to the move to defence, and it naturally lifted her understanding of the game and reading of the play. It took her from a potential top prospect, to the leading Victorian one, and she remained so over the next 18 months.

While Centra's profile is among the best one can hope for, she too has areas that do not necessarily hold her back, but are further room for growth at times. The easier one to fix is her set shot goalkicking. For a star ball user who can pinpoint teammates in heavy traffic, it almost seems a little strange that when it comes to putting the ball through the big sticks with time on her side, she struggles.

However that is the case, with Centra leaving quite a few chances out there and while quite a few of her 17 behinds (to 18 goals) would have been from tough positions, she still missed a few that a player of her class should put away without any problems. That includes both close and medium range. It is an area that has come along a little because in her double bottom-age year, it was her Achilles heel as a forward, now it is more of a work in progress.

Aside from that, the other main element that Centra lacks compared to the modern-day star is speed, and while not slow, does not possess that explosive burst that so many midfielders come through the pathway with nowadays.

Though akin to Scott Pendlebury which is often attributed to "slowing time", Centra has the same trait, seemingly able to sidestep opponents and dance around them like they are not even there. When tackled, her composure and lightning quick decision making whips into action and she has the strength to still dispose of the ball cleanly.

Centra's agility is also very good, so while not having that breakaway speed, her skill to glide around and step through traffic allows her to not limit her in that regard. However it does open the door for opponents to place a heavy tag on her - as the Devils did at Talent League level - especially with a player who can match her strength and work rate. Expect her to learn plenty more tricks with how to deal with extra attention at the elite level, because a star of her quality will receive plenty.

DRAFT RANGE: 1-3

SUMMARY:

Ash Centra is a supremely talented player with some of the cleanest hands and well-rounded skillsets you are likely to find in a draftee. She has the height at 176cm, and is a proven performer on all three lines. Alongside the likes of other pick one contenders Havana Harris and Zippy Fish, Centra is a genuine superstar in the making, and would be the most likely to be taken with the first selection in this year’s AFLW Draft.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

Havana Harris

DOB: 01/07/2006
Height: 182cm
Club: Bond University / Gold Coast Suns Academy
State: Queensland

>> FULL PROFILE <<

STRENGTHS:

• Vertical leap
• Explosive speed
• Strength
• Versatility
• Penetrating kick
• Strength
• Groundballs

IMPROVEMENTS:

• Kicking precision
• Endurance

PROFILE:

The crux of Havana Harris' game centres around her athleticism. Focusing in on her jumping, Harris is arguably - though there is little doubt she is - one of the best vertical players in the draft crop. She dominated Preseason Testing up in Queensland with a 70cm running vertical jump, a number that would have won her the test at the National Draft Combine had she tested.

Whether it is flying for a mark or going up in a ruck contest, Harris' vertical leap is hard to match unless her opponent is an equally tall and athletic player (such as Davies). The Bond University star's athletic profile does not stop there though, with an explosive burst that should not be possible for a player of her height. Once she wins the ball and sees space, she takes off in a split second, and there are few who could run her down.

Harris backs herself to take on anyone with her speed, and she has grown almost a full centimetre since the preseason, so now stands at 182cm. Whether she is in the ruck or playing midfield, she is a nightmare for the opposition because of her breakaway speed.

One of the subtle moments of the championships came when Queensland faced Western Australia and Harris won the ball in a contest against fellow top star Zippy Fish. While Fish is regarded as one of the fastest - if not the fastest - players going around, Harris gave her the glance over the shoulder and still took off, creating separation almost instantly and being able to get her kick away.

Her first five metres are as quick as anyone's and would have narrowly pipped Fish based off her preseason score, at the National Draft Combine. Each of the players who marginally shaded her time, are sub-180cm. While her agility is still outstanding for her size, she is able to evade opponents through her strength and even when tackled, has the size to lift the arms and get a clean handball away.

That strength comes in handy in one-on-one marking situations and you can only imagine that as a defender trying to play on an opponent who might not only beat you in a wrestle, but if given front position, any chance of defending her is over on the lead. Harris will often spend time down forward, which is a role she predominantly played in her early years while pinch-hitting in the ruck.

Last season she spent more time through the ruck, and gradually developed more midfield minutes, with that split exactly what happened in 2024. Watching her lineup on Shineah Goody at a centre bounce 12 months ago - with almost 20cm difference between them sums up what Harris is capable of, and will be capable of at the elite level.

At ground level, Harris is clean and able to win first or second possession balls, or take it out of the ruck and just burst away. That variety in her game, and versatility in her positioning, makes her so unpredictable to the opposition. For a player who is so good in the air, Harris won more than half of her touches at Coates Talent League Girls level and just under 50 per cent at the national carnival, in a groundball situation.

Her hands are clean and effective and is able to pinpoint a target, while her booming kick can easily travel 50m, quite often providing plenty of highlights on the run such as her game-icing major against Vic Country. Her ability to launch from long-range is a weapon of hers, but she is unselfish as well, always looking for better options inside 50 and trying to put it to her teammate's advantage.

With time and space, Harris can hit targets well, while her main improvement will come from her kicking precision around the ground but particularly when under pressure. Because her kick is so long and penetrating, the distance it creates in itself is such an advantage for her side. Quite often it will go to the right area, without being completely pinpoint.

In saying that, her kicking is not something anyone would consider a weakness as such, but more an area that can be refined. When able to launch on goal or take grass bounding down the field with time to assess her options, Harris can be very damaging and it will be when the booming kicks out of stoppages under pressure or just taking distance can be refined a little more that it would be a near-complete effort.

The other are of improvement which again is more just a way to further develop, comes in Harris' endurance. She can run out games and play across multiple roles, but can still further improve her endurance which was rated 'average' compared to her peers. It is not anything that will hold her back as she has proven she can consistently impact across four quarters, but improving it further will only make her better.

 

[Pie 4 Life]

Before I get too far in, is this all good Lore ? Put a lot of work into these (and believe the detail I'm posting here is quite a bit) so happy to share the bulk of the profiles here like above and if people choose to read more then fantastic.

 

[Vacuous Space]

Potentially stupid question - is Harris available to everyone?

 

[Lore]

Before I get too far in, is this all good Lore ? Put a lot of work into these (and believe the detail I'm posting here is quite a bit) so happy to share the bulk of the profiles here like above and if people choose to read more then fantastic.

Looks good to me

 

[Pie 4 Life]

Potentially stupid question - is Harris available to everyone?

So funny story. The players rhemselves aren’t 100% sure but I spoke to Havana about it and she said she believes it’s the same rule as the father-daughter matching which is within 18 picks of the bid. However she also said she is keen to move interstate, and for GC to match, she has to sign a form to say she’s happy for them to match if need be. Incredibly only six clubs interviewed her at the Draft Combine figuring she wanted to be at GC but she’s actually keen to move away. However also wouldn’t be unhappy to stay too. Lilly Baker was the same, keen to move interstate for an experience.