A number of Hawthorn stars excelled on the stat sheet in their first season of AFLW, led by none other than Vice-Captain Jess Duffin.
Despite being pregnant for most of the season, the 33-year-old was Hawthorn’s leading goalkicker (seven) and contested mark taker (12). She was ranked fifth in the competition for the latter stat. Overall, she finished 10th in her final AFLW best and fairest count.
Captain Tilly Lucas-Rodd led the Hawks in disposals, contested possessions, clearances and tackles. It was tackles where Lucas-Rodd excelled, laying 84 for the season. She also ranked fourth in the league for that stat.
She was followed closely by Tamara Smith, who laid 83 tackles in her debut AFLW season. That number equalled the record for most tackles laid of any player in their maiden AFLW campaign. The 22-year-old ranked second at the Hawks for tackles and fifth in the competition.
Lucy Wales was a dominant force in the ruck this season with 168 hit-outs. She ranked 10th in the league for this stat in her debut season, showing immense composure to shoulder the ruck when Tamara Luke went down with injury in Round 2. It was Wales’ tackling pressure around the ball that turned heads, laying the second-most tackles (44) of any player who took 100 or more ruck contests this season.
Hawthorn’s defensive pillar was Catherine Brown. In her first season of AFLW, Brown led the league in rebound 50s with 57 over her 10 games. The 28-year-old former W-League (now A-League Women’s) player impressed with her booming kick and finished ninth in the Hawks’ AFLW best and fairest count.
Jasmine Fleming tallied the fifth-most disposals of any first-season player with 130, despite playing fewer games than the four players ahead of her. She averaged 14.4 disposals and 4.3 tackles for the season, recording double-digit disposals in all nine appearances she made for the Hawks.
