Hawthorn’s AFLW Forwards Coach Mitch Cashion gave a review of every forward’s 2024 campaign.

See what he had to say about each player below.

Greta Bodey

“Greta had a really interesting year because she played so many different roles for us, so she was a forward at times, but a lot of the time she spent on the wing as well. I think Greta’s a player that we just are constantly like if we can find ways to get her into the game, that’s going to have a big impact for us. Thankfully we were able to find ways to do that and she did a fantastic job of learning new skills throughout the year, whilst giving significant impact on the scoreboard both with her scoring and creating scores for others. It was seen late in the year when we were able to throw Greta forward and she would make things happen, which she always does and so she came a long way this year with her ability to play multiple roles which was really exciting.”

Hayley McLaughlin

“H is everybody’s favourite person because she just wants to get better. She’s always asking questions and looking for ways to improve which you can see she’s that type of player just her skill level’s so high, because she’s put so much time and energy into perfecting those things. She’s still got areas to work on and she’ll develop that as she grows and gets older over the next few years of her footy journey. But what we were able to see from her at times this season is really exciting for the future, we know we’ve got a really skilful, footy-smart player who’s just going to develop as a half forward and a wing and maybe in time a genuine midfielder as well. But we know she can create a lot of things as a forward.”

Aileen Gilroy

“I was really happy for Gilly to get into the All-Australian squad and hopefully into the All-Australian team. Her impact she was able to provide and some of the goals she kicked throughout the year were quite ridiculous, I don’t think she knows how she kicked them. Her willingness at trying to get better, a player who’s over thirty it doesn’t stop her from trying to improve all the time, she’s genuinely one of the last players to leave the training track. She annoys me for kicking footies at her for hours after training, if possible, until I get too tired, she’s just there until I call it. Her willingness to learn and develop her kicking skills as well, she gives such impact physically but then the scoreboard impact she was able to provide with, I think she kicked 14 goals for the season which is a great reward for her effort for the season.”

Aine McDonagh

“My assistant coach, as a lot of people like to suggest. But Aine, I’m really proud of her year. We sat down at the start of the year, and we spoke about a few goals she should have and I said ‘why wouldn’t you have the goal of being an All-Australian forward?’ and she kind of scoffed as if that wasn’t realistic or wasn’t possible, but she’s proven that to herself by making the squad and once again, hopefully the team. But her impact on the scoreboard, her score involvements, I think she was second or third in the competition for score involvements this year, she was in the top five for goals, and she definitely led us for marks inside 50 but was pretty high up in the competition for that as well. She’s just gone to another level with her game this year, and we knew she could and I think having a bit more of an offensive side this year where we’re scoring more, helped her immensely with that. But she needs to take a lot of the credit for the work she’s done and she should feel really proud for the year she’s had. She’s found ways to score and in a year that we may have sat there and said ‘not sure who the key forward is going to be’ Aine stepped up and played that role really well.’

Mackenzie Eardley

“Mack is just so naturally talented that we’re all so excited about what she could be. It was a pretty big learning curve for her to make that shift and she’d played some forward as a junior in the past so it wasn’t completely foreign, but I think playing at this level is very different to playing as an under 18. She had moments where she honestly looked like she could be the best player in the competition with what she does when she’s a forward and that’s really exciting for us, and as a coaching group for us to continue to try and develop her in that space over the next one, two, three, four years, just to think of what she could become. Frustratingly for Mack she had some niggling injuries throughout the year, whether it be in preseason or during the season, a concussion that kept her out for a few weeks, there were some challenges around that but we can all see when Mack gets going, with her ability to kick it 50 metres, or ability to mark it three metres in the air because she can jump and she’s so tall and has such long arms. At training if I’m trying to defend Mack one on one I’m sort of like there’s no way anyone’s stopping this when she’s on her game. There’s a lot of things she’s going to provide excitement for us in the future for us, I’ve no doubt.”

Bridie Hipwell

“I think Bridie had a solid year. She was able to cement her spot in the team which is really positive and the one thing she did provide, like we look at a lot of pressure numbers each week for how the forwards apply pressure and tackles inside 50 and pressure acts and all those types of things and she was consistently one of our best in that space. She pushes up, she puts defensive pressure on, she’s got speed and power. I think the next phase for Bridie is to start to take more contested marks and marks inside 50, but she definitely gave us impact inside 50 with her defensive traits. And I think we all know with Bridie, a bit similar to Mack, the sky is the limit for where her talent could take her and we’re all just really excited to see that develop. Like with so many of these girls they’re still only 20 years old and there’s so much scope to continue and improve and Bridie’s definitely one of those and I can’t wait to see how she develops in the next few years.”

Sophie Butterworth

“I was just rapt that she got that opportunity to play and so was Soph. I think that gives her something to work off for the future we know that it doesn’t matter, men’s footy, women’s footy, key forwards can take a bit longer to adapt to the speed of the game and the role they have to play, because it is such a physical role. In Soph’s one game that he did play, she actually showed a lot of thigs to be excited about. So her ground level work, the way she brought others into the game with her hands, she competed aerially, she did everything we could ask of her in that game. And I think it gave us, once again, real excitement for the future of what she’s going to become. And I think like a lot of our players, when you see her running around having shots from 50, and the way she can run and jump at the footy and just her general ball use, I think there’s something to be really excited about and I think next year’s going to be another step forward for Soph.”

Kristy Stratton

“It was tough, Stratts obviously had the ankle in the Freo game in WA after she worked really hard, hamstring in preseason, worked really hard to get herself back in the team and gets the injury as soon as she came into the side and then it was sort of tricky for her to find a way back in after that cause of niggly injuries. I felt for Stratts because she was trying so hard to get back into the team, as of course you would, you want to come back and play finals footy, you’re always striving to push it that little bit and sometimes when you push it too hard it’s a little bit hard to get back in. Stratts for when we did see her out on the park, we know what she brings, she brings pressure and intent and effort and we’ll see that again I’m sure, but it was a frustrating year for Stratts.”

Watch Mitch Cashion’s full forward line review below.