Hawthorn’s Midfield Coach Keegan Brooksby detailed the performance of every midfielder for the 2024 AFLW season.

Read his thoughts below.

Emily Bates

“Batesy’s had a great year, leading from the front and I think has really driven the standards, both on and off field. We’ve seen in games that she’s had big impact around the ball and around the contest, been able to get forward at occasion as well and hit the scoreboard. I think the relationship and duo of her and Eliza West, has worked really well for us and given us some great looks from stoppage this year.”

Eliza West

“I can’t speak highly enough of Westy coming in this year, very fortunate to get her to the club. And the impact that she’s had around the ball for herself but also for some other players and helping them has been immense. She’s been rewarded with being in the All-Australian squad at this stage. She’s had a great first season in the brown and gold and I look forward to that continuing next year.”

Jasmine Fleming

“Flem like the two finals games we’ve seen the impact she’s had on them with her speed and her run and carry, has been immense. I think she’s really taken a step forward and working with Emily Bates, Eliza West has probably suited her and her skillset really, really well. And when Flem’s performing at her best the impact that she has on the games is huge both from run and carry, meters gained and scoreboard impact in the finals as well.”

Kaitlyn Ashmore

“Kashy probably started a little bit slowly and then really worked into it through the middle of the season and the back half. One of the things that we love about Kashy is the run, both offensively and defensively but also her ability to out her body on the line around contests. We saw some big moments in big games later in the season that were really impactful for us, so another good year for Kashy.”

Casey Sherriff

“Casey was probably a little bit frustrated she got off to such a good start the first couple of games playing in a new role as an inside mid, probably played predominantly outside, half forward, half back, wing at Melbourne and we thought there’s an inside mid role for her. She started the season off really really well and then unfortunately hurt her ankle and was out for an extended period, coming back there was a lot of work to catch up and didn’t quite get back to the same heights that she started the season. But we think another preseason in her as an inside mid, there’s some great growth there as well.”

Laura Stone

“Stoney also started off in a few different roles, played back, played wing, played forward and eventually got her some time in the midfield. We can see the player that she’s going to be and I think the game against Geelong when she was able to impact the scoreboard with three goals but also set up a couple of others, showed what she’s capable of. Obviously, ankle injury probably hurt us in the backend of the season as well but loving what Stoney’s doing and you can see that as she progresses forward the inside mid role is going to be for her as well.”

Jess Vukic

“Jess as a ruck, came in and what we love about Jess is just the aggressive and physical nature of the way that she plays, she just jumps in and isn’t afraid to out her body on the line. Her craft certainly developed over the course of the season as well and being a little bit undersized as a ruck, understanding how to use your body and what’s effective for you has been an important learning for her. And we certainly saw that come through in some moments in games where we could use her quite effectively, so I think for a developing tall in her first year, she’s had a great impact and a great season.”

Mikayla Williamson

“Mikayla, I think if the game was still going, she’d still be running, she just loves to run. And like you see the ability to close space both on defence but also on offence and take space when she gets the ball and drives her legs and then kick it 40-50 metres and create some big metres gained swings for us, really really important. She played the role really really well, for a first year played to come in and be involved in a different system to anything she would’ve ever seen before, she’s been immense in her first year and we’ve loved having her.”

Lucy Wales

“Lucy, I think last year came in with a bit of an interrupted preseason so didn’t quite get the best out of her. This year she’s probably one of the players that invested the most time in the offseason into her body and her craft and she really was able to reap the rewards of that hard work through the season. She had some big games where she was able to impact and really give us an advantage both around the ball but also around the ground, covering defensively, taking some intercept marks and setting up some of our ball movement from there. Lucy was rewarded again with being in the All-Australian squad, which I think is valid reward for the season that she’s had and we’re super pumped to have Lucy at the club, she’s one of the key rucks of the competition who’s had some really good battles with some really good players.”

Watch Keegan Brooksby’s full review of the midfield group below.