AFLW Player Ally Anderson (2016-)

[Elixuh]

Alexandra Anderson is an inside midfielder with a great kick and is very valuable around the stoppages. An elite ball winner in close, Anderson is effective in getting her hands on the ball and feeding it out to our outside runners to help clear the stoppages. For the past three years Anderson has co–coached the female kick start team at the National Championship. In 2016 Anderson coached this team solely for the first time and won the Championship. The first Queensland Indigenous player to get drafted in the exhibition games and in 2016, Anderson was the joint winner of her club’s Best and Fairest – tying with Brisbane Lions marquee player Tayla Harris.

 

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[fanackapan]

http://www.lions.com.au/news/2017-05-17/nine-aflw-stars-locked-in

The Brisbane Lions have finalised paperwork with the AFL today to secure nine of their AFL Women's players who have re-signed with the Club.

The Club has also retained grand final players Brittany Gibson, Breanna Koenen, Tahlia Randall, Jamie Stanton, Sharni Webb, Jessica Wuetschner and Alexandra Anderson.

 

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[LionsMaw]

Congrats Ally! A very deserving winner.



Apr 12. 2019. 10:34 PM
All Australian Lions midfielder caps off season with B&F
Michael Whiting
Why not share? #AFLW

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ALL AUSTRALIAN midfielder Ally Anderson has capped a terrific AFLW season, being crowned Brisbane's best and fairest winner on Friday night.
The 22-year-old finished with 95 votes, 11 clear of Nat Exon (84) and a further six votes back to last year's winner Kat Lutkins (78).
Inaugural winner Emily Bates (76) was fourth.
Anderson was a deserving winner, averaging 21 disposals (third in the competition) and five tackles a game in a difficult season for the Lions.
Her round four performance in the win over the Western Bulldogs saw Anderson voted the AFL Players MVP of the Week and poll maximum coaches votes. Lions coach Craig Starcevich said Anderson was one of the hardest workers at the club.
"In three seasons we’ve seen Ally’s disposal average in the AFLW competition triple," he said.
"Having the likes of (Lions premiership winners) Simon Black and Clark Keating helping her with her craft work has seen her game go to a new level.
"We are all thrilled she received this honour."
Exon won the Players' Player award, while Jesse Wardlaw was named Best First Year Player.
LIONS BEST AND FAIREST TOP 10
1. Ally Anderson 95 votes
2. Nat Exon 84 votes
3. Kate Lutkins 78 votes
4. Emily Bates 76 votes
5. Jessica Wuetschnner 70 votes
6. Lauren Arnell 63 votes
7. Sabrina Frederick 60 votes
8. Jesse Wardlaw 58 votes
9. Emma Zielke 56 votes
10. Shannon Campbell 55 votes

 

[dlanod]

She's come a long way!

Ally Anderson takes home AFLW's best and fairest

Brisbane Lion Ally Anderson is the first best and fairest winner in AFLW history not to make the All-Australian team.

www.abc.net.au

 

[ZoBlitz]

O’Dwyer the Time Trial Queen Shatters the Record Books

The annual 2km time trial heralded the start of the Brisbane Lions AFLW pre-season on Monday night as the squad prepares for the 2023 NAB AFLW Season.

Reigning AFLW best and fairest medallist Anderson was the biggest improver, taking a whopping 30 seconds off her personal best and showing why she will be a force to be reckoned with come September.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Young Lion hits track after unlucky year, gun blitzes time trial

Meanwhile reigning AFLW Best and Fairest winner Ally Anderson is in career-best shape. After shaving 30 seconds off her 2km time trial personal best, Anderson is a clear leader out on the training track.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Small changes have humble Lion ready for a new start

AS THE reigning AFLW Best and Fairest winner, and the most experienced player on Brisbane's list, Ally Anderson would be forgiven for carrying some ego. That, however, couldn't be further from the truth.

It's been a long seven months since the medal was placed around Anderson's neck. In that time the woman who did the placing, Emily Bates, has journeyed south for a new opportunity, breaking up one of the longest midfield partnerships in the competition.

But it's a chance for a new start, for both players.

"I've been playing with Emily for seven years, and even longer in the state system," Anderson told womens.afl.

"I really miss her, and I miss that vibe that we have, but we're still friends… so no bad vibes there."

An unexpected problem that Bates' absence has thrown up, however, is Anderson's pre-game warm-up routine.

"She was my warm-up buddy," Anderson said.

"Every game we would do a very specific warm-up, so I was really sad. We had a practice match, or not a practice match just like a little mini game a couple of months ago… I think I was on the bus, and I was like 'what I do?'"

"I recruited one of the girls, Jade Ellenger, and she was happy to do the warm-up. So now she's stuck with me for the season. Yeah, I'm very specific about it."

Not long after the conversation, Anderson and Ellenger could be seen working through an almost ritualistic warm-up before their training session began.

Another partnership that Anderson developed in the off season was sessions with running powerhouse Orla O'Dwyer. As a result, Anderson shaved a massive 30 seconds off her best 2km time.

"It is about improving yourself and I think I've come back from my nice little break and gotten a lot better in terms of my fitness and strength. It's something that I am always looking to work on."

"I feel like a lot of that was also running with Orla in the preseason," she added with a chuckle.

That physical improvement has been supported by a proper off season, one that was much needed after two seasons in 2022, both of which Anderson's Lions pushed deep into finals.

"I think that having like six months off, and a few months I went overseas for it, so just feeling really refreshed, coming back and yeah, all the girls are the same. We just feel refreshed," Anderson said.

Jetting to Europe just a week after November's Grand Final loss, there hasn't been much chance to dwell on the bad, or the good. Just to get away from footy for a little while.

A third Grand Final loss, while painful, offers motivation for this season. And the best and fairest win is a reminder that Anderson's best footy emerges when she's working for her teammates.

"There is obviously that bit of pressure of, you know, I just want to perform again and just be consistent for my team. I think as long as I have that sort of mindset, that 'for the team' mindset, then I don't really feel like that pressure will affect me."

And now it's the beginning of a new era at the Lions. New facility, new-look team, and a desire to get back on top.

"This is my eighth season at the club. It just feels totally different, and in a really good way."

 

[ZoBlitz]

Three new faces in Lions AFLW leadership group for 2023

Following the announcement of Bre Koenen and Nat Grider as captain and vice-captain yesterday, the Lions are excited to announce four players into the broader leadership group for 2023.

Reigning league medallist Ally Anderson, who was part of the leadership group in 2022, will be joined by Cathy Svarc and Sophie Conway who are returning members of quartet from 2021.

Belle Dawes has been named among the leaders for the first time in her career as she enters her fourth year with the Club.

Dawes said she was over the moon to be viewed as a leader by her peers.

“I feel very honoured to be honest, knowing that girls have voted me in,” Dawes said.

“I’ve put my hand up for the last three years and I’ve been close Craig has told me.

“When he told me this year I jumped up and down in his office.

“I didn’t have any doubt that Bre and Nat would be voted in again, they were so good in those roles last season.

“Ally (Anderson), Cathy (Svarc) and Soph (Conway), I’ve spent a lot of time with them in the midfield and they are leaders on and off the field.

“Everyone in the leadership group are really great people who are always looking to grow and be better.

As someone who is new to the leadership group, Dawes said she will not shy away from remaining the energiser bunny of the team.

“For me the girls know that I bring a lot of energy to the group,” she said.

“The whole group knows how passionate I am about this team and the club which is something I want to bring to my leadership.

“For them to see me as a leader is really awesome and I’m looking forward to what we can do this year.”

Brisbane Lions AFLW coach Craig Starcevich announced the news to the players and was excited by the diversity of the leadership group.

“We are delighted that we have a cross-section of age and experience,” he said.

“It is a nice representation of the whole group through these six people.

“The leadership group that has been assembled, we feel, are great custodians of our values.”

 

[ZoBlitz]

Anderson Pays Tribute to Indigenous Trailblazers After Claiming Excellence Award

Brisbane Lions AFLW midfielder Ally Anderson has been crowned the winner of the Sportsperson of 2023 at the Brisbane Black Excellence Awards on Saturday night.

Hosted at the Triple A Community Ball, the awards celebrate and recognise First Nations communities and their achievements.

The reigning AFLW Best and Fairest winner was recognised for her excellence not only on the football field but as a leader within the community.

The proud Ghungalu woman has a strong passion for mentoring and leadership through coaching young girls how to play Aussie Rules.

Speaking on at the awards, Anderson was incredibly thankful to everyone who has been involved in her life as a proud Indigenous woman.

“It is such an incredible honour to be standing here in front of you all tonight and to be able to receive this award, it means so much to me and so much to my family too,” she said.

“I want to thank my aunty for nominating me for this award, I didn’t even know she nominated me until about two days ago and then she surprised me by being here tonight as well.

“I want to thank all the incredible Indigenous women in my life who taught me so much about my culture and about myself.

“Also, to all the other Indigenous athletes and Indigenous women who have paved the way for me, I feel so blessed to be receiving this award.” The award recognises and celebrates an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander sportsperson in South-East Queensland.

The Brisbane Black Excellence Sportsperson can be a rising star or an accomplished sportsperson in their respective sport, who is achieving or striving for excellence and involved in their community within South-East Queensland.

Anderson became the second, First Nations person to win the AFLW’s Best and Fairest Award in last season.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Sarah Black's top 30: Ten best players revealed

5. Ally Anderson (Brisbane)
Anderson had a superbly consistent season, winning the AFLW best and fairest but finishing second in Brisbane's own count.

She fell just short of an All-Australian berth amid a tough midfield and finished 11th in the AFLCA votes, but her speed, agility and endurance were all key in the Lions' charge to yet another Grand Final.

Anderson averaged 22.6 disposals at 54.4 per cent efficiency, 5.1 tackles, 5.2 clearances and 3.6 score involvements, kicking two goals.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Ally Anderson ready to go up another level

ALLY Anderson won the game's highest individual honour last season and Brisbane's midfielder has not rested on her achievement, coming back a better athlete ahead of the 2023 season.

Anderson shocked the AFLW world by winning the competition best and fairest for season seven, beating more fancied rivals Monique Conti, Ebony Marinoff and Madison Prespakis to the gong.

The quietly spoken 29-year-old looked mildly shocked to be thrust into the spotlight, the season after her former teammate Emily Bates won the same award.

Following a three-month break to recharge mentally and physically, Anderson got to work on coming back better than ever.

"I was living with Orla O'Dwyer, who is our best runner on the team, so a lot of the pre-season running was me and her finding new runs around Brisbane and it was me trying to chase her basically, and it just naturally happened that I got better at running," Anderson said on the eve of the opening round.

Anderson turned heads at the Lions' pre-season 2km time trial, shaving 30 seconds off her already solid previous best time to catapult her into the top handful of runners on the team.

"I thought I was always average or just above average in running, so I was never thinking I could get too much better, but I did that work and it paid off," she said.

"I realise now there was a big hole there and it was something I could have improved earlier."

When Anderson runs out against Richmond at Brighton Homes Arena on Sunday afternoon, it will be the first time in her AFLW career she does so without Bates alongside her.

The duo had played all 66 of Brisbane's games before Bates' off-season move to Hawthorn.

Although it leaves a hole in the midfield, and one less recognised star for opponents to focus on, Anderson was confident the Lions had the personnel to cover.

"It's something we're obviously going to have to talk about and think about when we play," she said.

"It's just a matter of the team getting around each other and helping each other.

"If one (of her or Bates) got held down, the other one would pop up. That's the good thing about our midfield, we're so strong that if one is getting tagged or aren't having the best game, the rest of the midfield pops up."

"I feel like we have that really even spread."

The spread of talent includes Belle Dawes, the energetic dynamo who is set for the biggest increase in on-ball minutes alongside Anderson and Cathy Svarc.

Anderson said despite losing Bates, Greta Bodey and Jesse Wardlaw during the off-season, Brisbane's expectations were as high as ever as it looked to add to its 2021 premiership.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Anderson: Midfield dynamic is working well

If one of us gets held down, another would pop up. That's the good thing about our midfield, we're so strong that if one is getting tagged or aren't having the best game, the rest of the midfield pops up.

www.lions.com.au

 

[ZoBlitz]

AFLW Team of the Week, round two

MIDFIELDERS
Lauren Pearce (Melbourne, ruck), Ally Anderson (Brisbane), Kiara Bowers (Fremantle), Monique Conti (Richmond), Jasmine Garner (North Melbourne), Charlie Rowbottom (Gold Coast)

Anderson (36 touches, five clearances) was simply outstanding, Bowers (23 and 17 tackles) returned to the AFLW with a bang, and Garner (36, eight clearances and a goal) had the ball on a string against Carlton.

 

[ZoBlitz]

AFLW Team of the Week, round five

MIDFIELDERS
Ally Morphett (ruck, Sydney), Ally Anderson (Brisbane), Ellie Blackburn (Western Bulldogs), Monique Conti (Richmond), Alyce Parker (GWS), Ash Riddell (North Melbourne)

Anderson (30, eight clearances and three behinds) was just the spark Brisbane needed to fight back against Hawthorn, Riddell (32 and 12 clearances) didn't stop running amid a howling wind at Arden Street, with opponent Parker (34 and 10 tackles) working just as hard.

 

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'She continues to level up': Lions gun only getting better

AFTER winning the League best and fairest last season, Ally Anderson is an even better player in 2023, says Brisbane vice-captain Nat Grider.

Anderson was as shocked as anyone to take out last year's top individual gong, when she outlasted Richmond's Mon Conti and Adelaide's Ebony Marinoff to claim victory.

Through five rounds this season, the hard-working midfielder is again the leading light for the 4-1 Lions.

She is averaging 29 disposals a game (up from 21 last season), along with six tackles and five clearances.

Grider said it was no surprise Anderson was even better in 2023, with an off-season of hard work driving her to become a better runner and all-around more complete player.

"She's one of our most consistent, reliable and competitive players on field and it shows in her performances week in and week out," Grider said on Wednesday.

"She's definitely improving every year.

"The competition gets better and she continues to level up as well, which is a credit to her and the training she does away from the club, particularly in the off-season.

"The age she is as well, it's pretty amazing to see that sort of improvement each year and I have no doubt she'll continue to do that in the next few seasons as well."

Anderson, 29, was a primary catalyst for Brisbane's come-from-behind win against Hawthorn on Sunday, with her 30 disposals, eight clearances and eight tackles instrumental in overturning an eight-point half-time deficit.

She is again perched inside the top-10 of the AFL Coaches Association award, having polled in each of Brisbane's past four wins.

Anderson had a huge slate of off-field commitments last week, something that hadn't escaped Grider.

"Despite having such a massive week with the Brownlow and all the Grand Final parade commitments, she continued to put out an incredible performance."

 

[ZoBlitz]

Anderson: It's an exciting round and we absolutely love it

Watch Ally Anderson and Dakota Davidson's Press Conference at the AFLW Indigenous Round Launch. The Lions will take on Gold Coast in the QClash this Saturday and they are expecting fireworks

www.lions.com.au

 

[ZoBlitz]

League best-and-fairest bracing for toughest tag yet

ALLY Anderson knows who’s coming her way on Saturday afternoon, and the reigning AFLW best and fairest is ready.

With Emily Bates departing during the off-season for Hawthorn, Anderson is now in the crosshairs of opposition coaches as the Lions’ midfield prime mover.

And at Heritage Bank Stadium, she knows Gold Coast stopper Lucy Single is headed her way.

Single has been a revelation this season, using her strength, speed and endurance to go with some of the competition’s best players.

She’s had roles on Bri Davey, Ellie Blackburn, Ebony Marinoff and Mon Conti in the past month, drawing even of beating all of them.

“It’s definitely something I’m preparing for,” Anderson said when asked about the likely match-up earlier in the week.

“She played on me in the practice match too, so I have a little bit of experience with that.

“I’m looking forward to that challenge.”

Anderson has picked up where she left off from her award-winning season seven, sitting fourth for disposals in the competition and sixth in the AFL Coaches Association player of the year award.

“I’ve had it a couple of times already this year,” she said of being tagged.

“(Aishling) Sheridan followed me around last week most of the game … it can be tough and it can be frustrating, but that’s the key, to not let it get too frustrating and to work through it.

“Relying on your teammates as well, that’s a massive thing.”

The midfield battle should be engrossing in the fifth instalment of the women’s QClash, with Anderson, Cathy Svarc and Belle Dawes coming up against Single, Charlie Rowbottom and Claudia Whitfort.

“It’s going to be a tough battle in there,” Anderson said.

“We’ve always rated their midfield, they’re very strong with their big bodies. I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”

 

[ZoBlitz]

AFLW Team of the Week, round seven

MIDFIELDERS

Steph Wales (Essendon), Ally Anderson (Brisbane), Jasmine Garner (North Melbourne), Ebony Marinoff (Adelaide), Amy McDonald (Geelong), Ash Riddell (North Melbourne)

Marinoff (32, nine tackles) controlled proceedings in the middle of the ground, McDonald (30, eight clearances) was back to her very best and Anderson (27 and two) was named QClash medallist.

 

[ZoBlitz]

AFLW Team of the Week, round eight

MIDFIELDERS

Breann Moody (Carlton), Ally Anderson (Brisbane), Mikala Cann (Collingwood), Monique Conti (Richmond), Tyla Hanks (Melbourne), Emma Swanson (West Coast)

It was yet another best-on-ground performance from Anderson (28, five clearances), while Conti (35 and seven) returned to her very best.

 

[ZoBlitz]

Coaches' votes, R8: Lion chasing down Roo, six perfect 10s

REIGNING competition best and fairest winner Ally Anderson has closed the gap on Jas Garner on the AFLCA coaches’ votes leaderboard, with a perfect ten votes in round eight bringing her just four votes behind the star Kangaroo.