Women's Footy 2026 Brisbane Lions AFLW - General Thread

[The Flying Belgian]

They do have some really good players but on paper they would get smashed.

100% guaranteed though that the Irish girls would be insanely ferocious and could well beat us on that alone.

Would be spectacular and I could see the game resulting in multiple players missing multiple weeks in suspensions.

No dependable ball-winners

 

[weevil]

No dependable ball-winners

Yeah, the middle in particular is where they just won't be able to match it skill wise. But bet against them at your peril.

 

[Perrip]

Brisbane Lions extends New Balance across whole of club partnership until 2030
First look at the New Balance W guernsey instead of Cotton On

 

[Grasshopper17]

Whose the bloke on the left; is that Ben Murphy the Irish lad?

Fair dinkum mate

 

[Perrip]

Whose the bloke on the left; is that Ben Murphy the Irish lad?

That's Dakota Davidson...

 

[AFLQLD]

Lions Academy girls beat GWS comfortably on the weekend and played some good team football.

We are probably lucky that we can split the girls across two draft years because some of the very draftable ones are underagers.

The underagers first:
Ameleia Murray - natural born midfielder. Will be drafted, hopefully by the Lions.
Indiana Scheffler - tall forward, looks good as an underager, developing in leaps and bounds I feel.
Edie Fraser - a tall forward showing some ability and craft.

And the draft-eligibles:
Molly Ferguson - rookieme describes her as a class act but I think even that sells her a little short. She is the one I would least like to slip away in this draft. A bit of Belle Dawes with a dash of Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

32

Ht

177cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.0

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

15.5

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.7

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

28.3

5star

K

13.9

5star

HB

14.4

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

CL

0.4

3star

in there and such good instincts, moves strategically around the contest, the sign of a player genuinely thinking about her game. She finds ways to get involved even when moved out of the contest for some of the game. Some players are natural readers of the game and I think she is one of them. These players don’t rely on one or two attributes because their overriding skill is analysis of the game on the fly and then making good choices.

Mia Geere - too versatile and reliable not to get drafted. It seems like she could play virtually anywhere and do well. A toughness about her that will only grow in a professional environment. Uses the ball so well.

Harlee McIlwain - no goals but worked hard to create opportunities and defend with real intent. I think we can say that a player with her potential at her height is going to get drafted.

I think those three are the most likely to be drafted. If we got all three it would be an outstanding draft for us. There are a couple of others in the mix as maybes.

 

[The Flying Belgian]

Lions Academy girls beat GWS comfortably on the weekend and played some good team football.

We are probably lucky that we can split the girls across two draft years because some of the very draftable ones are underagers.

The underagers first:
Ameleia Murray - natural born midfielder. Will be drafted, hopefully by the Lions.
Indiana Scheffler - tall forward, looks good as an underager, developing in leaps and bounds I feel.
Edie Fraser - a tall forward showing some ability and craft.

And the draft-eligibles:
Molly Ferguson - rookieme describes her as a class act but I think even that sells her a little short. She is the one I would least like to slip away in this draft. A bit of Belle Dawes with a dash of Lachie Neale in there and such good instincts, moves strategically around the contest, the sign of a player genuinely thinking about her game. She finds ways to get involved even when moved out of the contest for some of the game. Some players are natural readers of the game and I think she is one of them. These players don’t rely on one or two attributes because their overriding skill is analysis of the game on the fly and then making good choices.

Mia Geere - too versatile and reliable not to get drafted. It seems like she could play virtually anywhere and do well. A toughness about her that will only grow in a professional environment. Uses the ball so well.

Harlee McIlwain - no goals but worked hard to create opportunities and defend with real intent. I think we can say that a player with her potential at her height is going to get drafted.

I think those three are the most likely to be drafted. If we got all three it would be an outstanding draft for us. There are a couple of others in the mix as maybes.

Good write up. Ferguson a natural footballer. Geere I think might settle in defence. McIlwain has plenty of runs on the board. Pritchard is the other I think we'll be keen on this year. I always like Stella Scott, but I'm not sure where she's at ATM.

Haven't seen as much of the underagers. Is the game available online?

 

[Perrip]

Haven't seen as much of the underagers. Is the game available online?

AFL Talent League Girls Match Replay: GWS Giants Academy v Brisbane Lions Academy

 

[AFLQLD]

Molly Ferguson, our U18 girls captain, has been added to the AFLW academy and they play against Carlton AFLW team today.

This is wider recognition of just how much of a genuine midfield talent she is.

 

[Perrip]

Molly Ferguson, our U18 girls captain, has been added to the AFLW academy and they play against Carlton AFLW team today.

This is wider recognition of just how much of a genuine midfield talent she is.

Gun mid named best afield as top prospects prove too strong for Blues VFLW

Brisbane academy player Mia Geere showed some good composure as a lead-up forward and with the occasional inside stint, busy both in the air and at ground level, finishing with 12 disposals, four clearances and a goal.
Fellow Lion Molly Ferguson (an injury-replacement call-up) worked her way into the game with some strong running across the field (18 disposals, three clearances)

 

[Perrip]

Seems a Lions Academy player could be the #1 pick to Gold Coast tomorrow night in the preseason draft. Huge.

 

[briztoon]

Seems a Lions Academy player could be the #1 pick to Gold Coast tomorrow night in the preseason draft. Huge.

Any relation I wonder.

 

[AFLQLD]

Yes, we will definitely lose Lily Quigley unfortunately. She is an overager and someone will snap her up at the pre-season draft. She is a really dynamic mid/wing/half-forward. Her ability to spread from the contest and put the jets on is really eye-catching. A reliable user as well.

Gold Coast will take her or if they don’t GWS will.

 

[AFLQLD]

The Lions academy has incredible talent on the girls’ side at the moment. Just some really skilled players that should be drafted

Almost certain to be drafted or will be a surprise if they aren’t:
Molly Ferguson
Mia Geere
Harlee McIlwaine
Aiyana Pritchard
They all played for the AFL academy team, a pretty good indicator of draft interest.

Possible draft talent:
Zoe Petrides
Stella Scott

2027 draft potential:
Ameilia Murray
Lucy Ashcroft
Indiana Scheffler

2028 draft potential
Kya Wills-Rawlings (I think she is 2028)
Libby Robinson

The Lions girls were barely troubled by any team in the last five games against the other three academies and Geelong Falcons and Sandringham. Only Sydney were a real challenge and our girls pulled away in the fourth quarter. The other games the Lions were comfortably in control.

 

[Perrip]

Seems a Lions Academy player could be the #1 pick to Gold Coast tomorrow night in the preseason draft. Huge.

As expected, has now joined GC.
2026 AFLW preseason officially kicks off next week.

 

[AFLQLD]

I think it was locked in for a few weeks that Lily would go to either Suns or Giants. She will be an enjoyable player to watch (except against Brisbane).

At the end of this season Lions may need to make some hard decisions with our list. There is a lot of talent becoming available who were born and raised on football with a complete skill set much closer to that of the men’s side. There are going to be fewer transfers from other sports over time I suspect, because a lot of these girls now have played AFL as their main or only sport all their lives. I think we are seeing the first wave of this coming. Just being a good athlete with weak skills doesn’t really cut it any more.

The game plans and structures are becoming much more like in the men’s game. For the first few AFLW seasons, switching in defence to open up the field was barely tried because the quality of kicking exposed teams, now it is becoming much more of an expectation.

Women will never kick the ball as far as men, but in many other ways the game is catching up in terms of skills and definitely in footy sense.