List Mgmt. List Management - St Kilda AFLW

[Kildonan]

2026 AFLW list in age order:

Age DoB Height Name Matches played 2025/career Rd1 Rd2 Rd3 Rd4 Rd5 Rd6 Rd7 Rd8 Rd9 R10 R11 R12 FW1 SF

33y 16/05/1992 168cm Hannah Priest      13/69  48  27  40  43  67  44  74  34  36  40  38  45  25
33y 06/11/1992 160cm Jaimee Lambert     11/93  64  58 105  96  91 101  85 108  --  --  73  57  73
32y 16/03/1993 169cm Deanna Jolliffe     0/9   --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --
32y 30/03/1993 174cm Bianca Jacobsson    5/72  --  --  --  24  40  42  30  48  --  --  --  --  --
29y 13/06/1996 168cm Nicola Barr         9/70  --  43  69  45  53  52  38  30  --  --  41  --  45
26y 18/03/1999 185cm Rene Caris          6/30  --  --  --  --  37  44  36  --  --  --  28  27  45
26y 30/10/1999 169cm Darcy Guttridge     6/60  24  --  --  --  --  --  --  28  --  54  26  59  27
26y 06/12/1999 166cm Olivia Vesely       1/41  --  --  53  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --
25y 13/01/2000 185cm Jesse Wardlaw      13/83  67  35  87  34 104  63  92  42  84  54  52  39  64
25y 10/08/2000 180cm Paige Trudgeon     12/44  57  36  45  49  54  15  39  36  71  43  65  --  53
24y 08/03/2001 161cm Nicola Xenos        4/43  --  --  --  --  --  --  54  51  61  48  --  --  --
24y 30/03/2001 169cm Georgia Patrikios  13/48  89  89  50  49  77  88  81  93 113  74  73  63 100
24y 04/05/2001 167cm Molly McDonald      6/55  73  73  42  59  61  14  --  --  --  --  --  --  --
24y 03/11/2001 174cm Serene Watson      13/66  72  64  35  98  89 107  82  65  73  84  61  76  96
23y 05/04/2002 187cm Emmerlie Fiedler    6/6   --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --
23y 03/10/2002 162cm Alice Burke        13/55  38  38  27  42  65  44  57  36  21  54  68  47  82
23y 29/10/2002 167cm Tyanna Smith       13/43  95  91  77 112  90  89 110  79  86  87  67  57  77
22y 22/10/2003 167cm Ashleigh Richards   7/45  54  61  32  53  95  73  97  --  --  --  --  --  --
22y 30/12/2003 175cm Ella Friend        11/44  66  23  37  18  --  --  26  42  43  42  33  21  38
21y 20/04/2004 170cm Alana Gee           5/12  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  43  58  39  70  71
21y 09/12/2004 165cm Charlotte Baskaran 13/38  79  38  48  40  34  50  55  41  45  67  27  39  16
21y 17/12/2004 174cm J'Noemi Anderson   11/30  45  75  68  52  61  49  --  --  34  37  23  56  28
21y 22/12/2004 170cm Amber Clarke       13/42  61  31  48  21  45  26  22  59  37  48  16  39  21
20y 11/12/2005 181cm Sophie Butterworth  5/6   --  --  --  26  13   9   5  --  --  --  --  --  --  38
19y 25/05/2006 177cm Zoe Besanko        11/11  39   6  30   6  --  --  13  21  38  24  17  22  29
19y 07/09/2006 168cm Kyla Forbes        11/11  58  61  32  40  42  23  --  --  16  19  13  14  40
18y 01/02/2007 177cm Jade McLay 
18y 20/02/2007 170cm Maya Louvel-Finn  
18y 01/03/2007 168cm Carys D'Addario  
18y 11/09/2007 174cm Abby Hobson
18y 16/11/2007 168cm Chelsea Sutton

 

[Kildonan]

Can anyone explain the St Kilda AFLW strategy towards rucks

 

[BigMonty]

Can anyone explain the St Kilda AFLW strategy towards rucks

I think the issue is that yiu can start to see a divide in players that have been exposed to skill pathways as a junior, as distinct from those that picked it up as late teens.

There seems to be a more instinctual aspect to the basic skills from the young ones coming through. The kicks are flatter and faster to the boot with no pause in the drop or the step to kick where a number of our older players still have that aspect. The handballs flow to the receiver ans have penetration ours are a bit loopy and 50/50 chance of hitting the target.

Looking at some of the best rucks, they are young athletic and seem to get the ball and break tackles and get into space, ours do not. Rebecca Ott did but she is 32 next year and a bit inhury prone, hence the parting of the ways.

Our other rucks can compete at the ball ups but from then on were sadly a liability ans when forward had no forward craft and allowed oppositons to rebound very effectively.

I thought thar Besanko might be the answer but she is going to need time, as she was a bit underwhelming, but she has time.

We lack more rebound from defence and losing Nic Stevens will require us to plug two spots. Kyla Forbes is a great kick but is not that mobile and it was her first season si hopefully she develops. A fit Bianca Jakobssen is a natural replacement for Nic.

I think to answwr your question, we coukd speculate with a pick that could result in another Caris type, tall but not really effective or take best available who have better and potentially improvable skills wgich improves the list standard overall.

We had a lot of injuries to top 10 players and getting them back will help spread the load. Hopefully the Hawthorn recruit and improvement in Besanko may fill rhat gap.

 

[BrutThough]

Can anyone explain the St Kilda AFLW strategy towards rucks

My theory is unless you have a dominant one, they don't add much to the game so we dont see the need to use a list spot on someone who will be uncompetitive if they have to play.

 

[snails13]

Great haul for the Saints

I haven't paid too much attention to the AFLW crop this year but I've done a bit of reading

Carys D'Addario was apparently in contention for the first round and ended up sliding all the way out to pick 61. Obviously this means there is a clear deficiency in her game that clubs were turned off by but can't doubt the fact that she is ready-made for the AFLW as a midfielder who wins clearances and uses the ball well. Seems like a replacement for Charlotte Simpson

Jade McLay is similar to D'Addario in the sense that she is also a ready-made inside mid. But at 177cm, she's previously also played as a ruck, key forward, key back, and midfielder I watched some of her highlights and she looks like the W version of Oliver Greeves from the mens draft with her height and tendency to don't argue

Chelsea Sutton is a mid/fwd who thrives off her defensive pressure but also wins contest and gets forward offensively with her speed. Runs all day with a huge tank. Seems like a replacement for Hannah Stuart

Maya Louvel-Finn is a direct Nic Stevens replacement IMO. Intercept queen with good ball use and tough as nails. Can lock down on an opponent too. Good size at 170cm so will provide aerial presence

Abby Hobson is apparently arguably the best contested-marking player in the pool. At 174cm she might be slightly undersized so without watching her too closely, it sounds like she might be a W version of Cooper Sharman. Very good kick, big tank, strong, high footy IQ. Has the same knocks that Sharman had early in his career with groundballs and agility. Replaces Ott on the list

This is the first draft under new list manager Darius Wyatt and it's clear there is a very clear philosophy: pick players who are physically mature and are ready for AFLW. Each of these players could easily play round 1. Clear emphasis on picking for midfield which is interesting because I thought midfield was the area we were most flush with options this season with so many who could run through

Looking forward to 2026 - this is a very good haul IMO

D'Addario had some injuries during 2025 season,hence late pick.

 

[Parkysp]

Thanks for your write up akaifu It is good to read about the new players from someone that obviously takes notice of the players coming through.

I ran an Auskick about 20 years ago. The first year we had about 10 girls. By the end it was 50 and I heard a few years later it had split into two sesssions at different times because at 150 girls there wasn't enough room at the junior footy club where it was based to have all the boys and girls at the same time. Both sessions were run as mixed still though.

Point is that last year for me was pretty much this years draft. It can only be onwards and upwards for the talent from here on having had the same pathway as the boys have traditionally had!

 

[Vacuous Space]

I've been away, so I didn't get a chance to watch the draft. I was planning on watching some of our new recruits, but the replays seem to have been taken down along with the Coates League app. Can still watch the champs replays, but McLay missed, so I was hoping to see her two Calder games (she was listed in the best for both). I'll add a few of my thoughts, a lot of which has already been covered.

McLay - I'd been hoping for Bamford at that pick, but I'm pretty happy with McLay. Adding height is great and I suspect she'll play games early as long as the shoulder is fine. My guess is she starts forward with a view to potentially developing her into a big-bodied midfielder down the road, but if she wants to prove me wrong and force her way in there sooner rather than later, I'm all for it. Big mids are not something we've had much of in our W team.

Sutton - It's not really fair to her, but it's hard to get excited about adding another ~170cm fwd/mid to the mix. Easily the most athletic of our picks, which was clearly not as much of a point of emphasis as in the men's program. In that regard, she may be the most capable of coming straight in. May get extra opportunities with Xenos missing.

Hobson - While I'm disappointed we only have Wardlaw as an established key forward, I'm really happy to be adding a bunch of depth at the position. Even if 174cm is under ideal size, it's enough if she's strong enough and positions herself well enough. The way we deploy Wardlaw, Butterworth, Besanko, Hobson and McLay in 2026 will be fascinating to watch. Much better than just defaulting to Besanko as our second key forward as we often did this year.

Louvel-Finn - We're really lacking defence options all of a sudden. Unless a bunch of people get moved into the backline, it seems highly likely that Louvel-Finn will play games next year. Reminds me a bit of Forbes, but seems more of a one-on-one defender. My guess is our two new WA girls slid in part because athleticism is an improvement area for both of them, possibly with a bit of go home factor in there as well.

D'Addario - I'm with a lot of others in that I'm really interested to see what D'Addario can do. While inside mids might be less valuable now than in previous years, I think she has particular value to us. We were one of the bottom teams in the comp in contested footy in terms of average (14th) and differential (16th). We similarly struggled in clearances (12th in average, 15th in differential). Those are D'Addario's strong points, so it's well worth a shot with pick 62.

I'm pretty happy with this draft overall. I'd have loved a ruck and I'd have been looking at mature aged options, but it's hard to complain about any individual selections here. Nobody seems like a massive reach and a few look like potential steals. I'd have been happy with McLay if we had stuck with our original pick, which ended up at pick 21, so we ended up picking up an F2 to move back five spots in the 20s. Not bad.

Really excited to see where this list goes in 2026.