{"id":799005,"date":"2026-07-14T04:43:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T04:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/799005\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T04:43:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T04:43:32","slug":"u18-girls-national-champs-our-team-of-the-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/799005\/","title":{"rendered":"U18 girls national champs: Our team of the tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

And now it\u2019s time to honour the best of the best in CODE Sport\u2019s team of the tournament<\/a>. <\/p>\n

South Australian coach Brad Snell takes the reins of this star-studded side after a commanding campaign from his Croweaters<\/a>. <\/p>\n

And six of his chargers join him, the most of any team. <\/p>\n

Vic Metro is the second most represented with five players, followed by Vic Country (five), the Allies (four), Vic Country and Queensland (both three) and Western Australia (two). <\/p>\n

But with this year\u2019s draft class excelling across the last five weeks, combined with some bottom-agers putting their names on the map, who makes the final cut?<\/p>\n

DEFENCE<\/p>\n

This star-studded backline is near on impassable. We\u2019ve anchored our defence with a pair of emerging interceptors in Stephanie Aguinaldo and Mia Carlshausen. Gold Coast academy prospect Aguinaldo (13.5 disposals, four marks on average) was a leader for Queensland down back all tournament while Carlshausen (16.5 disposals, 4.8 marks) stood up under immense pressure as a key cog in WA\u2019s under siege backline. Underage key defender Leslie held GWS star Majella Day goalless as part of the Croweaters\u2019 title winning defence. <\/p>\n

As a genuine lockdown defender, WA\u2019s Heidi Ireland was also strongly considered after holding Bailee Martin goalless (Martin kicked one while Ireland was coming back onto the ground) but she suffered an ankle injury during her duel with Day in the final round. Leslie\u2019s teammate Mableson took out South Australia\u2019s MVP award after announcing herself as one of the draft pool\u2019s best rebounding defenders. Sydney linked prospect Tidemann too knows how to turn defence into attack, the Allies benefiting greatly from her precision kicking and run and carry. While it was a lineball decision between Green (15.8 disposals) and Vic Country defender Georgia Garlick (15 disposals) for the last spot in the back pocket. Vic Metro MVP Alli Allen gets a run on the bench as a versatile rebounding option.<\/p>\n

MIDFIELD<\/p>\n

As with most All-Australian teams, the midfield was the hardest to pick. Not only did bottom-age Tasmanian star Matilda Lange average the most ranking points for the whole championships, but she also produced the best individual game of the tournament courtesy of 28 disposals, 14 clearances, 1.0 and eight tackles in round one against Vic Country. Charlton (averaged 24 disposals) ensured she remains in the conversation for the No.1 pick with an outstanding campaign for the Croweaters. She worked beautifully in tandem with bottom-ager Cocks, who just pipped teammate Lucy Moore for a spot in the side. Vic Country co-captain Bilyk got better and better as the championships went on and was sensational in her side\u2019s upset victory over Vic Metro in the final round. <\/p>\n

Dziegielewski averaged a tournament high 32 hitouts as the U18s premier ruck, backing up her All-Australian year as a bottom-ager. If only we got to see her go head-to-head with Country\u2019s Sophie White. Meagher\u2019s (15.5 disposals) explosive pace on the wing was a constant threat for Metro while McKeegan\u2019s X-factor got her across the line for the other wing ahead of Grace McIntyre. Brisbane Academy star Molly Ferguson (averaged 21.3 disposals, seven tackles) was a deserving winner of Queensland\u2019s MVP award. Curry was a clearance beast for the Allies (20.7 disposals) while her teammate Walsh (16.3 disposals) consistently showed her class. Aurelia Russell (ALL), Addison West (VICM), Emily Rankin (VICM), Evie Bowie (ALL), and Byrlee Anderson (VICM) can all consider themselves unlucky to have not made the cut.<\/p>\n

FORWARD LINE<\/p>\n

No.1 pick contender Bailee Martin was the first forward selected after kicking seven goals in the final round. She kicked four more than any other player across the course of the championships, finishing with 12 majors in three games. South Australian goalsneak Nuss finished second in the goalkicking tally with eight majors, including a bag of four in round one against Western Australia. <\/p>\n

Her teammate Faulkner applied immense forward pressure all tournament and pushed up the ground to great effect. Mazzei predominantly played through the midfield for Vic Metro but impressed as a deep forward against Western Australia. Roche (averaged 12.8 disposals) got better as the championships went on while Brisbane academy prospect Petrides consistently set up attacks for Queensland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And now it\u2019s time to honour the best of the best in CODE Sport\u2019s team of the tournament.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-799005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}