IN the round eight edition of number crunching, we look at the marks leaders for the season to date. We look into which key position forwards are making life difficult on their defenders, the midfielders who are able to move up and down the ground taking marks, and the intercept specialists down in defence. We acknowledge the outstanding performances from the past weekend, the top 10 mark performances thus far as well as those who have done it consistently across the board and presented a huge target for their team.
Round eight saw some dominant performances through the air across the board. League leaders Collingwood had several players in the top 10 including Chloe Molloy. Molloy spent the majority of the AFLW season in defence but has made the move to the forward half of the ground for the Victorian Football League (VFL) Women’s season. Her football intelligence allows her to read the play about as well as anyone in the game, which allows her to create separation from her opponents and mark on the lead. Her teammate, Sophie Alexander also impressed as the equal leader for the week with seven marks. Alexander was unbelievable up forward, marking anything that came her way en route to a four goal performance. Other notables included Carlton’s Kristi Harvey; a leader amongst the competition in this department, Casey defender, Bianca Jakobsson who played a great all-round game which included six marks and Darebin’s Aasta O’ Connor who was the equal leader alongside Sophie Alexander (seven marks).
As we analyse the best single-game performances for the season, we see a few familiar names that have been featured in several other categories. Most notably is Jess Duffin, who is not only second in the league for disposals, amongst the leaders in goals scored, but has shown the ability to use her speed to move up the ground and create marking opportunities. A true standout of the competition, Duffin has been able to show great versatility throughout the season, as the one shining light for a struggling Williamstown. Meghan McDonald of the Darebin Falcons started the season out in blitzing fashion, racking up 19 marks through her first two games (nine in round one and 10 in round two), making her our best individual game performer thus far.
Most marks: Round eight
| Player | Team | Marks in round eight |
| Sophie Alexander | Collingwood | 7 |
| Sarah D’ Arcy | Collingwood | 7 |
| Aasta O’ Connor | Darebin | 7 |
| Chloe Molloy | Collingwood | 6 |
| Bianca Jakobsson | Casey | 6 |
| Kristi Harvey | Carlton | 6 |
| Jayde Van Dyk | Hawthorn | 6 |
| Kate Dempsey | Richmond | 5 |
| Mikayla Ward | Western Bulldogs | 5 |
| Ellie Blackburn | Western Bulldogs | 5 |
Most individual marks: Season so far
| Player | Team | Marks |
| Meghan McDonald | Darebin | 10 |
| Meghan McDonald | Darebin | 9 |
| Marijana Rajcic | NT Thunder | 8 |
| Jess Duffin | Williamstown | 8 |
| Jess Duffin | Williamstown | 8 |
| Jess Duffin | Williamstown | 8 |
| Emma Mackay | Western Bulldogs | 8 |
| Tamara Luke | Hawthorn | 8 |
| Kate Gillespie- Jones | Melbourne Uni | 8 |
| Mia-Rae Clifford | Geelong | 8 |
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