ON SUNDAY, Ebony Marinoff will become one of three players to reach the 50-game milestone for the first time in AFLW history.
Along the way, Marinoff has won the 2017 NAB AFLW Rising Star, been a part of two premiership teams, been named Adelaide's best and fairest and made the All-Australian team three times.
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The midfielder also holds the League record for most disposals in a game with 35 (alongside Anne Hatchard and Ashleigh Riddell) and tackles with 21 (alongside Cathy Svarc), while also having accumulated the second-most clearances and third-most metres gained in AFLW history.
Quite the footy resume, especially for a 24-year-old.
What has been particularly impressive about Marinoff's career to date is how she has evolved through different stages, able to adapt to different roles as her team has needed, which has also included developing a strong midfield partnership with teammate Hatchard.
Marinoff the defensive midfielder
Across the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Marinoff was a more-than-respectable ball-winner, averaging 15.7 disposals per game, but what she was better known for was her tackling. Marinoff laid a massive 158 tackles in her first two seasons at an average of 10.5 per game, well above the competition average of 2.7 in that same period.
Marinoff's disposal and clearance work was important in terms of how Adelaide looked to attack from the midfield, averaging 3.1 inside 50s and two score involvements over her first two seasons, but it wasn't the key to her game. That persistent tackling was what took the competition by storm.
Finding balance
Coming into 2019, however, as Hatchard made the move into the middle, a dominant partnership between the two began. Hatchard didn't just help the Crows through her increased disposal and clearance numbers, but also in the way her improvement challenged Marinoff to become a more attacking midfielder.
This was the first season that saw Marinoff focus more on winning the ball and generating attack off the back of that, averaging 22.8 disposals, 5.2 clearances and four inside 50s each game. Since the start of 2019 she has progressively registered more disposals year on year, while still averaging 7.5 tackles.
"I'm just proud of how I've gone about it each season and trying to continue to get better. I've put in the work in the off-season, in pre-pre-season, in the pre-season, to make sure I'm at my best," Marinoff told reporters ahead of her 50th match.
"I feel like in the first couple of years, I was just a young midfielder who tackled a lot and played that defensive role which I love, and I love tackling, it's still part of my game, but I've been working on the fundamentals and my kicking.
"It's those inside-50 kicks, giving my teammates the best opportunity to hit the scoreboard, and other girls have stood up in that contested space. I have a good tank, so I've been able to get on the outside as well and run and carry, which has grown my game."
|
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
Avg Disposals |
15.9 |
15.6 |
22.8 |
23.2 |
23.5 |
24.9 |
Avg Tackles |
9.5 |
11.7 |
8.3 |
7.8 |
6.7 |
7.5 |
Avg Clearances |
3.1 |
3.1 |
5.2 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
3.9 |
Avg Inside 50s |
3.8 |
2.3 |
4.0 |
2.8 |
4.0 |
4.6 |
Avg Score Involvements |
1.9 |
2.1 |
3.7 |
1.3 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
Avg Metres Gained |
317.9 |
213.0 |
350.9 |
312.3 |
386.0 |
387.0 |
Avg Intercepts |
1.8 |
2.0 |
3.1 |
2.7 |
3.7 |
4.1 |
The Marinoff-Hatchard partnership
Playing as inside midfielders throughout the 2020 season, the duo combined for an average of 8.2 clearances and 48.5 disposals each week, but they weren't quite as damaging moving the ball into attack as they had the potential to be.
Finding balance with one another, Hatchard started to spend more time outside the contest from 2021, acting as Marinoff's outlet to utilise each player's best assets. While both are very good at each individual skill — winning the ball, tackling, winning clearances, delivering inside 50 — what Adelaide needed was for each player to settle into different roles as to maximise those skills.
Since that shift, the pair has gone from strength to strength. From round one, 2021 onward, Marinoff and Hatchard have been averaging 46.4 disposals, 6.7 clearances, 11.3 tackles and 8.3 inside 50s between them.
They are simply more than the sum of their parts and make one another better when they're playing side by side.
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