A brilliant mark is a demonstration of skill, athleticism and reading the play well.
Whether it’s an amazing intercept that changes the course of a game, or a specky in the forward line that converts into an all-important score, fans and players alike love a great mark.
We’re finishing off our top five series with the best Port Adelaide marks from Season 7.
5. Ange Foley – Round 8
Vice-captain Ange Foley took two excellent intercept marks in Round 8 against the Kangaroos. Our favourite was in the first quarter, with Foley able to convert the grab into the Power’s first goal of the game. A kick from a Kangaroos’ defender was intercepted by Foley, who read the play beautifully, just outside the 50-metre arc. Foley bombed the footy toward the pack in the goal square, but instead, it went over their heads, and bounced between the post for a major.
4. Alex Ballard – Round 7
Marking in the backline is defender Alex Ballard’s bread and butter. The 20-year-old averaged 6.8 intercept possessions and took a total of 29 marks in Season 7, topping the team leaderboard alongside vice-captain Foley. In Round 7, she took a slick one-hander, while standing Hawthorn’s Aine McDonagh. Ballard’s arm was tangled up in McDonagh’s, but she managed a controlled juggle before bringing the ball to her body.
3. Indy Tahau – Round 7
Standing tall at 176 centimetres, Indy Tahau is solid in the backline and produced one of our favourite marks in 2022. In Round 7 against Hawthorn at Skybus Stadium, the ball was kicked into the Hawks’ forward line and Tahau jumped high over her opponents to take a clean mark, before crashing heavily to the ground. The 20-year-old continuously shows her strong hands when it comes to a contest, taking a very similar mark a few weeks earlier in the Power’s draw with Carlton.
2. Ebony O’Dea – Round 2
Ebony O’Dea scored a mark of the year nomination with this overhead intercept at home against the Western Bulldogs. The kick from Bulldog Jessica Fitzgerald was intended for her teammate inside 50, but the footy was expertly plucked out of the air by a perfectly positioned O’Dea. As one of three marks highlighted for mark of the year in Round 2, the public vote ranked defender O’Dea in the number one spot that week.
1. Erin Phillips – Round 9
Erin Phillips took plenty of noteworthy marks throughout Season 7, but this one earns our top spot. Nominated as one of the three marks of the week in Round 9, Phillips’s handiwork with one hand had fans up-and-about. Jacqui Yorston kicked the ball into the skipper, where she juggled and marked it with one arm, while having the other held onto by her opponent. She even took another impressive one-handed mark in this same game, when the footy was coming out of the Power’s defensive 50.
Special mentions:
Yasmin Duursma took an outstanding running intercept mark off the boot of a Sydney defender in Round 4, in just her second game of AFLW. Gemma Houghton held onto a brilliant overhead grab just outside the goal square in Round 8, scoring from the set shot in her first game back from injury. Finally, we know defender Ballard did make the list, but it would be remiss of us to not mention her Round 5 achievement against Gold Coast, where she took 10 marks in a game.
