The Blueprint Behind South Australia’s Success

10 July 2026

By ALEXANDRA BULL

The AAMI U18 Girls Team will certainly be making history this weekend when it claims a third Marsh AFL National Championships title win since 2022 this Saturday in Victoria.

South Australia – coached by former Norwood SANFLW head coach Brad Snell – is currently sitting 3-0 after a convincing win against Western Australia, along with wins over the Allies and Victoria Metro.

It is now mathematically impossible for them to lose, as they sit currently sit 50.5 per cent ahead of second placed Vic Metro who have a 2-1 win/loss record.

South Australia originally started as an Allies team with Tasmania and the Northern Territory in 2017, before transitioning to a Central Allies team with the Northern Territory in 2018, before becoming a standalone team in 2021, where its dominance began in 2022.

The state’s dominance is not only in the U18 girls – but it also extends to the Marsh AFL National Development Championships – U16 Girls, where it has won a staggering four titles in-a-row, and haven’t lost a game since 2023.

The U18 Girls are equally as impressive, with a win/loss record of 14-4* since 2022 (*pending Game 4 this Saturday).

The success of South Australia’s U16 and U18 Girls programs would not be possible without the collaboration between the SANFL and its clubs, who have built sustainable football pathways from community football all the way to the Hostplus SANFLW League and beyond.

“It’s not just about selecting a team. We’ve built a system where players are watched over multiple games – we work closely with clubs, and there’s now constant dialogue,” SANFL Talent Manager for Female Programs Robbie Neill said.

Neill explained the importance of Female Football Managers at each club, who have all been instrumental in developing stronger pathways from community footy to SANFLW and the female state programs.

“The earlier we can expose young athletes to elite standards, the better prepared they’ll be for what’s ahead,” Neill said.

“It’s about learning recovery, travel, different environments and what elite football actually feels like.”

South Australia has produced a number of AFLW players, including Poppy Scholz, Matilda Scholz and Piper Window who all played for Glenelg, India Rasheed from Sturt, and Elaine Grigg from Central District – who all came through South Australia’s female state programs.

Neill also touched on the importance of the players’ families when coming through the programs, with many of them travelling hundreds of kilometres each week to get their daughters to training, with the U16s and U18s programs having players from the Eyre Peninsula, Far North, and the South East.

“Take Norwood’s Ella Anderson for example. She’s from Port Lincoln but boarding in Adelaide,” Neill said.

“Her parents will fly her home for a couple of days to see her, but she will never miss a state training.

“It’s just that kind of stuff that blows my mind. That’s what parents will do for their kids to make them realise a dream.”

Whilst South Australia is seeing sustained success in its female state programs, Neill knows there is plenty more to be done to take it to the next level.

“We’ve got so much more to do,” he said.

“I think we’re only about 40 per cent of where we can get to.

“Even something as simple as strength and conditioning will completely change the landscape over the next few years.”

The 2026 AAMI U18 Girls will take on Queensland in Game 4 at Shepley Oval, Dandenong at 10am tomorrow morning.