The Mercury’s Top 15 Women Footballers: The Real Story Isn’t the Rankings
The rankings celebrate an outstanding group of Tasmanian women. Perhaps the real story is not the order of the list, but how far women’s football in Tasmania has come.
The day before yesterday The Mercury published its ranking of Tasmania’s top 15 women footballers.
Congratulations to every player named.
Being included represents years of dedication, sacrifice and hard work. Every player should feel proud of the recognition.
After writing about the men’s rankings, I found myself asking a slightly different question as I worked through the women’s list.
Not simply whether the order was right.
But whether everyone was being measured by the same standard.
How do you compare a player who has scored more than 200 Women’s Super League goals with a teenager who has only recently entered senior football?
How do you compare an established A-League Women player with someone beginning to attract attention through Australia’s youth pathways?
Or a footballer competing in England or Spain with a young Tasmanian still learning her craft in our own Women’s Super League?
They are all talented footballers.
But they are at very different stages of their careers.
There were also some details in The Mercury’s list that deserved closer examination. Positions were not always accurately described, some names and pathways required clarification, and the phrase “Junior Matildas watchlist” appeared several times without explaining whether that meant formal selection, a national training camp or simply that a player was being monitored.
Rather than repeat those descriptions unquestioningly, I wanted to look more closely at the players, celebrate what they have achieved and acknowledge the Tasmanian clubs and pathways that helped shape them.
Because every player on this list started somewhere.
On community grounds.
With local coaches.
At Tasmanian clubs that gave them their first opportunity to fall in love with football.
Perhaps that is the real story these rankings tell.
15. Emily Heazlewood
Emily emerged through Launceston United and Football Tasmania’s development system before moving to South Australia in 2020.
She attended a Junior Matildas camp while still a Launceston United player and won consecutive Northern Women’s Championship Best and Fairest awards as a teenager.
Leaving Tasmania to pursue stronger competition requires courage and commitment. Emily has continued to test herself in South Australia’s leading women’s competitions, building a career that began in northern Tasmania.
14. Harkana Tkatchenko (née Dixon)
Many Tasmanian football followers will remember Harkana as Harkana Dixon.
A former Clarence United player, she progressed through Tasmania’s TIS, NTC and representative programs before establishing herself with Eastern Suburbs in Queensland.
With more than 100 appearances for the club, Harkana’s career has been defined by longevity, leadership and resilience. She also returned to senior football after time away following her marriage and the birth of her first child.
That is an achievement deserving considerable recognition.
13. Layla Brewster
Riverside Olympic’s Layla Brewster is already regarded as one of Tasmania’s most promising young midfielders and attackers.
She has featured prominently in Tasmania’s youth representative pathway and is continuing to develop in senior football.
At this stage, Layla’s ranking is naturally based as much on potential as established senior achievement.
That is not a criticism. It simply reflects how early she is in a career that may have a very exciting future.
12. Francesca Johnstone
Francesca Johnstone has already broken into South Hobart’s senior Women’s Super League side at a remarkably young age.
Her composure, passing range and technical ability have made her one of the most exciting players emerging from Tasmania’s youth representative system.
Young players entering senior football deserve time and space to develop without the weight of enormous expectations.
Francesca has made an impressive beginning. Where her football takes her from here will be fascinating to watch.
11. Lucy Foote
The Mercury described Lucy Foote as a striker, but that does not fully capture the role she plays.
The Devonport Strikers captain has been one of the competition’s most influential midfielders and has played a central part in one of the strongest periods in the club’s history.
She combines work rate, vision and composure with the ability to score important goals.
Devonport’s success has not happened by accident, and Lucy has been one of the players driving it.
10. Abbie White
Abbie has been another cornerstone of Devonport Strikers’ sustained success.
A dependable midfielder who also contributes regularly in front of goal, she was named player of the match in Devonport’s 2024 Statewide Cup final victory.
The Mercury credited her with more than 100 WSL goals. Whether or not that total can be independently confirmed, her influence is about far more than one statistic.
She has been a consistent and important performer in an outstanding team.
9. Georgia King
Every dominant side needs players capable of contributing in different roles, and Georgia King provided exactly that for Devonport Strikers.
Whether operating in midfield, central defence or standing over a dangerous set piece, Georgia’s versatility and quality helped underpin Devonport’s success.
Her departure during 2026 to pursue a cricket opportunity in England also reflects the considerable ability of a genuine dual-sport athlete.
Whatever direction her sporting career ultimately takes, her contribution to Tasmanian football deserves to be remembered.
8. Bonnie Davies
Few Tasmanian footballers have tested themselves in as many environments as Bonnie Davies.
She established herself as one of the Women’s Super League’s most dangerous attackers with Olympia Warriors, winning the 2020 Golden Boot as Olympia claimed the league title, before later representing South Hobart.
Her career then took her to the A-League Women with Newcastle Jets and Brisbane Roar before she moved to England, where she has represented Blackburn Rovers and Halifax.
That is a substantial football résumé and a pathway few Tasmanians have been able to follow.
7. Ruby Geach
A Launceston City product, Ruby Geach progressed through Tasmania’s youth representative pathway before earning an A-League Women opportunity with Newcastle Jets.
She is now continuing her football in Spain.
Goalkeepers rarely receive the same attention as goalscorers, but earning opportunities at that level requires technical quality, courage and resilience.
Tasmania has produced some outstanding goalkeepers over the years, and Ruby is continuing that tradition.
6. Aimee Medwin
Aimee Medwin’s story is one of the most complete football pathways on the list.
Her journey began with Taroona and continued through Football Tasmania’s NTC, Olympia Warriors and South Hobart.
From there she progressed to South Melbourne, American college football and the A-League Women, representing Melbourne City, Western United and Brisbane Roar. She has also represented Australia at youth level.
It is exactly the type of journey young Tasmanian footballers now dream of following.
Aimee’s success reflects her own determination, but also the contribution of every club and coach who helped her along the way.
5. Ebony Pitt
Glenorchy Knights central defender Ebony Pitt has already progressed beyond simply being “on a watchlist.”
After representing Tasmania at Under-14 and Under-15 level, she was selected for a national Junior Matildas training camp in 2025.
That distinction matters.
A national camp selection is a genuine achievement and recognition of her standing among Australia’s emerging players.
Now in her third Women’s Super League season, Ebony is also gaining the senior experience that will be essential to the next stage of her development.
4. Ruby Powell
Ruby Powell has risen through Launceston City and Tasmania’s youth representative pathway, including appearances at the National Youth Championships.
She is now playing senior Women’s Super League football as Launceston City returns to the competition.
For any young player, the step from representative football into consistent senior performances is an important one.
Ruby is beginning to turn years of youth promise into senior football and remains one of Tasmania’s most highly regarded emerging players.
3. Jaz White
Some careers are measured by potential.
Others are measured by what has already been achieved.
Jazmin White, better known as Jaz, has built one of the great résumés in Tasmanian women’s football.
Her story includes a remarkable goalscoring season with Ulverstone, repeated individual honours with Devonport Strikers, a season with South Hobart, and a return to Devonport in 2026.
She won the Women’s Super League Best and Fairest and Golden Boot in both 2022 and 2023 and has now passed 200 league goals.
Sometimes we become so familiar with excellence that we stop appreciating it.
Jaz White’s record deserves to be celebrated.
2. Addison Broadbent
Addison Broadbent represented Hobart City FC, South Hobart and Tasmania in the youth pathway before playing senior Women’s Super League football with Glenorchy Knights.
Her move into Victoria’s NPLW system has continued her development in a stronger and more demanding football environment.
Like several players near the top of the list, Addison’s ranking reflects both what she has already achieved and the belief that her best football may still be ahead of her.
That makes comparisons difficult, but it also demonstrates the excitement surrounding her future.
1. Amelie Millar
Launceston City goalkeeper Amelie Millar captained Tasmanian representative sides in consecutive years before earning national youth selection and signing with Adelaide United at just 16.
Her rise has been exceptional.
She has moved from community football in northern Tasmania into a professional A-League Women environment and Australia’s youth international pathway in a very short period.
There will be few arguments about the scale of her potential.
At the same time, placing a young player with limited senior experience above footballers who have produced outstanding careers over many seasons again raises the central question behind these rankings.
Are we measuring current performance, career achievement or future potential?
Depending on the answer, the order could look very different.
The Real Story
Reading through this list, I found myself thinking less about who should have been first or fifteenth and more about where these football journeys began.
Launceston United.
Clarence United.
Riverside Olympic.
South Hobart.
Devonport Strikers.
Olympia Warriors.
Launceston City.
Taroona.
Glenorchy Knights.
Ulverstone
Hobart City
Football Tasmania’s representative and development programs.
None of these careers happened in isolation.
They were made possible by parents driving children to training, volunteers marking grounds, coaches giving their time, administrators building competitions and clubs creating places where girls could play.
They were also made possible by the women who came before them.
Women who played when opportunities were fewer.
Women who coached, administered and advocated.
Women who refused to accept that football was a game belonging only to men and boys.
Twenty years ago, could we have imagined a list of Tasmanian women that included A-League players, professionals in England and Spain, Australian youth internationals, national camp selections and local footballers with more than 200 league goals?
Perhaps not.
That is the real achievement.
Not deciding who should be first.
But recognising how many outstanding footballers Tasmania is now producing.
The rankings will create discussion, as all rankings do. Some people will value professional experience. Others will favour sustained achievement in the Women’s Super League. Some will be most excited by the enormous potential of the next generation.
There is no single formula capable of comparing all three.
Perhaps separate categories for established professionals, outstanding domestic players and emerging talent would provide a fairer way to recognise such different achievements.
But whatever order you would choose, every player named deserves congratulations.
And every Tasmanian club that helped begin these football journeys should feel enormously proud.