GIANTS young guns Zarlie Goldsworthy and Tarni Evans have been recognised once again as two of the brightest young stars in the competition after being named in the 2024 AFL Players’ Association AFLW 22Under22 squad.
Consisting of 44 of the AFLW’s best young stars, Wednesday’s squad will be trimmed to a final team of 22 to be announced on November 20 via the AFL Players’ Association’s social media channels.
Selected each year, the annual honour recognises the competition’s best 22 players aged 22 and under across each AFLW season.
While Chair of Selectors, Kate McCarthy, and an internal selection panel at the AFL Players’ Association selected the 44-player squad, fans will now be given the opportunity to decide the final 22 by voting on the 22Under22 platform here.
Voting is open from 3pm AEDT on Wednesday, November 6 and will close at 11:59pm AEDT on November 13.
Evans and Goldsworthy are no strangers to the 22Under22 honour, with Evans having made the final team twice already (2022 S7, 2023) and Goldsworthy making it in her starring second season last year.
Spending most of her time as a deep forward in 2024, Goldsworthy continued to show why she won last year’s AFLW Rising Star Award and was crowned the GIANTS’ club champion with another brilliant campaign.
One of the competition’s most dynamic players at just 19 years old, Goldsworthy finished the 2024 season as the GIANTS’ leading goalkicker to go along with averages of 15 disposals, six tackles and 2.8 clearances per game.
Looking to make her third 22Under22 team, Evans also showed once again that she is one of the league’s brightest young stars, with the 22-year-old starring in both attack and defence across the season.
Making a name for herself as one of the league’s most exciting young defenders in recent seasons, Evans spent most of the 2024 campaign up forward where she provided a fantastic target ahead of the footy to finish second on the GIANTS’ goalkicking tally behind only Goldsworthy.
Click here to vote both Evans and Goldsworthy into the final 22Under22 team.
The 22Under22 concept was first introduced in 2013 in the men’s competition before being introduced in the AFLW in 2020 to help celebrate the achievements of the best and brightest stars of the female competition.
The final team will be announced on November 20 via the AFL Players’ Association’s social media channels.
