ROUND one was about the kids. Round two was about the established stars. Round three was a chance for the big improvers to stake their own claim on the 2025 NAB AFLW season.

There are few things better than players who have been ticking along as a smaller part of a bigger system, and rarely stealing the spotlight, finding a way to wrestle some of that stardom with growth in their game.

And on the weekend, a handful of players who have been in the system for some time did just that.

First, it was Essendon replacement signing Maggie MacLachlan during Friday’s Dreamtime match. Following time spent with Waylalup and Yartapuulti, MacLachlan was delisted at the end of 2023. A year spent back in the WAFLW, playing for Subiaco, allowed her to grow her tank.

Always a clever, skilful player, MacLachlan now has the fitness to impact games at the top level, so now as she runs the wings for the Bombers, we’re able to see the best of what she can produce.

Maggie magic: Bomber bags opener with soccer skills

Maggie MacLachlan earns the first goal of the contest after some clever work off the deck

Next, it was Amy Smith for North Melbourne.

Already a premiership player, Smith will reach career game No.50 on Sunday and has played every possible game since round one, 2022 (S7). She has been an important cog in the Kangaroos’ system for some time, honing her craft, but generally flies under the radar in the context of the broader team.

During the club’s record-breaking 100-point win over Walyalup on Sunday, Smith kicked two goals and gathered a career-best 24 disposals – evidence of the growth in her game this year.

Then on Sunday, it was Collingwood’s Imogen Barnett first up. Playing as the side’s No.1 ruck option this year, she is hitting her peak at 30 years old following her 2024 season in which she played every game for the first time in her career.

Playing in that ruck position has allowed Barnett to gather confidence in her game, and establish herself around the footy and remain involved in the play for longer patches.

Her contested marking has always been a highlight, but that has gone to a new level, and then her positioning post-clearance to support in defence, or get dangerous ahead of the ball, has been a gamechanger for the Pies.

Across her 26 career games there have been hints at what Barnett is capable of, specifically her game-saving mark at the death in Collingwood’s elimination final win over the Western Bulldogs in 2022 (S7), but now she is having consistent impact across four quarters.

And closing the round, Dayna Finn played a crucial role in Carlton’s upset win over Brisbane on Sunday evening.

It took some time for Finn to find her feet when arriving from Ireland ahead of the 2023 season. After only five games in her debut year, she got to work over the off season, and played every game last year, including kicking the matchwinner over Collingwood in week nine.

This year, everything has been turned up a notch for Finn. Making the wing her own, her ability to set up play coming out of the back half by hitting kicks in dangerous parts of the ground has been crucial to Carlton’s upswing in form.