GAMES

2020: 7
Career: 29

BY THE NUMBERS (averages in brackets)

Kicks: 55 (7.9) Handballs: 18 (2.6) Disposals: 73 (10.4) Marks: 26 (3.7) Tackles: 17 (2.4)

OVERVIEW

The 2020 season will go down as Tayla Harris’ most consistent and most damaging yet.

Carlton’s No.7 proved herself to be one of the most useful forwards in the competition, dominating in the air and hitting the scoreboard with regularity.

Harris kicked a goal in all of her seven games in Navy Blue, producing her best return on goals and marks per game in her four years in the competition.

On a number of occasions, Harris was a genuine match winner for the Blues, turning games on their head with her aerial prowess and ability to bring others into the game.

It’s no surprise that the likes of Georgia Gee and Brooke Walker were amongst the goals in 2020, with Harris providing the focal point. She was just as likely to register a goal herself as she was to give one off.

With 25 goals from her four seasons, Harris now sits in fourth place on the all-time AFLW goal kickers list: her partner-in-crime Darcy Vescio sits third. 

BEST PERFORMANCE

Harris was one of a number of Game Changers that were desperate to overturn the result of the 2019 Grand Final.

In Round 4, Carlton headed to the City of Churches to take on Adelaide but found itself three goals down early in the second term.

Then, Harris turned the game on its head.

The 22-year-old was unstoppable in attack, collecting 12 disposals, seven marks and kicking two goals from five scoring shots.

It was one of the Game Changers’ most famous wins and it came on the back of one of Harris’ best performances in Navy Blue.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT

It wasn’t just about Harris’ on-field plaudits, of which there were plenty in 2020.

A week before the third annual AFLW Carlton Respects Game, Harris was announced as an official ambassador for Our Watch.

Our Watch - a key support for the Carlton Respects program - is an organisation that has been established to drive nation-wide change in the culture, behaviours and power imbalances that lead to violence against women and their children.

“If we don’t do something about it, we are adding to the bigger issue of society’s complicit acceptance that women’s achievements and abilities are valued less than men’s,” Harris said.