Lauren Ahrens’ superb 2021 AFL Women’s campaign has been rewarded with selection in the womens.afl’s Team of the Year.

Ahrens was a cornerstone of the SUNS defence, regularly standing tall in defensive 50 and finishing equal-third in intercept possessions, alongside teammate Jade Pregelj, averaging 7.2 per game.

When the 29-year-old wasn’t cutting off forward forays from her opponents, she was launching the SUNS in the other direction, finishing with an average of 16.7 disposals per game.

She also ranked third in the competition in marks and eighth in metres gained.

Regularly among the SUNS’ best, Ahrens was named in the AFLW Team of the Week on six occasions including in each of the last five rounds of the 2021 season.

Last week, she also become just the fourth SUNS player to earn a nomination in the 40-player All-Australian squad.

How the team was selected

Every Tuesday during the nine-round home and away season, the Team of the Week was announced, and those selections have been compiled to come up with an overall Team of the Year. 

Like in 2020, the majority of the team is made up of those with the most nominations.