2018 AFL Women's season

The 2018 AFL Women's season was the second season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured eight clubs and ran from 2 February to 24 March, comprising a seven-round home-and-away season followed by a grand final contested by the top two clubs.

The won the premiership, defeating by six points in the 2018 AFL Women's Grand Final. The Bulldogs also won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 5–2 win–loss record. The Bulldogs' Emma Kearney won the AFL Women's best and fairest award as the league's best and fairest player, and teammate Brooke Lochland won the AFL Women's leading goalkicker award as the league's leading goalkicker.

Rule changes Three rules were changed heading into the 2018 season: A free kick is paid against a player who last touches the ball before it goes out of bounds under the following conditions, A free kick will be awarded against a player who kicks or handballs the football over the boundary line without the football being touched by another player; Except where a player who does not have possession stops the football being touched by an opposition player by shepherding the football across the boundary line where the football could have otherwise been touched. If in doubt the umpires are instructed to throw the ball in. The interchange has been reduced to five players from six players in 2017. Time-on will occur during the last two minutes of each quarter.

Home-and-away season

The full fixture was released on Friday 27 October 2017. Notable features of the draw include: Unlike the previous season, there were no double-headers with men's preseason matches. , , and each played four home games, while the other four clubs played three. Adelaide, , GWS, and Melbourne each hosted matches at grounds outside of their home metropolitan area with trips to Darwin, Moe, Canberra and Alice Springs respectively. Carlton and Collingwood featured in the most free-to-air televised matches (three), Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs had two each, while GWS and Fremantle had one each. Many games were scheduled for the late afternoon to avoid the summer heat, especially in Brisbane and Western Australia. All starting times are local.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Ladder

Progression by round Numbers highlighted in green indicates the team finished the round inside the top 2. Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished in first place on the ladder in that round. Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round.

Team1234567  1 4 8 8 12 16 16 202 4 4 8 12 12 12 163 4 8 8 8 12 16 164 0 0 4 6 10 14 145 0 0 4 6 10 14 146 0 0 0 4 4 8 127 0 4 8 8 8 8 128 4 8 8 8 8 8 8

Grand final

In the absence of a finals series, the two teams who finished the highest on the ladder at the end of the home and away season played in the AFL Women's Grand Final.

Win–loss table

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 GF Ladder X5 2 X8 X6 X7 X4 X3 1

Attendances

By club + 2018 AFL Women's attendances Club Total Games Avg. per game Home total Home games Home avg. 7 4 7 3 6 3 7 3 6 3 7 4 7 4 7 3

By ground

+ 2018 ground attendances Ground Total Games Avg. per game Blacktown International Sportspark 1 Casey Fields 3 Drummoyne Oval 1 Fremantle Oval 2 Ikon Park 3 Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex 1 Norwood Oval 3 Olympic Park Oval 2 Optus Stadium 1 South Pine Sports Complex 2 Ted Summerton Reserve 1 TIO Stadium 1 TIO Traeger Park 1 UNSW Canberra Oval 1 VU Whitten Oval 3

Awards The league best and fairest was awarded to Emma Kearney. The leading goalkicker was awarded to Brooke Lochland of the , who kicked twelve goals during the home and away season. The Rising Star was awarded to Chloe Molloy. The best on ground in the AFL Women's Grand Final was awarded to Monique Conti. The goal of the year was awarded to Aliesha Newman. The mark of the year was awarded to Tayla Harris. The minor premiership was awarded to . AFLW Players Association awards The most valuable player was awarded to Courtney Gum. The most courageous player was awarded to Chelsea Randall. The best captain was awarded to Daisy Pearce. The best first year player was awarded to Chloe Molloy. Chelsea Randall was named the captain of the 2018 AFL Women's All-Australian team. The grand finalists, Western Bulldogs and Brisbane Lions, along with Melbourne each had 4 players selected, with all eight clubs represented in the final team by at least one player. The wooden spoon was "awarded" to .

Best and fairest

Club Award name PlayerRef. Club Champion Best and fairest Best and fairest Best and fairest Fairest and best Ebony Antonio Gabrielle Trainor Medal Best and fairest Susan Alberti Award

AFLW leading goalkicker Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the season's goal kicking tally at the end of that round. Underlined numbers indicates the player did not play that round. Player1234567Total 1 Brooke Lochland 11 01 12 79 211 011 112 12 2 Jess Wuetschner 22 24 15 27 07 18 311 11 3 Christina Bernardi 00 22 02 13 14 37 29 9 Tegan Cunningham 11 23 25 05 16 39 09 5 Sabrina Frederick-Traub 00 00 00 00 33 14 48 8 Moana Hope 00 00 22 24 04 37 18 7 Phoebe McWilliams 33 14 26 06 17 07 07 7 Erin Phillips 00 00 44 04 04 37 07 Ruth Wallace 11 12 02 13 36 06 17 10 Katie Brennan 33 03 25 05 05 05 16 6 Kate Hore 11 01 01 12 13 25 16 Amy Lavell 22 13 14 04 04 04 26

Coach changes Club Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment Mutual termination 20 March 2018 23 April 2018 Resigned 13 April 2018 23 May 2018 Resigned 19 April 2018 7 June 2018

Club leadership Club Coach Captain(s) Vice-captain(s) Leadership group Ref Bec Goddard Erin Phillips, Chelsea Randall Courtney Cramey, Ange Foley, Sally Riley Craig Starcevich Emma Zielke Leah Kaslar Emily Bates, Sabrina Frederick-Traub, Kate Lutkins, Sharni Webb Damien Keeping(Rds 1, 4–7)Brianna DaveyLauren Arnell, Sarah Hosking Nick Rutley(Rds 2–3) Wayne Siekman Steph Chiocci Brittany Bonnici, Emma Grant Christina Bernardi, Ashleigh Brazill, Emma King Michelle Cowan Kara Donnellan Kiara Bowers, Amy Lavell Alan McConnell Amanda Farrugia Alicia Eva Jessica Dal Pos, Tanya Hetherington, Emma Swanson Mick Stinear Daisy Pearce Melissa Hickey, Elise O'Dea Paul Groves Katie Brennan Ellie Blackburn, Nicole Callinan, Hannah Scott

See also 2017 AFL Women's draft

References

External links

Official AFL Women's website