2025 AFL Women's season

The 2025 AFL Women's season was the tenth season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 14 August to 29 November, comprising a twelve-round home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

won the premiership, defeating by 40 points in the 2025 AFL Women's Grand Final; it was North Melbourne's second (consecutive and overall) AFL Women's premiership. North Melbourne won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a perfect 12–0 win–loss record and won all three of its finals, completing a perfect season. North Melbourne's Ash Riddell won the AFL Women's best and fairest award as the league's best and fairest player, while 's Indy Tahau won the AFL Women's leading goalkicker award as the league's leading goalkicker.

Background

In September 2024, Australian Football League (AFL) chief executive officer Andrew Dillon announced that the 2025 season would have an earlier start date than previous seasons to accommodate an extra home-and-away match, and in November, AFL executive general manager Laura Kane announced that a twelve-match home-and-away season would be played over twelve weeks in 2025, abandoning the strategy of a compressed fixture trialled in 2024 where eleven matches were played over ten weeks.

Coach appointments New coach Club Date of appointment Previous coach Rhyce Shaw 21 January 2025 Cameron Joyce

Club leadership Club Coach Leadership group Captain(s) Vice-captain(s) Other leader(s) Matthew Clarke Sarah Allan, Ebony Marinoff Jess Allan, Chelsea Biddell, Anne Hatchard, Eloise Jones Craig Starcevich Breanna Koenen Belle Dawes, Nat Grider Ally Anderson, Sophie Conway, Jade Ellenger, Cathy Svarc, Ruby Svarc Mathew Buck Abbie McKay Mimi Hill Tara Bohanna, Harriet Cordner Sam Wright Ruby Schleicher Jordyn Allen Lauren Butler, Mikala Cann Natalie Wood Steph Cain, Bonnie Toogood Maddi Gay Bess Keaney, Steph Wales Lisa Webb Ange Stannett Ashleigh Brazill Hayley Miller, Gabby Newton, Emma O'Driscoll, Áine Tighe Daniel Lowther Meg McDonald Amy McDonald, Nina Morrison Rhyce Shaw Niamh McLaughlin, Lucy Single Georgia Clayden, Meara Girvan, Lily Mithen, Charlie Rowbottom, Jamie Stanton Cameron Bernasconi Rebecca Beeson Tarni Evans, Alyce Parker, Katherine Smith Daniel Webster Emily Bates Eliza West Jasmine Fleming, Tilly Lucas-Rodd, Áine McDonagh, Jenna Richardson Mick Stinear Kate Hore Tyla Hanks Sarah Lampard, Paxy Paxman Darren Crocker Jasmine Garner Ash Riddell Libby Birch, Nicole Bresnehan, Bella Eddey, Jasmine Ferguson Lauren Arnell Justine Mules-Robinson Amelie Borg, Julia Teakle Kirsty Lamb Ryan Ferguson Katie Brennan Tessa Lavey, Gabby Seymour Monique Conti, Beth Lynch, Ellie McKenzie Nick Dal Santo Hannah Priest Serene Watson Nicola Barr, Molly McDonald, Georgia Patrikios, Tyanna Smith Scott Gowans Lucy McEvoy, Chloe Molloy Daisy Pearce Bella Lewis, Charlie Thomas Mikayla Western Alison Drennan, Dana Hooker Tamara Hyett Deanna Berry Ellie Blackburn Elle Bennetts, Jess Fitzgerald, Elisabeth Georgostathis, Isabella Grant, Isabelle Pritchard, Louise Stephenson

Pre-season All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au (fixture; results/report)

Home-and-away season All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Ladder

Progression by round

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Source: Australian Football

Home match attendance The following table includes all home match attendance figures from the home-and-away season.

Team Hosted Total Highest Lowest Average 2024 2025 Change 6 16,831 5,434 1,225 2,862 2,805 6 21,774 5,022 2,685 3,439 3,629 6 18,865 8,042 1,336 1,974 3,144 6 15,177 4,057 1,542 2,196 2,530 6 15,271 3,184 1,801 3,226 2,545 6 13,436 2,708 1,580 2,226 2,239 6 15,654 3,146 2,114 2,733 2,609 6 7,685 1,917 839 1,634 1,281 6 9,745 2,258 1,105 1,369 1,624 6 12,978 2,508 1,643 2,430 2,163 6 12,224 2,681 1,557 1,740 2,037 6 12,484 3,282 915 1,821 2,081 6 15,509 3,039 2,162 3,013 2,584 6 14,951 5,892 1,309 1,772 2,492 6 12,605 2,898 1,428 1,724 2,101 6 26,986 7,171 1,563 3,613 4,498 6 11,516 2,428 1,453 2,757 1,919 6 14,402 4,234 1,521 6,683 2,400 Total/overall 108 268,093 8,042 839 2,658 2,482 176

Source: Australian Football

Finals series

All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au

Finals week 1

Finals week 2

Finals week 3

Grand final

Win–loss table The following table can be sorted from biggest winning margin to biggest losing margin for each round. If two or more matches in a round are decided by the same margin, these margins are sorted by percentage (i.e. the lowest-scoring winning team is ranked highest and the lowest-scoring losing team is ranked lowest). Home matches are in bold, and opponents are listed above the margins.

Team Home-and-away season Finals series 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 F1 F2 F3 GF 6(7–5–0) 3(9–3–0) 5(8–4–0) 15(3–9–0) 14(4–8–0) 11(6–6–0) 13(5–7–0) 18(2–10–0) 17(2–10–0) 4(9–3–0) 2(9–3–0) 1(12–0–0) 10(6–6–0) 16(2–10–0) 7(7–5–0) 9(6–6–0) 8(6–6–0) 12(5–7–0)

Source: Australian Football

Season notes St Kilda and West Coast qualified for finals for the first time. North Melbourne completed a perfect season, winning all 15 matches across the home-and-away season and finals series, and became the first club in the competition's history to win consecutive premierships.

Coach departures

Outgoing coach Club Manner of departure Date of departure Caretaker coach Incoming coach Date of appointment Matthew Clarke Stepped down at end of season 3 April 2025 — Ryan Davis 2 December 2025 Scott Gowans Dismissed with two years remaining on contract 6 November 2025 — Colin O'Riordan 17 December 2025 Dan Lowther Stepped down at end of season 21 November 2025 — Mick Stinear 10 December 2025 Mick Stinear Stepped down at end of season 24 November 2025 — Tom Wilson 7 April 2026 Ryan Ferguson Parted ways following club review 4 December 2025 — Jarrad Donders 24 February 2026 Lauren Arnell Stepped down during off-season 27 January 2026 — Glenn Strachan 11 March 2026

Awards

Major awards

The AFL Women's best and fairest was awarded to midfielder Ash Riddell. The AFLPA AFLW most valuable player was awarded to North Melbourne's Jasmine Garner; the best captain award was also won by Garner, the most courageous player award was won by Kiara Bowers of and best first-year player was won by Zippy Fish of . The AFLCA AFLW champion player of the year was awarded to North Melbourne's Ash Riddell. The AFL Women's All-Australian team was announced on 24 November; North Melbourne's Jasmine Garner was named captain and Melbourne forward Kate Hore was named vice-captain. Garner's selection was the eighth of her career, tying the league record with teammate Emma Kearney. The AFL Women's leading goalkicker was awarded to 's Indy Tahau, who scored 25 goals in the home-and-away season. The AFL Women's Rising Star was awarded to Sydney's Zippy Fish. The Goal of the Year was awarded to Sydney's Montana Ham. The Mark of the Year was awarded to 's Sarah Hosking.

Leading goalkickers

! rowspan=2 style=width:2em | # ! rowspan=2 | Player ! rowspan=2 | Team ! colspan=12 | Home-and-away season(AFL Women's leading goalkicker) ! colspan=4 | Finals series ! rowspan=2 | Total ! rowspan=2 | Games ! rowspan=2 | Average |- ! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! F1 !! F2 !! F3 !! GF |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center rowspan=2 | 1 | align=left | Blaithin Bogue || align=left | || 22 || 13 || 47 || 18 || 311 || 112 || 214 || 115 || 217 || 118 || 220 || 121 || 122 || X22 || 325 || 025 || 25 || 15 || 1.67 |- | align=left | Indy Tahau || align=left | || 00 || 00 || 33 || 25 || 38 || 210 || 111 || 415 || 116 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 521 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 223 || bgcolor=CCFFCC | 225 || colspan=4 | || 25 || 12 || 2.08 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center rowspan=2 | 3 | align=left | Kate Hore || align=left | || 22 || 13 || 25 || 27 || 310 || 212 || 214 || 014 || 115 || 116 || 117 || 118 || 119 || 322 || 224 || || 24 || 15 || 1.60 |- | align=left | Tahlia Randall || align=left | || 00 || 11 || 34 || 26 || 28 || 210 || 111 || 314 || 216 || 117 || 118 || 422 || 123 || X23 || 023 || 124 || 24 || 15 || 1.60 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 5 | align=left | Gemma Houghton || align=left | || 00 || 22 || 46 || 17 || 18 || 19 || 211 || 112 || 214 || 317 || 219 || 423 || colspan=4 | || 23 || 12 || 1.92 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center rowspan=2 | 6 | align=left | Áine McDonagh || align=left | || 22 || 13 || 03 || 25 || 16 || 28 || 210 || 111 || 314 || 317 || 320 || 121 || 021 || 122 || colspan=2 | || 22 || 14 || 1.57 |- | align=left | Eden Zanker || align=left | || 22 || 24 || 15 || 16 || 06 || 511 || 011 || 011 || 112 || 416 || 218 || 422 || 022 || –22 || 022 || || 22 || 14 || 1.57 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 8 | align=left | Jasmine Garner || align=left | || 11 || 67 || 18 || –8 || 19 || 211 || 112 || 416 || 218 || 119 || 019 || 019 || 019 || X19 || 120 || 120 || 21 || 14 || 1.50 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center | 9 | align=left | Chloe Molloy || align=left | || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 44 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 711 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 112 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 214 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 115 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 015 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 217 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 017 || bgcolor=C9F0FF | 219 || –19 || –19 || –19 || colspan=4 | || 19 || 9 || 2.11 |- ! scope=row style=text-align:center rowspan=2 | 10 | align=left | Sophie McKay || align=left | || 00 || 00 || 11 || 23 || 36 || 17 || 18 || 08 || 08 || 210 || 212 || 012 || 214 || 317 || 118 || || 18 || 15 || 1.20 |- | align=left | Taylor Smith || align=left | || 11 || 23 || 14 || 26 || 06 || 28 || 19 || 312 || 113 || 114 || 115 || 217 || 017 || X17 || 118 || 018 || 18 || 15 || 1.20

Source: Australian Football

Club best and fairest Dayna Finn (), Aisling McCarthy () and Áine McDonagh () became the first Irish players to win club best and fairest awards at AFLW level.

Player Club Award Ebony Marinoff Club Champion Belle Dawes Best and fairest Dayna Finn Best and fairest Brittany Bonnici Best and fairest Georgia Nanscawen Best and fairest Aisling McCarthy Fairest and best Georgie Prespakis Best and fairest Charlie Rowbottom Club Champion Zarlie Goldsworthy Gabrielle Trainor Medal Áine McDonagh Best and fairest Kate Hore Daisy Pearce Trophy Ash Riddell Club Champion Matilda Scholz Best and fairest Monique Conti Best and fairest Tyanna Smith Best and fairest Laura Gardiner Club Champion Ella Roberts Club Champion Ellie Blackburn Best and fairest

Player movement and draft

See also 2025 AFL season

Notes

References

Sources

2025 AFL Women's season at afl.com.au 2025 AFL Women's season at Australian Football 2025 AFL Women's season at Austadiums