2017 AFL Women's season
Inaugural season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition
The 2017 AFL Women's season was the inaugural season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season ran from 3 February to 25 March, comprising a seven-round home-and-away season followed by a grand final contested by the top two clubs. Eight Australian Football League (AFL) clubs featured in the inaugural season: Adelaide , Brisbane , Carlton , Collingwood , Fremantle , Greater Western Sydney , Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs .
Adelaide won the inaugural premiership , defeating Brisbane by six points in the 2017 AFL Women's Grand Final . Brisbane won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 6–0–1 win–loss–draw record. Adelaide's Erin Phillips won the AFL Women's best and fairest award as the league's best and fairest player, and Carlton's Darcy Vescio won the AFL Women's leading goalkicker award as the league's leading goalkicker.
Home-and-away season
Players contest the first ball-up at the inaugural AFLW match.
The full fixture was released on Friday 9 December 2016.[ 1] [ 2] Notable features of the draw include:
Carlton and Collingwood featured in the league's first ever match,[ 3] the match was initially scheduled to be held at Collingwood's home Olympic Park Oval , but was moved in January 2017 to the higher capacity Ikon Park due to higher than expected interest.[ 4]
Adelaide , Carlton, Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs each had four home games, while all other clubs had three.[ 5]
Adelaide, Greater Western Sydney and Fremantle each hosted matches at grounds outside of their home metropolitan area with trips to Darwin , Canberra and Mandurah respectively. Fremantle played their home game against Carlton at Domain Stadium , the home ground of the men's team, as part of a double-header which also included an AFL pre-season match between the same two clubs.[ 5] [ 6]
The Western Bulldogs featured in the most free-to-air televised matches (four), Collingwood and Melbourne had three each, Adelaide had two and all other clubs had only one.[ 1]
Many games were played in the late morning and late afternoon to avoid the summer heat, especially in Brisbane and Western Australia .[ 7]
All starting times are local.
Round 1
Round 1
Friday, 3 February (7:45 pm)
Carlton 7.4 (46)
def.
Collingwood 1.5 (11)
Ikon Park (crowd: 24,568)
Report
Saturday, 4 February (4:35 pm)
Adelaide 7.6 (48)
def.
Greater Western Sydney 1.6 (12)
Thebarton Oval (crowd: 9,289)
Report
Saturday, 4 February (7:35 pm)
Western Bulldogs 6.8 (44)
def.
Fremantle 1.6 (12)
VU Whitten Oval (crowd: 10,100)
Report
Sunday, 5 February (5:05 pm)
Melbourne 1.4 (10)
def. by
Brisbane 4.1 (25)
Casey Fields (crowd: 6,500)
Report
A lockout was declared during the first quarter of the Carlton and Collingwood match, with the Victorian Police requesting the gates to be closed for safety reasons.[ 8] The crowd of 24,568 set an all-time record for attendance at a stand-alone women's sports event in Australia, exceeded only by the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games for crowds at women's sports.[ 9]
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Ladder
Source:
AFL.com.au Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers
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.
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.[ 12] Brisbane finished as the minor premiers and secured a spot in the grand final at the end of round six; Adelaide 's round seven win over Collingwood saw them secure the second spot in the grand final over Melbourne due to a higher percentage.[ 13] It was confirmed in February by AFL Chief Executive Officer, Gillon McLachlan , that the team finishing highest on the ladder at the end of the season would earn the right to host the grand final in their home state.[ 14] The match was originally planned to be held at the Gabba , however due to its ground surface being in a dangerous state, the grand final was moved to Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast as a curtain raiser to the Gold Coast versus Brisbane Lions AFL match.[ 15]
Win–loss table
+
Win
Qualified for finals
-
Loss
X
Bye
Draw
Eliminated
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
GF
Ladder
Adelaide
GWS 36
WB 25
Car 3
Fre 23
BL 3
Mel 2
Col 24
BL 6
1
Brisbane
Mel 15
Fre 13
Col 4
GWS 34
Ade 3
WB 7
Car 0
Ade 6
2
Carlton
Col 35
GWS 13
Ade 3
Mel 6
WB 6
Fre 16
BL 0
X
4
Collingwood
Car 35
Mel 19
BL 4
WB 7
Fre 1
GWS 36
Ade 24
X
5
Fremantle
WB 32
BL 13
GWS 0
Ade 23
Col 1
Car 16
Mel 54
X
7
Greater Western Sydney
Ade 36
Car 13
Fre 0
BL 34
Mel 5
Col 36
WB 32
X
8
Melbourne
BL 15
Col 19
WB 14
Car 6
GWS 5
Ade 2
Fre 54
X
3
Western Bulldogs
Fre 32
Ade 25
Mel 14
Col 7
Car 6
BL 7
GWS 32
X
6
Attendances
Coach changes
Club leadership
Honours
Bec Goddard coached Adelaide in 2017, winning the inaugural AFLW premiership.
Erin Phillips won the league's best and fairest award for the season
Darcy Vescio was the AFLW's leading goalkicker for 2017
Ebony Marinoff was named the inaugural AFL Women's Rising Star winner
Awards
Best and fairest
AFLW leading goalkicker
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the season's goal kicking tally at the end of that round.
All-Australian team
The final All-Australian team was announced on 28 March. Grand finalists Adelaide and Brisbane had the most representatives with five each, and every team had at least one representative.[ 49] Melbourne captain Daisy Pearce was announced as the All-Australian captain and Adelaide co-captain Erin Phillips was announced as the vice-captain.[ 50]
State of Origin
In mid-July the AFL announced a State of Origin representative match would be held for AFL Women's players during the AFL season pre-finals bye.[ 51] A team of players born in Victoria would play a single exhibition match against a team of players from the rest of Australia at Etihad Stadium on the evening of Saturday 2 September. Initial squads for the match were announced on 25 July including that Melbourne AFLW football operations manager Debbie Lee would coach Victoria, while Adelaide premiership coach Bec Goddard, would coach the Allies.[ 52]
Squads
Victoria (AFL Women's)
Playing list
Coaching staff
Head coach
Legend:
(c) Captain(s)
(vc) Vice-captain(s)
Updated: 3 September 2017 Source(s): Players , Coaches
Allies (AFL Women's)
Playing list
Coaching staff
Head coach
Legend:
(c) Captain(s)
(vc) Vice-captain(s)
Updated: 3 September 2017 Source(s): Players , Coaches
Result
AFLW State of Origin
Saturday, 2 September (7:40 pm)
Victoria
def.
Allies
Etihad Stadium (crowd: 9,400[ 53] )
Report
0.2.2 (14) 0.8.5 (53) 0.11.7 (73)0.17.11 (113)
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final
0.1.1 (7) 0.2.2 (14) 0.2.2 (14)0.2.4 (16)
Umpires: Bryce, Cheever, Rodger Best on ground: Daisy Pearce Television broadcast: Network Seven , Fox Footy
Super goals: NilGarner 5, Blackburn 3, Ashmore 2, Eva , Lambert , Paxman , Kearney , Pearce , D'Arcy , Hope
Goals
Super goals: NilHarris , Wuetschner
Pearce , Paxman , Donnellan , Garner , Eva , Kearney , Blackburn
Best
King , Bates , Antonio , Brennan , Marinoff
Lambert (hip)
Injuries
Harris (knee), Zielke (ribs), Randall (thigh), Bentley (knee)
Nil
Reports
Nil
See also
References
^ a b "2017 NAB AFL Women's Fixture" . AFL.com.au . Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016 .
^ "Fixture revealed: Traditional rivals to kick off AFL Women's" . AFL.com.au . Telstra Media. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016 .
^ Wright, Patrick (9 December 2016). "AFL women's competition: Fixture released, all games to be broadcast on TV" . ABC.com.au . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 10 December 2016 .
^ Navaratnam, Dinny (23 January 2017). "Pies-Blues AFLW opener moved to Ikon Park" . AFL.com.au . Telstra Media. Retrieved 23 January 2017 .
^ a b "Club-by-club analysis of the AFLW fixture" . AFL.com.au . Telstra Media. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016 .
^ Talent, Justin (7 December 2016). "2017 AFL PRE-SEASON GAMES REVEALED" . SEN. Retrieved 29 January 2017 .
^ Paxinos, Stathi (9 December 2016). "AFL Women's fixture: Pies, Blues to fire up historic first season" . The Age . Fairfax. Retrieved 10 December 2016 .
^ Bolt, Ashley (3 February 2017). "AFLW late mail: It's a lockout at Ikon Park" . AFL.com.au . Telstra Media. Retrieved 3 February 2017 .
^ Ramsey, Michael (5 February 2017). "AFLW: What to make of the first round" . ESPN.com.au . ESPN. Retrieved 5 February 2017 . It was reportedly the highest crowd ever for a women's sporting event in Australia outside of the Olympic or Commonwealth Games.
^ "Collingwood v Melbourne AFLW match moved to Ikon Park" . Herald Sun . News Corp Australia. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017 .
^ Warren, Adrian (18 February 2017). "Giants eye super sports club status" . ESPN.com . Around 4000 people attended
^ "Your ultimate guide to the inaugural AFL Women's competition including predictions, full fixture" . Fox Sports (Australia) . News Corp Australia . 2 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017 .
^ "AFL Women's Grand Final 2017: Brisbane Lions to host Adelaide Crows in inaugural AFLW season decider" . Fox Sports (Australia) . News Corp Australia. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2017 .
^ Hamilton, Andrew (11 February 2017). "AFLW, AFL Womens Grand Final: Adelaide is vying for the right to host the inaugural AFL Womens Grand Final" . Fox Sports (Australia) . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 13 February 2017 .
^ Marson, Stephen (20 March 2017). "League confirms AFLW Grand Final to be played at Metricon Stadium" . Zerohanger.com . Retrieved 21 March 2017 .
^ Whiting, Michael (22 June 2016). "Coup for Lions as inaugural women's coach named" . Australian Football League . Telstra .
^ Sewell, Eliza (29 June 2016). "Carlton poaches Western Bulldogs coach Damien Keeping as women's teams take shape" . Herald Sun .
^ Lane, Samantha (1 July 2016). "Coach coup: Melbourne's loss, Docker gain with pioneer Michelle Cowan crossing to Freo" . The Age .
^ Halloran, Jessica (23 July 2016). "Tim Schmidt to coach GWS Giants' women's team after playing career with Sydney Swans" . The Daily Telegraph .
^ "Collingwood appoints Wayne Siekman as head coach of women's team" . Herald Sun . 26 July 2016.
^ Harrington, Anna (23 August 2016). "Western Bulldogs appoint Paul Groves as inaugural women's team coach and football manager" . Fox Sports .
^ Corrigan, Tom (24 August 2016). "Canberra's Bec Goddard to coach Adelaide Crows in women's inaugural AFL" . The Sydney Morning Herald .
^ Morris, Tom; Harrington, Anna (15 September 2016). "Melbourne appoints dual TAC Cup premiership coach Michael Stinear as its women's team coach" . Fox Sports .
^ "Ex-Lions coach takes over Giants' AFLW job" . Australian Football League . Telstra . 21 July 2017.
^ "Erin Phillips, Chelsea Randall named inaugural Adelaide Crows captains" . The Advertiser . News Corp Australia . 14 January 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017 .
^ "Emma Zielke named as Brisbane Lions' inaugural AFLW Captain" . Lions.com.au . Telstra Media . 5 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017 .
^ Cavanagh, Chris (16 January 2017). "Lauren Arnell named Carlton's inaugural AFLW captain" . Herald Sun . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2017 .
^ Sewell, Eliza (25 January 2017). "Black and white the right look for Collingwood's first AFLW captain Steph Chiocci" . Herald Sun . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 January 2017 .
^ Miller, Dale (11 January 2017). "Donnellan a natural choice as first Freo leader" . The West Australian . Seven West Media . Retrieved 11 January 2017 .
^ Buckley, James (14 January 2017). "Amanda Farrugia named inaugural captain of GWS for AFL women's competition" . Brisbane Times . Fairfax Media . Retrieved 15 January 2017 .
^ Wood, Lauren (14 January 2017). "Melbourne AFLW star Daisy Pearce named the Demons' inaugural captain" . Herald Sun . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 15 January 2017 .
^ Navaratnam, Dinny (30 January 2017). "Marquee Bulldog Katie Brennan named captain" . AFL.com.au . Telstra Media . Retrieved 30 January 2017 .
^ Wood, Lauren (29 March 2017). "Adelaide star Erin Phillips wins first AFLW Best-and-Fairest award" . Herald Sun . News Corp Australia . Retrieved 4 April 2017 .
^ a b Lane, Samantha (23 March 2017). "AFLW's brightest stars make highest grade" . The Age . Fairfax Media . Retrieved 27 March 2017 .
^ Chalkley-Rhoden, Stephanie (29 March 2017). "AFLW: From deli assistant to Rising Star, Adelaide Crows' Ebony Marinoff looks to future on and off field" . ABC Online . Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 4 April 2017 .
^ Olle, Sarah (25 March 2017). "Erin Phillips turned heads with a best on ground performance in Adelaide's six-point grand final win" . Fox Sports (Australia) . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 27 March 2017 .
^ Rucci, Michelangelo (28 March 2017). "Crows' Erin Phillips wins AFLW best and fairest" . The Advertiser . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 4 April 2017 .
^ Wood, Lauren (28 March 2017). "Carlton star Darcy Vescio wins AFLW goalkicking award, named in All-Australian side" . Herald Sun . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 4 April 2017 .
^ Helmers, Caden (18 March 2017). "Western Bulldogs masterclass gifts GWS Giants inaugural AFL Women's wooden spoon" . The Age . Fairfax Media. Retrieved 4 April 2017 .
^ Wood, Lauren (27 March 2017). "Erin Phillips named the first AFL Women's AFLPA MVP after stellar season with Adelaide" . Herald Sun . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 27 March 2017 .
^ Rucci, Michelangelo (29 March 2017). "AFLW star Erin Phillips wins Crows club champion award to complete perfect season" . The Advertiser . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 4 April 2017 .
^ "Emily Bates takes out inaugural Brisbane Lions Best & Fairest" . Lions.com.au . Telstra Media. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017 .
^ "Davey crowned AFLW B&F" . Carlton Media . Telstra Media . 27 April 2017. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2017 .
^ "Draftee defender named top AFLW Magpie" . AFL.com.au . Telstra Media. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017 .
^ "Dana Hooker, who gave birth less than a year ago, named top Docker in first AFLW season" . The West Australian . Seven West Media . 21 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017 .
^ Cowan, Geordie (3 April 2017). "Darebin Falcons star Jessica Dal Pos claims GWS best and fairest after impressive AFLW season" . Preston Leader . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 4 April 2017 .
^ Burgan, Matt (2 April 2017). "Pearce wins club best and fairest" . MelbourneFC.com.au . Telstra Media. Retrieved 4 April 2017 .
^ "Joint winners in historic AFLW count" . WesternBulldogs.com.au . Telstra Media. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2017 .
^ Navaratnam, Dinny (28 March 2017). "Finalists dominate AFLW All Australian team" . afl.com.au . Retrieved 12 September 2017 .
^ Harrington, Anna (28 March 2017). "Daisy Pearce named captain of the inaugural AFLW All-Australian team, with Erin Phillips vice-captain" . Fox Sports (Australia) . News Corp Australia . Retrieved 12 September 2017 .
^ Laughton, Max (15 July 2017). "State of Origin to return to footy with stand-alone women's match pitting Victoria against rest of Australia" . Fox Sports . News Corp Australia. Retrieved 25 July 2017 .
^ "Big names locked in for AFLW state of origin" . AFL Media . Telstra Media . 25 July 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017 .
^ Cavanagh, Chris (2 September 2017). "Big V hands Allies State of Origin lesson" . Herald Sun . News Corp. Retrieved 25 September 2017 .
External links
Western Australia Queensland South Australia New South Wales Australian Capital Territory Northern Territory Tasmania
Coach: Goddard (Australian Capital Territory)
Events Awards Club overviews Players See also