The 2019 AFL Women's Grand Final was an
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
match held at
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...
on 31 March 2019 to determine the
premiers
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
of the league's
third season. Admission was free to the general public, and the match between and was contested before a crowd of 53,034 – which at that time was the record for a stand-alone women's sporting event in Australia. It was won by Adelaide, 10.3 (63) to 2.6 (18), and Adelaide claimed its second premiership in three years. Its co-captain
Erin Phillips
Erin Victoria Phillips (born 19 May 1985) is an Australian basketball player and former Australian rules football player. She played nine seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for five different teams and is a two-time ...
was voted best on ground, despite suffering an
anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in the third quarter.
Background
Two new teams, and , joined the
AFL Women's
AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...
(AFLW) competition in 2019, bringing the total number of teams to ten.
The league retained a seven-round home-and-away season. This was achieved by splitting the competition into two conferences, with one of the new teams in each. Each team played four games against their fellow conference members and three "cross-over" matches against teams from the other conference. Conference membership was based on the final ladder positions of the 2018 season. As it turned out, the competition was unbalanced, with Conference A teams winning 14 of the 16 cross-over matches.
The finals series was expanded to include preliminary finals for the first time. The two teams that finished the highest in each conference at the end of the home-and-away season qualified for the preliminary finals, with the team that finished highest in Conference A playing the team that finished second in Conference B and vice versa. The winners of these matches then played in the AFL Women's Grand Final.
After winning the
2017 AFL Women's Grand Final
The 2017 AFL Women's Grand Final was an Australian rules football match held on 25 March 2017 to determine the premiers of the 2017 AFL Women's season, the league's inaugural season. were victorious over minor premiers , claiming the first A ...
, the Crows finished a disappointing fifth in 2018. The Blues, which were also expected to perform well in 2018, did much worse, ultimately battling for the
wooden spoon
A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture.
History
The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...
– and getting it. In 2019, both Adelaide and Carlton had new coaches –
Matthew Clarke and
Daniel Harford respectively. The Crows retained much of their team from 2017 and 2018, but lacked a
ruckman after
Rhiannon Metcalfe was sidelined for an
ACL reconstruction
Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL reconstruction) is a surgical tissue graft replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament, located in the knee, to restore its function after an injury. The torn ligament can either be removed from ...
and
Jasmyn Hewett suffered an ankle injury. Former
Opals
Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a ...
basketball player
Jess Foley was pressed into the ruck role at the last minute. The Crows went on to an impressive season, notching up seven games by an average of 40 points, and finishing on top of Conference A. Their only loss for the season was by a single point in the first round match against the , when they kicked an inaccurate 1.11. Carlton got off to a slow start, losing to North Melbourne in round one and then Adelaide in round two, before winning five of the last six games to finish on top of Conference B.
In their preliminary final, the Crows conducted a 66-point demolition of Geelong before a home crowd of 13,429 at the
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...
, not allowing the visitors to score until late in the final quarter. In an answer to critics of the women's game that complained about it being low scoring, the Crows outscored nine of the men's teams that weekend (including their own men's team, as well as reigning premiers ), despite the fact that AFLW only plays 15-minute quarters (instead of 20), and has less
time on.
The conference system ensured that Carlton, which finished at the top of Conference B, also hosted the preliminary finals. This was seen as disadvantaging Fremantle, which had won two more games than Carlton, and had a far better percentage (141.2 per cent compared with 99.6 per cent).
In the lead up to the preliminary final, an image of Carlton's star
forward Tayla Harris
Tayla Harris (born 16 April 1997) is a professional Australian sportsperson best known for her careers in Australian rules football with the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) and in professional boxing. She is a highly successfu ...
demonstrating her on-field athleticism that was posted online by the
Seven Network
Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
came under attack by misogynist
internet troll
In slang, a troll is a person who posts deliberately offensive or provocative messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a forum, a chat room, an online video game) or who performs similar behaviors in real life. The methods and ...
s. Rather than suppressing their comments, Seven took the image down, resulting in a chorus of outrage. In the preliminary final, Harris went on to demonstrate her kicking style, slotting Carlton's first goal from 45 metres out.
The Blues went on to win by 36 points, setting up a grand final clash with Adelaide.
Venue
As the highest-ranked team across the two conferences, Adelaide won the right to host the grand final. The match was scheduled for Sunday, 31 March 2019 at Adelaide Oval, which AFLW Chief Executive
Nicole Livingstone
Nicole Dawn Livingstone, AO (born 24 June 1971) is an Australian former competitive swimmer. Since retiring from swimming Livingstone has had careers as a television sports commentator and media presenter and as a sports administrator. She was ...
conceding this timeslot would clash with a men's game between and the . The AFLW considered a Saturday game, but getting the ground ready for a game later that afternoon meant that the Grand Final would have to start at 10:30 am (Adelaide time) to have the signage and advertising changed for the men's game, a proposition that was rejected outright by the clubs and Adelaide Oval management.
Admission was free to the general public, and the AFL hoped for a crowd of around 25,000. In the event, the crowd of 53,034 was the largest ever for an AFLW match, the fifth highest ever at Adelaide Oval,
and a record for a stand-alone women's sporting event in Australia, surpassing a record set in 1920. Extra seating was hurriedly opened in the upper grandstands.
The unanticipated large crowd put the city's public transport under strain. Its record as the highest women's sports crowd in Australian history was surpassed in March 2020 by the
2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Final, but retains the record for highest crowd at a women's football match.
Teams
Teams were announced on 29 March 2019. Both clubs had unchanged lineups from the preliminary finals the week before:
Match summary

The Blues started well, with
Madison Prespakis
Madison Prespakis (born 2 November 2000) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for the Carlton Football Club from 2019 to season 6. A midfielder who won multipl ...
scoring an early first goal off a
50-metre penalty
In the sport of Australian rules football, the 50-metre penalty is an additional penalty applied by umpires for an infractions after a free kick or mark has already been paid.
The 50-metre penalty is used in many senior competitions, including ...
on Adelaide co-captain
Erin Phillips
Erin Victoria Phillips (born 19 May 1985) is an Australian basketball player and former Australian rules football player. She played nine seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for five different teams and is a two-time ...
. The Crows were quick to respond with quick ball movement in the centre square from Foley to
Ebony Marinoff to
Anne Hatchard, who notched up their first score. A second 50-metre penalty gave Carlton another chance but was rushed through by Adelaide for a
behind by
Sarah Allan
Sarah Allan (; born 1945) is an American paleographer and scholar of ancient China. She was a Burlington Northern Foundation Professor of Asian Studies in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures at Dartmouth College ...
. The Crows were soon back on the attack, with Phillips marking just inside the 50-metre arc. Her kick fell short, but Irish recruit
Ailish Considine put it through for a second goal. A third soon followed with
Eloise Jones passing the ball to
Hannah Martin for a goal from point-blank range. An attempt at the other end by
Sarah Hosking resulted only in a behind, and yet another 50-metre penalty gave the Blues an opportunity on the siren, but the ball fell well short of the goal line.
At quarter time, Carlton felt they were dominating everywhere but on the scoreboard, but this feeling would soon pass. The second quarter opened with an Adelaide goal. An overhead mark in the centre by Jones was handed off to Phillips, who booted it forward to the advantage of
Stevie-Lee Thompson, who
marked it and sprinted towards the goal line. Thompson proved too fast for the Carlton defenders, who were caught too far out from goal, and a goal resulted. A couple of minutes later, Phillips earned a
free kick
A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play.
Association football
In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...
from a high tackle by Sarah Hosking. One accurate kick later, and Phillips had ten goals for the season, and Adelaide, five for the match. A mark by
Renee Forth off a delivery from
Deni Varnhagen nearly made it six, but she missed, scoring only a behind.
The next opportunity came a few minutes later. A Carlton turnover saw Allan boot the ball forward to
Chloe Scheer, who took a
specky over the top of Blues defender
Kerryn Harrington. She played on and delivered it to
Danielle Ponter for an easy first goal. Soon after though, Scheer went down with a suspected
anterior cruciate ligament injury
An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...
, and was out of the game. It did not halt Adelaide, as Ponter marked a delivery from Jones inside the
goal square for her second. A third followed, bringing her to twelve for the season. Tayla Harris attempted to score one against the flow of play, but it was touched on the line by Allan. It fell to Carlton captain
Bri Davey to put the Blues' second goal on the scoreboard. Jones had a free kick at goal after the siren that sailed through, and Adelaide took a forty-point lead into the half time break.
When play resumed after the long break, Harris started in the ruck, possibly in an attempt to get her into the game. This backfired, as she immediately collided with Davey, and went off clutching her knee. Thompson also hobbled off the ground, with an ankle injury. Both would return, but not for some time. Phillips marked a pass from Forth 40 metres out, and had her second goal of the match. Soon after, Phillips went down, clutching her knee, and had to be stretchered off the ground. The crowd gave her a standing ovation, and even the Carlton players looked upset. In the final quarter, the players had less to show for their efforts. Foley missed a shot from 35 metres out, scoring only a behind, as did
Chloe Dalton at the other end. Hosking was awarded a free kick after being crunched in a tackle by Foley, but missed everything. A final effort by the Crows could not score before the final siren sounded.
Best on Ground Medal
Phillips's injury cast a pall over the Crows' win. "It's an ACL," she confirmed, "something I have done before in my other leg. This was supposed to be the good leg."
Despite only playing for three-quarters, Phillips, who had 18 disposals and two goals, was named
best on ground
Best or The Best may refer to:
People
* Best (surname), people with the surname Best
* Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer
Companies and organizations
* Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain
* Best Lock Corporatio ...
, as she had been when Adelaide previously won the flag in 2017. The following night she won the AFLW Players' Association's
Most Valuable Player
In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...
award, which she had also previously won in 2017. On 2 April, she was awarded the AFLW best and fairest award for second time, having previously won it in 2017, and was named the captain of the
2019 AFL Women's All-Australian team. Her Adelaide co-captain
Chelsea Randall
Chelsea Randall (born 14 June 1991) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club#AFL Women's team, Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She is one of the club's inaugural AFLW team co-captains, and ...
was named the vice captain, and Hatchard, Thompson and Marinoff were also part of the squad, as were Carlton's Prespakis, Harrington and
Gabriella Pound.
Scorecard
Media coverage
The game was broadcast live on
Channel Seven,
Fox Footy
Fox Footy (stylised as FOX FOOTY) is an Australian rules football subscription television channel dedicated to screening Australian rules football matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Australia operated out of its Melbou ...
, ''womens.afl'' and the AFLW Official App.
ARIA Award
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austra ...
winner
Amy Shark
Amy Louise Billings (born 14 May 1986), known professionally as Amy Shark, is an Australian indie pop singer-songwriter-guitarist and producer from the Gold Coast, Queensland. During 2008 to 2012, her early solo material was released and perfo ...
performed songs from her debut album ''
Love Monster''. She said that the Tayla Harris photo incident made her more determined to perform, saying that "
st being a female in music, I'll do anything I can to help highlight any other woman trying to make it in the professional world, no matter what that field is". The match was watched live by a television audience of 409,000.
References
External links
Official AFL Women's website
{{Portal bar, Australia, Sports
Grand Final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...
AFL Women's Grand Final 2019
AFL Women's Grand Finals
Adelaide Football Club
Carlton Football Club
Sports competitions in Adelaide
Australian rules football in South Australia
2010s in Adelaide