The 2017 AFL Women's season was the inaugural season of the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football league for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the league ...

competition, the new highest level senior

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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

competition in Australia. The season featured eight clubs, ran from 3 February until 25 March, and comprised a 7-game home-and-away season followed by a grand final featuring the top two clubs. The new league was established featuring the women's teams of eight

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL) clubs – , , , , , , , and . The inaugural premiership was won by , after it defeated by six points in 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 AFL ...

Premiership season

Home-and-away matches

The full fixture was released on Friday 9 December 2016. Notable features of the draw include: * and featured in the league's first ever match, the match was initially scheduled to be held at Collingwood's home

Olympic Park Oval Olympic Park Oval is an Australian rules football ground located on the site of the former Olympic Park Stadium in Olympic Park, Melbourne. The Oval's is primarily utilised as the training ground of the Collingwood Football Club and as a venue ...

, but was moved in January 2017 to the higher capacity

Ikon Park Princes Park (or Carlton Recreation Ground, currently known by its sponsored name Ikon Park) is an Australian rules football ground located inside the wider Princes Park in the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton North. It is a historic venu ...

due to higher than expected interest. *, Carlton, and the each had four home games, while all other clubs had three. *Adelaide, and Fremantle each hosted matches at grounds outside of their home metropolitan area with trips to Darwin,

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

and

Mandurah Mandurah () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 107,641 as of the 2021 census. Mandurah's ...

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. *The Western Bulldogs featured in the most free-to-air televised matches (four), Collingwood and had three each, Adelaide had two and all other clubs had only one. *Many games were played in the late morning and late afternoon to avoid the summer heat, especially in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. *All starting times are local.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Win/Loss table

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin
This table can be sorted by margin, winners are represented in the first half of each column, and losers are represented in the second half of each column once sorted

Ladder

Ladder progression

*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. finished as the minor premiers and secured a spot in the grand final at the end of round six; 's round seven win over saw them secure the second spot in the grand final over due to a higher percentage. It was confirmed in February by AFL Chief Executive Officer,

Gillon McLachlan Gillon McLachlan (born 1973) is the chief executive officer of the Australian Football League (AFL). He was appointed to the role in 2014, succeeding Andrew Demetriou, having previously served as his deputy. In 2022 he announced his resignatio ...

, 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. The match was originally planned to be held at

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

, however due to its ground surface being in a dangerous state, the grand final was moved to

Metricon Stadium Carrara Stadium (known commercially as Metricon Stadium) is a stadium on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara. The stadium is primarily used for Australian rules football, serving as the home ground of th ...

on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

as a curtain raiser to the versus AFL match.

Attendances

By club

By ground

Coach changes

Club leadership

Honours

Awards

*The league best and fairest was awarded to

Erin Phillips Erin Victoria Phillips (born 19 May 1985) is an Australian rules footballer for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, a radio host, and a former professional basketball player. She played nine seasons in the Wo ...

of , who polled fourteen votes. *The leading goalkicker was awarded to

Darcy Vescio Darcy Vescio (born 3 August 1993) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. As a heavily marketed marquee player, Vescio has been referred to as a "household name" in Australia by E ...

of , who kicked fourteen goals during the home and away season. *The Rising Star was awarded to

Ebony Marinoff Ebony Marinoff (born 15 November 1997) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Marinoff is a three-time AFL Women's premiership player and five-time AFL Women's All-Australian, and ...

of Adelaide. *The best on ground in the AFLW Grand Final was awarded to Erin Phillips of Adelaide. *The goal of the year was awarded to Erin Phillips of Adelaide. *The mark of the year was awarded to Darcy Vescio of Carlton. *The minor premiership was awarded to . *The wooden spoon was "awarded" to . * AFLW Players Association awards **The

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated '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 particu ...

was awarded to Erin Phillips of Adelaide. **The most courageous player was awarded to

Chelsea Randall Chelsea Randall (born 14 June 1991) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She is one of the club's inaugural AFLW team co-captains. Early life and state league football Randa ...

of Adelaide. **The best captain was awarded to

Daisy Pearce Daisy Pearce (born 27 May 1988) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition. Often regarded as the face of women's Australian rules football, Pearce has served as Melbourne c ...

of .

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 and had the most representatives with five each, and every team had at least one representative. captain

was announced as the All-Australian captain and Adelaide co-captain

was announced as the vice-captain.

State of Origin

In mid-July the AFL announced a

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Oval ...

representative match would be held for AFL Women's players during the AFL season pre-finals bye. 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 The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

on the evening of Saturday 2 September. Initial squads for the match were announced on 25 July including that AFLW football operations manager

Debbie Lee Deborah "Debbie" Lee (born 1974) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. She has campaigned for recognition of women's Australian rules football in Australia, giving up a WNBL career to focus on developing the sport. She was ...

would coach Victoria, while premiership coach Bec Goddard, would coach the Allies.

Squads

Result

References

External links

Official AFL Women's website
{{AFL Women's AFL Women's seasons 2017 in Australian rules football