2017 AFL Women's Season
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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 competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...
(AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior
women's Australian rules football Women's Australian rules football (in areas where it is popular, known simply as women's football or women's footy or women's AFL), is the female-only form of Australian rules football, generally with some modification to the laws of the game. ...
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 The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...
(AFL) clubs featured in the inaugural season: , , , , , , and the . Adelaide won the inaugural premiership, defeating Brisbane 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 A ...
. Brisbane won the
minor premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...
by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 6–0–1 win–loss–draw record. Adelaide's
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 ...
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

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 (Melbourne), Olympic Park Stadium in Olympic Park Stadium (Melbourne), Olympic Park, Melbourne. The Oval is primarily utilised as t ...
, but was moved in January 2017 to the higher capacity Ikon Park 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 Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
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 90,306. Mandurah's central business dis ...
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 List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
and
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. *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.


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 a former Australian sports administrator and now CEO of a major gambling company. He is the former chief executive officer of the Australian Football League (AFL). He was appointed to the role in 2014, succeeding ...
, 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 on the Gold Coast as a curtain raiser to the versus AFL match.


Win–loss table


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 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 ...
of , who polled fourteen votes. *The leading goalkicker was awarded to Darcy Vescio of , who kicked fourteen goals during the home and away season. *The Rising Star was awarded to Ebony Marinoff 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 (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 ...
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#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 ...
of Adelaide. **The best captain was awarded to
Daisy Pearce Daisy Pearce (born 27 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club#AFL Women's team, Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) and is the current AFLW senior coach of the West Coast Eagle ...
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
Daisy Pearce Daisy Pearce (born 27 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club#AFL Women's team, Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) and is the current AFLW senior coach of the West Coast Eagle ...
was announced as the All-Australian captain and 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 ...
was announced as the vice-captain.


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. 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 AFLW football operations manager Debbie Lee would coach Victoria, while premiership coach Bec Goddard, would coach the Allies.


Squads


Result


See also

*
2016 AFL Women's draft The 2016 AFL Women's draft consisted of the various periods when the eight clubs in the AFL Women's competition recruited players prior to the competition's 2017 AFL Women's season, inaugural season in 2017. Draftees and signings over the peri ...


References


External links


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