2018 AFL Women's season explained

Year:	2018
Date:	2 February—24 March 2018
Teams:	8
Premcount:	1
Rucount:	2
Mpcount:	1
Bestandfairest:	Emma Kearney
Votes:	14
Leadinggoalkicker:	Brooke Lochland
Goals:	12
Matches:	29
Attendance:	174,012
Highattend:	41,975 (round 2, v)

The 2018 AFL Women's season was the second season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured eight clubs and ran from 2 February to 24 March, comprising a seven-round home-and-away season followed by a grand final contested by the top two clubs.

The won the premiership, defeating by six points in the 2018 AFL Women's Grand Final. The Bulldogs also won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 5–2 win–loss record. The Bulldogs' Emma Kearney won the AFL Women's best and fairest award as the league's best and fairest player, and teammate Brooke Lochland won the AFL Women's leading goalkicker award as the league's leading goalkicker.

Rule changes

Three rules were changed heading into the 2018 season:^{[1] [2]}

• A free kick is paid against a player who last touches the ball before it goes out of bounds under the following conditions,

• A free kick will be awarded against a player who kicks or handballs the football over the boundary line without the football being touched by another player;

• Except where a player who does not have possession stops the football being touched by an opposition player by shepherding the football across the boundary line where the football could have otherwise been touched.

• If in doubt the umpires are instructed to throw the ball in.
• The interchange has been reduced to five players from six players in 2017.
• Time-on will occur during the last two minutes of each quarter.

Home-and-away season

The full fixture was released on Friday 27 October 2017.^[3] Notable features of the draw include:

• Unlike the previous season, there were no double-headers with men's preseason matches.^[4]
• ,, and each played four home games, while the other four clubs played three.
• Adelaide,, GWS, and Melbourne each hosted matches at grounds outside of their home metropolitan area with trips to Darwin, Moe, Canberra and Alice Springs respectively.
• Carlton and Collingwood featured in the most free-to-air televised matches (three), Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs had two each, while GWS and Fremantle had one each.
• Many games were scheduled for the late afternoon to avoid the summer heat, especially in Brisbane and Western Australia.^[5]
• All starting times are local.

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.

width=20 abbr="Position"		width=175px	Team	width=20 abbr="Round 1"	1	width=20 abbr="Round 2"	2	width=20 abbr="Round 3"	3	width=20 abbr="Round 4"	4	width=20 abbr="Round 5"	5	width=20 abbr="Round 6"	6	width=20 abbr="Round 7"	7
1		4	8	8	12	16	16	20
2		4	4	8	12	12	12	16
3		4	8	8	8	12	16	16
4		0	0	4	6	10	14	14
5		0	0	4	6	10	14	14
6		0	0	0	4	4	8	12
7		0	4	8	8	8	8	12
8		4	8	8	8	8	8	8

Grand final

See main article: 2018 AFL Women's 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.^[6]

Win–loss table

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	GF	Ladder
								X	5
									2
								X	8
								X	6
								X	7
								X	4
								X	3
									1

Attendances

By club

2018 AFL Women's attendances

Club	Total	Games	Avg. per game	Home total	Home games	Home avg.
		7			4
		7			3
		6			3
		7			3
		6			3
		7			4
		7			4
		7			3

By ground

2018 ground attendances

Ground	Total	Games	Avg. per game
Blacktown International Sportspark		1
Casey Fields		3
Drummoyne Oval		1
Fremantle Oval		2
Ikon Park		3
Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex		1
Norwood Oval		3
Olympic Park Oval		2
Optus Stadium		1
South Pine Sports Complex		2
Ted Summerton Reserve		1
TIO Stadium		1
TIO Traeger Park		1
UNSW Canberra Oval		1
VU Whitten Oval		3

Awards

• The league best and fairest was awarded to Emma Kearney.^[7]
• The leading goalkicker was awarded to Brooke Lochland of the, who kicked twelve goals during the home and away season.^[7]
• The Rising Star was awarded to Chloe Molloy.^[7]
• The best on ground in the AFL Women's Grand Final was awarded to Monique Conti.^[8]
• The goal of the year was awarded to Aliesha Newman.^[7]
• The mark of the year was awarded to Tayla Harris.^[7]
• The minor premiership was awarded to .^[9]
• AFLW Players Association awards
  • The most valuable player was awarded to Courtney Gum.^[10]
  • The most courageous player was awarded to Chelsea Randall.^[10]
  • The best captain was awarded to Daisy Pearce.^[10]
  • The best first year player was awarded to Chloe Molloy.^[10]
• Chelsea Randall was named the captain of the 2018 AFL Women's All-Australian team. The grand finalists, Western Bulldogs and Brisbane Lions, along with Melbourne each had 4 players selected, with all eight clubs represented in the final team by at least one player.^[11]
• The wooden spoon was "awarded" to .^[12]

Best and fairest

Club	Award name	Player	Ref.
	Club Champion		^[13]
	Best and fairest		^[14]
	Best and fairest		^[15]
	Best and fairest		^[16]
	Fairest and best	Ebony Antonio	^[17]
	Gabrielle Trainor Medal		^[18]
	Best and fairest		^[19]
	Susan Alberti Award		^[20]

AFLW leading goalkicker

• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the season's goal kicking tally at the end of that round.
• Underlined numbers indicates the player did not play that round.

width=20		width=110 abbr="Position"	Player	width=20 abbr="Round 1"	1	width=20 abbr="Round 2"	2	width=20 abbr="Round 3"	3	width=20 abbr="Round 4"	4	width=20 abbr="Round 5"	5	width=20 abbr="Round 6"	6	width=20 abbr="Round 7"	7	width=20 abbr="Total"	Total
1		11	01	12	79	211	011	112	12
2		22	24	15	27	07	18	311	11
3		00	22	02	13	14	37	29	9
		11	23	25	05	16	39	09
5		00	00	00	00	33	14	48	8
		00	00	22	24	04	37	18
7		33	14	26	06	17	07	07	7
		00	00	44	04	04	37	07
		11	12	02	13	36	06	17
10		33	03	25	05	05	05	16	6
		11	01	01	12	13	25	16
		22	13	14	04	04	04	26

Coach changes

Club	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
		Mutual termination^[21]	20 March 2018	^[22]	23 April 2018
		Resigned^[23]	13 April 2018	^[24]	23 May 2018
		Resigned^[25]	19 April 2018	^[26]	7 June 2018

Club leadership

Club	Coach	Captain(s)	Vice-captain(s)	Leadership group	Ref
	Bec Goddard	Erin Phillips, Chelsea Randall	Courtney Cramey, Ange Foley, Sally Riley		^[27]
	Craig Starcevich	Emma Zielke	Leah Kaslar	Emily Bates, Sabrina Frederick-Traub, Kate Lutkins, Sharni Webb	^[28]
	Damien Keeping (Rds 1, 4 - 7)	Brianna Davey	Lauren Arnell, Sarah Hosking		^[29]
	Nick Rutley (Rds 2 - 3)
	Wayne Siekman	Steph Chiocci	Brittany Bonnici, Emma Grant	Christina Bernardi, Ashleigh Brazill, Emma King	^[30]
	Michelle Cowan	Kara Donnellan			^[31]
	Alan McConnell	Amanda Farrugia	Alicia Eva	Jessica Dal Pos, Tanya Hetherington, Emma Swanson	^[32]
	Mick Stinear	Daisy Pearce	Melissa Hickey, Elise O'Dea		^[33]
	Paul Groves	Katie Brennan		Ellie Blackburn, Nicole Callinan, Hannah Scott	^[34]

See also

• 2017 AFL Women's draft

External links

• Official AFL Women's website

Notes and References

1. News: Last-touch rule confirmed for AFLW in 2018. Edwards. Nat. 13 December 2017. AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. 1 February 2018.
2. News: Three new rules will take effect in the AFLW in 2018 — but they haven't all been received well. Olle. Sarah. 14 December 2017. Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. 1 February 2018.
3. Web site: AFLW fixture reveal: Massive R1 to open 2018. Australian Football League. 27 October 2017. 27 October 2017.
4. Web site: Thompson. Matt. King. Travis. AFL releases fixture for JLT Community Series. afl.com.au. Australian Football League. 26 October 2017. 26 October 2017.
5. News: Paxinos. Stathi. AFL Women's fixture: Pies, Blues to fire up historic first season. 28 October 2017. The Age. Fairfax. 9 December 2016.
6. News: Your ultimate guide to the inaugural AFL Women's competition including predictions, full fixture. 2 February 2017. Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. 4 February 2017.
7. News: Emma Kearney named AFLW best and fairest but future with Dogs unclear. 6 April 2018. the Guardian. Australian Associated Press. 27 March 2018. en.
8. News: Cherny. Daniel. Grand final star Conti's juggling act continues. 6 April 2018. The Age. 24 March 2018. en.
9. News: AFLW match report: Bulldogs lock in GF spot. Matthews. Bruce. 17 March 2018. AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. 22 March 2018.
10. News: By Gum, Courtney wins major AFLW award - Nine Wide World of Sports. 6 April 2018. wwos.nine.com.au. en.
11. News: AFLW All-Australian team 2018: Chelsea Randall captain, four Bulldogs named. 6 April 2018. Fox Sports. 27 March 2018. Lauren. Wood.
12. News: Carlton parts ways with AFLW coach Damien Keeping after the Blues claimed the wooden spoon. Harrington. Anna. 20 March 2018. Fox Sports Australia. News Corp Australia. 22 March 2018.
13. News: Co-captain Chelsea Randall was the clear club champion at the Adelaide Crows' awards night. Fjeldstad. Jesper. 21 March 2018. The Advertiser. News Corp Australia. 21 March 2018.
14. News: Brisbane star Kate Lutkins is prepared to fight fire with fire if the AFLW Grand Final gets physical. Arnold. Rickie-Lee. 23 March 2018. The Courier-Mail. News Corp Australia. 15 April 2018.
15. News: Katie Loynes and Breann Moody crowed joint Carlton AFLW best-and-fairest winners. Landsberger. Sam. 10 April 2018. Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. 15 April 2018.
16. News: AFLW: First-year star takes out Magpies' B&F. 9 April 2018. AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. 15 April 2018.
17. Web site: Antonio wins Freo's Fairest and Best. fremantlefc.com.au. 6 April 2018 . 6 April 2018.
18. Web site: Eva Claims 2018 Gabrielle Trainor Medal. 28 March 2018. GWSgiants.com.au. Telstra Media. 28 March 2018.
19. Web site: Pearce claims second best and fairest. Burgan. Matt. 28 March 2018. MelbourneFC.com.au. Telstra Media. 28 March 2018.
20. Web site: Kearney wins second AFLW Best and Fairest. 29 March 2018. WesternBulldogs.com.au. Telstra Media. 15 April 2018.
21. Web site: Club statement: Damien Keeping. Telstra. Carlton. 20 March 2018.
22. Web site: Daniel Harford appointed Carlton AFL women's coach for 2019 AFLW season. Tom. Morris. Fox Sports. 23 April 2018.
23. News: Goddard quits as Adelaide's AFLW coach to concentrate on police career. Ronny. Lerner. The Age. 13 April 2018.
24. Web site: Adelaide appoint Matthew Clarke as new AFLW coach. Matt. Balmer. Fox Sports. 23 May 2018.
25. News: Dockers coach Cowan quits AFLW post. Justin. Chadwick. The Age. 19 April 2018.
26. Web site: AFLW: Trent Cooper named as Michelle Cowan's successor at Fremantle. Fox Sports. 7 June 2018.
27. Web site: AFLW: Phillips, Randall to captain Crows in 2018. Collingwood. Telstra Media. 20 January 2018.
28. Web site: Zielke re-elected as Captain. Josie. Fielding. Brisbane. Telstra Media. 17 January 2018.
29. News: Carlton name Brianna Davey, Lauren Arnell, Sarah Hosking to lead women's team. Ryan. Peter. 12 January 2018. The Age. Fairfax Media. 12 January 2018.
30. Web site: Emerging leaders to follow captain Chiocci. Meagan. Lechucki. 17 December 2017. Collingwood. Telstra Media. 17 December 2017.
31. News: Black. Sarah. AFLW: Freo sticks with trusted skipper. 13 January 2018. AFL Media. Telstra Media. 20 December 2017.
32. News: Collins. Ben. AFLW: Boom Pies recruit gets key Giants role. 20 January 2018. AFL Media. Telstra Media. 19 January 2018.
33. News: AFLW leaders named for 2018. Nobes. Caitlin. 26 January 2018. AFL.com.au. Telstra. 26 January 2018.
34. News: AFLW: Dogs keep faith with leadership quartet. 26 January 2018. AFL Media. Telstra Media. 26 January 2018.