2019 AFL Women's season explained

Year:	2019
Date:	2 February—31 March 2019
Teams:	10
Premcount:	2
Rucount:	1
Bestandfairest:	Erin Phillips
Votes:	19
Leadinggoalkicker:	Stevie-Lee Thompson
Goals:	13
Matches:	38
Attendance:	251,792
Highattendha:	18,429 (round 1, v)
Highattendfinals:	53,034 (grand final, v)

The 2019 AFL Women's season was the third season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured ten clubs and ran from 2 February to 31 March, comprising a seven-round home-and-away season followed by a two-week finals series featuring the top two clubs from each conference. Australian Football League (AFL) clubs and featured for the first time in 2019.

won the premiership, defeating by 45 points in the 2019 AFL Women's Grand Final; it was Adelaide's second AFL Women's premiership. Adelaide's Erin Phillips won her second AFL Women's best and fairest award as the league's best and fairest player, and teammate Stevie-Lee Thompson won the AFL Women's leading goalkicker award as the league's leading goalkicker.

Reforms

New teams

Two new teams, and, joined the competition, bringing the total number of teams to ten. The North Melbourne team has a strong Tasmanian focus; some players are based in Tasmania and some home games were held in the state. The introduction of the new teams is the first stage of a two-year expansion that will take the league to fourteen teams for the 2020 season.^[1]

Conferences

Despite the introduction of new teams, the league retained a seven-round home-and-away season. This was achieved by splitting the competition into two conferences. Each team play four games against their fellow conference members and three "cross-over" matches against teams from the other conference.^[2] Conference membership was based on the final ladder positions of the 2018 season.^[2]

The finals series was expanded to include preliminary finals for the first time; the two teams who finish the highest in each conference at the end of the home-and-away season qualified for the preliminary finals. The winners of these games played in the AFL Women's Grand Final.^[3] The make-up of the conferences, along with the fixture, was released in October 2018.^[4]

The conference system proved controversial as the teams in Conference A consistently outplayed the teams on Conference B, resulting in the first, second, fifth and sixth best overall teams making the finals.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Pool A
Team	Stadium(s)	Capacity
	Whitten Oval Marvel Stadium	12,000 56,347
	Casey Fields	12,000
	Norwood Oval TIO Stadium Unley Oval	22,000 12,500 10,000
	Fremantle Oval	17,500
	North Hobart Oval UTAS Stadium Avalon Airport Oval	18,000 21,000 10,000

Pool B
Team	Stadium(s)	Capacity
	MBC Sports Complex Hickey Park	8,000 4,000
	Drummoyne Oval Blacktown ISP Oval UNSW Canberra Oval	6,000 10,000 16,000
	Victoria Park Morwell Reserve Marvel Stadium	15,000 12,000 56,347
	Ikon Park	24,568
	GMHBA Stadium	36,000

Rule changes

There were 11 rule changes brought in for the 2019 AFLW season (three AFLW specific).

• Boundary throw ins brought in by 10m (AFLW only)
• Last touch rule only applies outside of the 50s (AFLW only)
• Runners allowed on the field during live play (AFLW only)
• 5-6-5 formation mandated at centre bounces
• The woman on the mark must stand further back after kick ins after a behind (from 5m to 10m), and the player doesn't need to kick to herself before playing on^[8]
• After defenders have a free kick within nine metres of their goal, the woman on the mark stands in line with the top of the goal square
• Players can't set up behind the umpire at centre bounces
• Play on is allowed for 50m penalties
• Players can kick across their body after taking a mark after the siren.
• A player can place her hands on the back of her opponent to protect marking space (see Push in the back)
• A ruck who takes direct possession of the ball from a bounce, throw-up or boundary throw-in will no longer be regarded as having had prior opportunity.^[9]

Home-and-away season

The full fixture and make-up of the conferences was released on 26 October 2018.^{[4] [10]}

• All starting times are local.

Round 7

Ladders

Progression by round

• Numbers highlighted in green indicates the team finished the round inside the top 2.

Conference A

width=20 abbr="Position"		width=400px	Team	width=30 abbr="Round 1"	1	width=30 abbr="Round 2"	2	width=30 abbr="Round 3"	3	width=30 abbr="Round 4"	4	width=30 abbr="Round 5"	5	width=30 abbr="Round 6"	6	width=30 abbr="Round 7"	7
1		0	4	8	12	16	20	24
2		4	8	12	12	16	20	24
3		4	8	12	16	16	20	20
4		0	4	8	8	12	16	16
5		4	8	8	8	8	8	8

Conference B

width=20 abbr="Position"		width=400px	Team	width=30 abbr="Round 1"	1	width=30 abbr="Round 2"	2	width=30 abbr="Round 3"	3	width=30 abbr="Round 4"	4	width=30 abbr="Round 5"	5	width=30 abbr="Round 6"	6	width=30 abbr="Round 7"	7
1		0	0	4	4	8	12	16
2		4	4	4	8	12	12	12
3		0	0	0	4	4	4	8
4		4	4	4	8	8	8	8
5		0	0	0	0	0	0	4

Finals series

Grand final

See main article: 2019 AFL Women's Grand Final.

Win–loss table

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	PF	GF	Ladder
										A1
								X	X	B4
										B1
								X	X	B5
									X	A2
									X	B2
								X	X	B3
								X	X	A4
								X	X	A3
								X	X	A5

Attendances

By club

2019 AFL Women's attendances

Club	Total	Games	Avg. per game	Home total	Home games	Home avg.
	29,218	7	4,174	21,722	4	5,431
	24,555	6	4,093	7,077	2	3,539
	34,653	7	4,950	9,265	3	3,088
	48,700	7	6,957	21,613	4	5,403
	30,280	7	4,326	22,621	4	5,655
	47,183	6	7,864	29,614	3	9,871
	23,147	7	3,307	11,279	4	2,820
	31,900	7	4,557	8,266	3	2,755
	32,716	7	4,674	10,126	3	3,375
	51,112	7	7,302	35,374	4	8,844

By ground

2019 ground attendances

Ground	Total	Games	Avg. per game
Avalon Airport Stadium	2,107	1	2,107
Blacktown ISP Oval	5,390	2	2,695
Casey Fields	8,266	3	2,755
Drummoyne Oval	1,365	1	1,365
Fremantle Oval	22,621	4	5,655
Hickey Park	4,227	1	4,227
GMHBA Stadium	29,614	3	9,871
Ikon Park	9,265	3	3,088
Marvel Stadium	10,612	1	10,612
Moreton Bay Sports Complex	2,850	1	2,850
Morwell Recreation Reserve	1,743	1	1,743
North Hobart Oval	4,896	1	4,896
Norwood Oval	12,263	2	6,132
TIO Stadium	1,734	1	1,734
Unley Oval	7,725	1	7,725
UNSW Canberra Oval	4,524	1	4,524
University of Tasmania Stadium	3,123	1	3,123
Victoria Park	9,258	2	4,629
VU Whitten Oval	27,762	3	8,254

Awards

• The league best and fairest was awarded to Erin Phillips.^[11]
• The leading goalkicker was awarded to Stevie-Lee Thompson of, who kicked thirteen goals during the home and away season.^[12]
• The Rising Star was awarded to Madison Prespakis.^[13]
• The best on ground in the AFL Women's Grand Final was awarded to Erin Phillips.^[14]
• The goal of the year was awarded to Ashley Sharp.^[15]
• The mark of the year was awarded to Tayla Harris.^[15]
• AFLW Players Association awards
  • The most valuable player was awarded to Erin Phillips.^[16]
  • The most courageous player was awarded to Chelsea Randall.^[16]
  • The best captain was awarded to Brianna Davey.^[16]
  • The best first year player was awarded to Madison Prespakis.^[16]
• The AFLW Coaches Association champion player of the year was awarded to Erin Phillips.^[17]
• Erin Phillips was named the captain of the 2019 AFL Women's All-Australian team. The premiers had five players selected, with nine of the league's 10 clubs represented in the final team by at least one player.^[18]
• were the lowest ranked team overall, and thus could be said to have "won" the wooden spoon, though this is a contestable claim given the use of conferences.

Best and fairest

Club	Award name	Player	Ref.
	Club Champion		^[19]
	Best and fairest		^[20]
	Best and fairest		^[21]
	Best and fairest		^[22]
	Fairest and best
	Best and fairest
	Gabrielle Trainor Medal
	Best and fairest
	Best and fairest
	Best and fairest		^[23]

AFLW leading goalkicker

• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the season's goal kicking tally at the end of 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	Stevie-Lee Thompson	0	44	15	27	29	312	113	13
2	Erin Phillips	0	11	34	26	28	19	09	9
3	Emma King	2	24	04	37	18	08	08	8
	Mo Hope	1	01	12	24	15	16	28
	Ashley Sharp	2	24	04	04	04	26	28
	Tegan Cunningham	1	01	12	13	36	28	08
	Gemma Houghton	2	13	03	03	25	27	17
	Jess Wuetschner	3	25	05	16	06	17	18
9	Eloise Jones	0	22	13	25	16	17	07	7
	Kellie Gibson	0	00	22	13	36	06	17
	Danielle Ponter	0	00	00	22	24	26	16
	Sabreena Duffy	1	23	03	03	25	05	27
	Christina Bernardi	1	01	23	03	14	15	27
	Tayla Harris	0	00	33	03	14	26	17

Source: https://www.afl.com.au/womens/matches/stats

Coach changes

Club	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
	Inaugural coach			^[24]	24 October 2017
	Inaugural coach			^[25]	23 February 2018
		Sacked^[26]	4 April 2019	^[27]	4 June 2019
		Resigned^[28]	17 June 2019	^[29]	19 September 2019

Club leadership

Club	Coach	Captain(s)	Vice-captain(s)	Leadership group	Ref
	Matthew Clarke	Erin Phillips, Chelsea Randall	Courtney Cramey, Ange Foley		^[30]
	Craig Starcevich	Leah Kaslar	Kate Lutkins, Sam Virgo, Emma Zielke		^[31]
	Daniel Harford	Brianna Davey	Katie Loynes	Shae Audley, Kerryn Harrington, Sarah Hosking, Darcy Vescio	^[32]
	Wayne Siekman	Steph Chiocci	Ashleigh Brazill, Emma Grant	Brittany Bonnici, Sarah D'Arcy, Chloe Molloy	^[33]
	Trent Cooper	Kara Donnellan		Ebony Antonio, Kiara Bowers, Evangeline Gooch, Gabby O'Sullivan	^[34]
	Paul Hood	Melissa Hickey	Rebecca Goring	Richelle Cranston, Renee Garing, Aasta O'Connor, Anna Teague	^[35]
	Alan McConnell	Amanda Farrugia	Alicia Eva	Christina Bernardi, Jessica Dal Pos, Tanya Hetherington, Emma Swanson	^[36]
	Mick Stinear	Elise O'Dea Shelley Scott	Sarah Lampard, Karen Paxman		^[37]
	Scott Gowans	Emma Kearney	Brittany Gibson, Jess Duffin	Kaitlyn Ashmore, Emma King	^[38]
	Paul Groves	Ellie Blackburn, Katie Brennan		Nicole Callinan, Isabel Huntington, Kirsty Lamb, Hannah Scott	^[39]

See also

• 2018 AFL Women's draft

External links

• Official AFL Women's website

Notes and References

1. Web site: AFLW: Tasmania-North Melbourne and Geelong win licenses to field teams in 2019. ABC News. 27 September 2017.
2. Web site: AFLW introduces US-style conferences but teams still won't play every other team. 7 September 2018. ABC News.
3. Web site: Black . Sarah . AFLW 2019: How the conference system works - AFL.com.au . afl.com.au . Australian Football League . 7 September 2018.
4. Web site: AFLW fixture: A club-by-club breakdown of who plays who. AFL.com.au. 26 October 2018.
5. Web site: Inadequacies of AFLW conference system laid bare on final weekend | Kirby Fenwick. Kirby. Fenwick. 17 March 2019. www.theguardian.com.
6. Web site: The four AFLW controversies you need to get across. Kate. O'Halloran. 18 February 2019. ABC News.
7. Web site: AFLW 2019, AFLW Conferences, AFLW coaches divided over conference fiasco. 17 March 2019.
8. Web site: AFLW Insight: New season, new rules . Sarah Black. February 6, 2019 . AFLW.
9. Web site: 2019 AFLW New Rules . AFLNSWACT . caitlin-arnold . November 8, 2018.
10. Web site: AFLW fixture: Cats kick off new season. 26 October 2018. AFL.com.au.
11. News: Phillips crowned AFLW's best for a second time . 6 April 2019 . AFL Media . Telstra Media . 2 April 2019.
12. News: AFLW: Crows forward Stevie-Lee Thompson takes out Leading Goalkicker . 6 April 2019 . Adelaide FC . Telstra Media . 2 April 2019.
13. News: Filippo . Cristian . Prespakis named 2019 NAB AFLW Rising Star . 6 April 2019 . Carlton FC . Telstra Media . 2 April 2019.
14. News: Black . Sarah . Phillips wins best afield medal in GF despite tearing ACL in third term . 6 April 2019 . AFL Media . Telstra Media . 31 March 2019.
15. News: The winners of the AFLW goal and mark of the yea . 6 April 2019 . AFL Media . Telstra Media . 2 April 2019.
16. News: SUPERSTAR ERIN SCOOPS MVP AWARD TOO... . 6 April 2019 . The Women's Game . 1 April 2019.
17. News: Black . Sarah . Superstar Crow named AFLW coaches' champion player . 6 April 2019 . AFL Media . Telstra Media . 19 March 2019.
18. News: Navaratnam . Dinny . Five Crows, four Roos headline All Australian team . 6 April 2019 . AFL Media . Telstra Media . 2 April 2019.
19. News: B&F wrap: Cat wins despite foot fracture . 6 April 2019 . Black . Sarah . 6 April 2019.
20. News: Anderson crowned Best and Fairest . 14 April 2019 . Brisbane FC . Telstra Media . 12 April 2019.
21. News: Filippo . Cristian . Davey, Prespakis share ultimate prize . 12 April 2019 . Carlton FC . Telstra Media . 11 April 2019.
22. News: Mullan . Alanaa . AFLW: Lambert wins best and fairest . 9 April 2019 . Collingwood FC . Telstra Media . 9 April 2019.
23. News: Dual sports star wins Bulldogs' AFLW best and fairest . 6 April 2019 . AFL Media . Telstra Media . 5 April 2019.
24. Web site: AFLW: Gowans appointed AFLW coach. Telstra. North Melbourne. 24 October 2017.
25. Web site: Cats name AFLW coach. The Women's Game. 23 February 2018.
26. News: Collingwood women’s team looking for new coach after Wayne Siekman’s contract not renewed. Herald Sun. 4 April 2019.
27. News: Interstate raid lands new Pies AFLW coach. SBS World News. 4 June 2019.
28. Web site: Dogs flag coach resigns after three years at helm. Sarah. Black. Telstra. AFL Women's. 17 June 2019.
29. News: Burke's Bulldogs job part of Frawley's legacy. Daniel. Cherny. The Age. 19 September 2019.
30. Web site: AFLW: 2019 captains announced. . Telstra Media. 20 January 2019.
31. Web site: Leah Kaslar elected AFLW Captain. Telstra Media. Brisbane Lions. 13 December 2018.
32. Web site: AFLW leadership group announced . . . 16 January 2019.
33. Web site: Captain Chiocci to continue in 2019. Meagan. Lechucki. . Telstra Media. 14 December 2018. 14 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20190419150848/https://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2018-12-14/captain-chiocci-to-continue-in-2019. 19 April 2019. dead.
34. Web site: AFLW: New faces feature in leadership group . . . 7 December 2018.
35. Web site: Collings . Tom . Hickey named Geelong's inaugural AFLW Captain . . . 13 December 2018.
36. Web site: Farrugia to Lead the GIANTS in 2019. . Telstra Media. 21 January 2019.
37. Web site: AFLW: Dees announce co-captains to replace Daisy. Bruce. Matthews. Telstra Media. AFL.com.au. 19 December 2018.
38. Web site: AFLW: Superstar recruit named Roos' inaugural captain. Sarah. Black. Telstra Media. AFL.com.au. 2 November 2018.
39. Web site: Brennan, Blackburn to lead in 2019 . . Telstra Media . 16 January 2019.