2020 AFL Women's season explained

Year:2020
Date:7 February—22 March 2020
Teams:14
Premiers:Not awarded
Bestandfairest:Madison Prespakis
Votes:15
Leadinggoalkicker:Caitlin Greiser
Goals:10
Matches:46
Attendance:205,050
Highattend:35,185 (round 2, v)

The 2020 AFL Women's season was the fourth season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 14 clubs and ran from 7 February to 22 March; it was intended to comprise an eight-round home-and-away season followed by a three-week finals series featuring the top three clubs from each conference, however the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March saw the season curtailed and finally abandoned without a premiership being awarded. Australian Football League (AFL) clubs,, and featured for the first time in 2020.

's Madison Prespakis won the AFL Women's best and fairest award as the league's best and fairest player, and St Kilda's Caitlin Greiser won the AFL Women's leading goalkicker award as the league's leading goalkicker.

Background

New teams

Four new teams,,, and, joined the competition, bringing the total number of teams to fourteen. This followed on from the inclusion of and in the previous season.[1]

Collective bargaining agreement

Prior to the season commencing a collective bargaining agreement failed to pass the player's association, with only 70% agreeing, falling short of the required 75% threshold. One of the demands of the dissenters was to have a longer season, so that all the teams could play each other once.[2] The players later voted with a vote of 98% to agree to a revised agreement, which steadily increased the number of matches to be played over three years.[3]

Conference system

The conference system utilised in the previous season was retained for this season, though it was expanded to cater for the additional teams. Seven teams were placed in each of the two conferences, with teams playing all their intra-conference rivals once and two cross-over matches against teams from the other conference, resulting in an 8-round home and away season. The placing of the teams was determined by the AFL with competitiveness, list assessments and the previous season's results in mind.[4]

Conference A
TeamStadium(s)Capacity
Richmond Oval
Unley Oval
16,500
10,000
Arden Street Oval
UTAS Stadium
North Hobart Oval
5,000
21,000
18,000
GMHBA Stadium36,000
Blacktown ISP Oval
Robertson Oval
Giants Stadium
10,000
10,000
24,000
Hickey Park
Gabba
5,000
42,000
Metricon Stadium
Great Barrier Reef Arena
Fankhauser Reserve
25,000
10,000
8,000
Swinburne Centre
Ikon Park
Queen Elizabeth Oval
6,000
21,000
10,000
Conference B
TeamStadium(s)Capacity
Fremantle Oval17,500
Casey Fields
TIO Traeger Park
12,000
7,000
VU Whitten Oval12,000
Ikon Park
Marvel Stadium
21,000
56,000
Victoria Park
Morwell Recreation Reserve
Marvel Stadium
15,000
12,000
56,000
RSEA Park10,000
Mineral Resources Park
Leederville Oval
Optus Stadium
15,000
15,000
60,000

Impact of 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

The 2020 season was disrupted and then brought to an early end by the COVID-19 pandemic, which was formally declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020, prior to Round 6. The pandemic had the following effects on the season:

Home-and-away season

The originally scheduled eight-round fixture and make-up of the conferences was released on 29 October 2019.[8]

Round 6

Ladders

Progression by round

Conference A
width=20 abbr="Position" width=400px Teamwidth=30 abbr="Round 1" 1width=30 abbr="Round 2" 2width=30 abbr="Round 3" 3width=30 abbr="Round 4" 4width=30 abbr="Round 5" 5width=30 abbr="Round 6" 6width=30 abbr="Round 7" 7width=30 abbr="Round 8" 8
1x x
2x x
3x x
4x x
5x x
6x x
7x x
Conference B
width=20 abbr="Position" width=400px Teamwidth=30 abbr="Round 1" 1width=30 abbr="Round 2" 2width=30 abbr="Round 3" 3width=30 abbr="Round 4" 4width=30 abbr="Round 5" 5width=30 abbr="Round 6" 6width=30 abbr="Round 7" 7width=30 abbr="Round 8" 8
1x x
2x x
3x x
4x x
5x x
6x x
7x x

Finals series

Semi finals

Win–loss table

Team 1 234 5 678SFPFGF Ladder
GCSRichXXXA6
Brisbane LionsRichNMXXA3
WCEFremNMXB2
StKGeelXXB4
Melb
Carl
MelbXB1
GWSCollXXXA5
Gold CoastAdelMelbXXA4
GeelWBXXA2
FremGCSFremXB3
WBBLCarlXA1
BLAdelXXXA7
CollWCEXXXB5
West CoastCarlStKXXXB7
NMGWSXXXB6

Awards

League awards

Best and fairests

ClubAward namePlayerRef.
Club Champion
Best and fairest
Best and fairest
Best and fairest
Fairest and best
Best and fairest
Best and fairest
Gabrielle Trainor Medal
Best and fairest
Best and fairest
Best and fairest
Best and fairest


Susan Alberti Award
Best and fairest

AFLW leading goalkicker

Source[16]

Coach changes

ClubOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming coachDate of appointment
Inaugural coach[17] 13 December 2018
Inaugural coach[18] 5 March 2019
Inaugural coach[19] 17 April 2019
Inaugural coach[20] 19 June 2019
End of contract[21] 15 May 2020[22] 6 November 2020
End of contract[23] 4 June 20204 June 2020
Resigned[24] 25 September 2020[25] 12 January 2021

Club leadership

ClubCoachCaptain(s)Vice-captain(s)Leadership groupRef
Matthew ClarkeErin Phillips, Chelsea RandallCourtney Cramey, Ange FoleySarah Allan, Jess Foley, Marijana Rajcic[26] [27]
Craig StarcevichEmma ZielkeSharni WebbEmily Bates, Breanna Koenen, Kate Lutkins[28]
Daniel HarfordKerryn Harrington, Katie LoynesAlison Downie, Sarah Hosking, Nicola Stevens[29]
Stephen SymondsSteph ChiocciAsh Brazill, Brianna Davey[30]
Trent CooperKara AntonioEbony Antonio, Kiara Bowers, Hayley Miller, Gabby O'Sullivan[31]
Paul HoodMelissa HickeyMeg McDonaldRenee Garing, Jordan Ivey, Aasta O'Connor[32]
David LakeLeah Kaslar, Sam VirgoTiarna Ernst, Sally Riley, Jamie Stanton[33]
Alan McConnellAlicia EvaJessica Dal Pos, Pepa Randall, Cora Staunton, Britt Tully[34] [35]
Mick StinearDaisy PearceKaren Paxman[36]
Scott GowansEmma KearneyJasmine GarnerEmma King, Brittany Gibson[37]
Tom HunterKatie BrennanChristina BernardiPhoebe Monahan, Lauren Tesoriero[38]
Peta SearleCat Phillips, Kate Shierlaw, Rhiannon Watt[39]
Luke DwyerEmma SwansonDana HookerMaddy Collier, Courtney Guard, Alicia Janz[40]
Nathan BurkeEllie BlackburnBrooke LochlandIsabel Huntington, Kirsty Lamb, Hannah Scott, Lauren Spark[41]

See also

External links

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. News: AFLW season up in air after bargaining agreement fails to pass player vote. Australian Associated Press. 2019-10-06. The Guardian. 2019-10-07. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  3. Web site: Landslide 'yes' vote ensures 2020 AFLW season will go ahead. AFL Women's. 28 October 2019.
  4. Web site: 2020 fixture and conferences revealed. AFL Women's. 29 October 2019.
  5. Web site: Coronavirus crisis: What we know, what we don't. 13 March 2020. 13 March 2020. Australian Football League. Jourdan Canil.
  6. Web site: Straight to finals: AFLW season cut short due to coronavirus. Sarah Black. 18 March 2020. 18 March 2020. Australian Football League.
  7. Web site: No premiership in 2020: AFLW season ends immediately. Jourdan. Canil. Womens.AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. 22 March 2020.
  8. Web site: 2020 Fixtures. AFL Women's . 24 February 2020.
  9. Web site: Richmond AFLW home games moved to Ikon Park . www.richmondfc.com.au . 5 January 2020 . 24 February 2020.
  10. Web site: Young Blue caps incredible rise with top gong. AFL Women’s. 28 April 2020.
  11. Web site: Star Dog bounces back from injuries to claim Rising Star award. AFL Women’s. 28 April 2020.
  12. Web site: Mark and Goal of the year revealed. AFL Women’s. 26 April 2020.
  13. News: AFLPA award winners revealed: MVP, best captain, more. 24 April 2020 . AFL Women's . 20 April 2020.
  14. News: AFLW coaches' champion player . 20 April 2020 . AFL Coaches Association. 24 April 2020.
  15. Web site: AFLW All-Australian team for 2020 revealed: 12 clubs represented as two stars make history. Fox Sports Australia. 27 April 2020.
  16. Web site: AFL - Every Goalkicker. australianfootball.com.
  17. Web site: AFLW: Eagles development coach to lead new team. Sarah. Black. Telstra. Australian Football League. 13 December 2018.
  18. Web site: David Lake appointed inaugural GC SUNS AFLW Coach. Telstra. Gold Coast. 5 March 2019.
  19. News: Saints appoint Peta Searle as AFLW coach. Michael. Ramsey. The Age. 17 April 2019.
  20. Web site: The hunt is over: Tigers name inaugural coach. Sarah. Black. Telstra. AFL Women's. 19 June 2019.
  21. Web site: Tom Hunter to depart Richmond. Telstra. Richmond. 15 May 2020.
  22. Web site: Ryan Ferguson appointed AFLW coach. Telstra. Richmond. 6 November 2020.
  23. Web site: AFLW: Gowans to depart. Telstra. North Melbourne. 4 June 2020.
  24. News: West Coast Eagles women's coach Luke Dwyer steps down after one season amid COVID-19 carnage. Braden. Quartermaine. The West Australian. 25 September 2020.
  25. News: Daniel Pratt confirmed for dual West Coast Eagles coaching roles at WAFL and AFLW level. John. Townsend. The West Australian. 12 January 2021.
  26. Web site: AFLW: 2020 co-captains locked in. Telstra Media. Adelaide. 6 January 2020.
  27. Web site: AFLW: Five-person leadership group announced. Telstra Media. Adelaide. 28 January 2020.
  28. Web site: Emma Zielke returns as Captain. Josie. Fielding. Brisbane Lions. Telstra Media. 18 December 2019.
  29. News: Loynes and Harrington to replace Davey as Carlton opt for co-captains. The Age. 12 December 2019.
  30. Web site: Chiocci to lead Pies for a fourth season. Collingwood. Telstra Media. 10 December 2019.
  31. News: Hayley Miller voted into Fremantle's AFLW leadership group for 2020. Bonnie. Raynor. The West Australian. 18 December 2019.
  32. News: Young . Lachie . 2020 AFLW Geelong Cats: Melissa Hickey named captain, Meg McDonald vice-captain for Geelong . . 14 January 2020.
  33. News: Your inaugural AFLW Captains. . 3 February 2020.
  34. Web site: Farrugia Calls Time as Eva Takes Over Captaincy. Greater Western Sydney Giants. Telstra Media. 24 November 2019.
  35. Web site: Three New Faces in AFLW Leadership Group. Greater Western Sydney Giants. Telstra Media. 17 January 2020.
  36. Web site: Nobes . Caitlin . Pearce to lead Demons in 2020 . . . 20 January 2020.
  37. Web site: AFLW: Kearney to lead again. 25 November 2019. North Melbourne. Telstra Media.
  38. Web site: Katie Brennan becomes Richmond's inaugural AFLW captain . . . 15 January 2020.
  39. News: St Kilda names Cat Phillips, Kate Shierlaw and Rhiannon Watt as inaugural AFLW captains. Lauren. Wood. Herald Sun. 14 January 2020.
  40. Web site: Midfielder Emma Swanson appointed inaugural captain of West Coast Eagles AFLW team. 12 December 2019. The Sunday Times.
  41. Web site: Blackburn named AFLW captain. Telstra Media. Western Bulldogs. 24 January 2020.