# 2017 AFL Women's season

The 2017 AFL Women's season was the inaugural season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football 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 (AFL) clubs featured in the inaugural season: Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Greater Western Sydney, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs.
Adelaide won the inaugural premiership, defeating Brisbane by six points in the 2017 AFL Women's Grand Final. Brisbane won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 6–0–1 win–loss–draw record. Adelaide's Erin Phillips 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:
* Carlton and Collingwood featured in the league's first ever match, the match was initially scheduled to be held at Collingwood's home Olympic Park Oval, but was moved in January 2017 to the higher capacity Ikon Park due to higher than expected interest.
* Adelaide, Carlton, Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs each had four home games, while all other clubs had three.
* Adelaide, Greater Western Sydney and Fremantle each hosted matches at grounds outside of their home metropolitan area with trips to Darwin, Canberra and Mandurah 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 Melbourne 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 and Western Australia.
* All starting times are local.

### Round 1

| | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | | |
| Friday, 3 February (7:45 pm) | Carlton 7.4 (46) | def. | Collingwood 1.5 (11) | Ikon Park (crowd: 24,568) | Report |
| Saturday, 4 February (4:35 pm) | Adelaide 7.6 (48) | def. | Greater Western Sydney 1.6 (12) | Thebarton Oval (crowd: 9,289) | Report |
| Saturday, 4 February (7:35 pm) | Western Bulldogs 6.8 (44) | def. | Fremantle 1.6 (12) | VU Whitten Oval (crowd: 10,100) | Report |
| Sunday, 5 February (5:05 pm) | Melbourne 1.4 (10) | def. by | Brisbane 4.1 (25) | Casey Fields (crowd: 6,500) | Report |
| A lockout was declared during the first quarter of the Carlton and Collingwood match, with the Victorian Police requesting the gates to be closed for safety reasons. The crowd of 24,568 set an all-time record for attendance at a stand-alone women's sports event in Australia, exceeded only by the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games for crowds at women's sports. ||||||

### Round 2

| | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | | |
| Friday, 10 February (7:35 pm) | Western Bulldogs 2.11 (23) | def. by | Adelaide 7.6 (48) | VU Whitten Oval (crowd: 7,669) | Report |
| Saturday, 11 February (3:35 pm) | Carlton 7.5 (47) | def. | Greater Western Sydney 5.4 (34) | Ikon Park (crowd: 7,884) | Report |
| Saturday, 11 February (7:40 pm) | Collingwood 4.1 (25) | def. by | Melbourne 7.2 (44) | Ikon Park (crowd: 6,916) | Report |
| Sunday, 12 February (4:05 pm) | Fremantle 3.5 (23) | def. by | Brisbane 5.6 (36) | Fremantle Oval (crowd: 10,000) | Report |
| Due to higher than expected attendances in the first round, the match between Collingwood and Melbourne was moved from Olympic Park Oval to Ikon Park. ||||||

### Round 3

| | Round 3 | Round 3 | Round 3 | | |
| Saturday, 18 February (12:05 pm) | Greater Western Sydney 7.1 (43) | drew with | Fremantle 6.7 (43) | Blacktown ISP Oval (crowd: 4,000) | Report |
| Saturday, 18 February (3:35 pm) | Brisbane 4.3 (27) | def. | Collingwood 3.5 (23) | South Pine Sports Complex (crowd: 5,500) | Report |
| Saturday, 18 February (7:35 pm) | Western Bulldogs 4.5 (29) | def. by | Melbourne 6.7 (43) | VU Whitten Oval (crowd: 8,000) | Report |
| Sunday, 19 February (11:35 am) | Adelaide 2.5 (17) | def. | Carlton 2.2 (14) | Thebarton Oval (crowd: 9,006) | Report |
| Greater Western Sydney's draw with Fremantle was the first draw in AFL Women's history. ||||||

### Round 4

| | Round 4 | Round 4 | Round 4 | | |
| Saturday, 25 February (11:35 am) | Melbourne 6.6 (42) | def. | Carlton 5.6 (36) | Casey Fields (crowd: 3,965) | Report |
| Saturday, 25 February (3:35 pm) | Brisbane 6.7 (43) | def. | Greater Western Sydney 1.3 (9) | South Pine Sports Complex (crowd: 3,500) | Report |
| Saturday, 25 February (7:10 pm) | Western Bulldogs 3.7 (25) | def. by | Collingwood 5.2 (32) | VU Whitten Oval (crowd: 6,733) | Report |
| Sunday, 26 February (4:05 pm) | Fremantle 3.5 (23) | def. by | Adelaide 6.10 (46) | Fremantle Oval (crowd: 4,578) | Report |

### Round 5

| | Round 5 | Round 5 | Round 5 | | |
| Friday, 3 March (5:05 pm) | Greater Western Sydney 3.2 (20) | def. | Melbourne 1.9 (15) | Blacktown ISP Oval (crowd: 2,000) | Report |
| Saturday, 4 March (11:35 am) | Carlton 8.6 (54) | def. | Western Bulldogs 7.6 (48) | Ikon Park (crowd: 6,833) | Report |
| Saturday, 4 March (10:35 am) | Fremantle 4.7 (31) | def. by | Collingwood 5.2 (32) | Rushton Park (crowd: 2,800) | Report |
| Saturday, 4 March (6:40 pm) | Adelaide 4.6 (30) | def. by | Brisbane 5.3 (33) | Norwood Oval (crowd: 12,108) | Report |

### Round 6

| | Round 6 | Round 6 | Round 6 | | |
| Friday, 10 March (3:05 pm) | Fremantle 6.7 (43) | def. | Carlton 4.3 (27) | Domain Stadium (crowd: 1,200) | Report |
| Saturday, 11 March (10:05 am) | Brisbane 2.11 (23) | def. | Western Bulldogs 2.4 (16) | South Pine Sports Complex (crowd: 4,200) | Report |
| Saturday, 11 March (5:40 pm) | Adelaide 5.2 (32) | def. by | Melbourne 5.4 (34) | TIO Stadium (crowd: 5,100) | Report |
| Sunday, 12 March (11:05 am) | Collingwood 7.13 (55) | def. | Greater Western Sydney 3.1 (19) | Olympic Park Oval (crowd: 2,700) | Report |

### Round 7

| | Round 7 | Round 7 | Round 7 | | |
| Saturday, 18 March (4:35 pm) | Melbourne 11.4 (70) | def. | Fremantle 2.4 (16) | Casey Fields (crowd: 2,500) | Report |
| Saturday, 18 March (7:10 pm) | Greater Western Sydney 3.2 (20) | def. by | Western Bulldogs 7.10 (52) | Manuka Oval (crowd: 6,460) | Report |
| Sunday, 19 March (1:35 pm) | Collingwood 7.4 (46) | def. by | Adelaide 10.10 (70) | Olympic Park Oval (crowd: 2,500) | Report |
| Sunday, 19 March (3:35 pm) | Carlton 6.1 (37) | drew with | Brisbane 5.7 (37) | Ikon Park (crowd: 5,801) | Report |

## Ladder

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Brisbane | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 224 | 148 | 151.4 | 26 | Grand Final |
| 2 | Adelaide (P) | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 291 | 185 | 157.3 | 20 | Grand Final |
| 3 | Melbourne | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 258 | 183 | 141.0 | 20 | |
| 4 | Carlton | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 261 | 232 | 112.5 | 14 | |
| 5 | Collingwood | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 224 | 262 | 85.5 | 12 | |
| 6 | Western Bulldogs | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 237 | 232 | 102.2 | 8 | |
| 7 | Fremantle | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 191 | 298 | 64.1 | 6 | |
| 8 | Greater Western Sydney | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 157 | 303 | 51.8 | 6 | |

## 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.
| | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 1 | Brisbane | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 26 |
| 2 | Adelaide | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 20 |
| 3 | Melbourne | 0 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| 4 | Carlton | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 14 |
| 5 | Collingwood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 12 |
| 6 | Western Bulldogs | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | Fremantle | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| 8 | Greater Western Sydney | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 |

## 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. Brisbane finished as the minor premiers and secured a spot in the grand final at the end of round six; Adelaide's round seven win over Collingwood saw them secure the second spot in the grand final over Melbourne due to a higher percentage. It was confirmed in February by AFL Chief Executive Officer, Gillon McLachlan, 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, 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 Gold Coast versus Brisbane Lions AFL match.
| | 2017 AFL Women's Grand Final | 2017 AFL Women's Grand Final | 2017 AFL Women's Grand Final | | |
| Saturday, 25 March (12:55 pm) | Brisbane 4.5 (29) | def. by | Adelaide 4.11 (35) | Metricon Stadium (crowd: 15,610) | Report |

## Win–loss table

| + | Win | | Qualified for finals |
| - | Loss | X | Bye |
| | Draw | | Eliminated |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | GF | Ladder |
| Adelaide | GWS 36 | WB 25 | Car 3 | Fre 23 | BL 3 | Mel 2 | Col 24 | BL 6 | 1 |
| Brisbane | Mel 15 | Fre 13 | Col 4 | GWS 34 | Ade 3 | WB 7 | Car 0 | Ade 6 | 2 |
| Carlton | Col 35 | GWS 13 | Ade 3 | Mel 6 | WB 6 | Fre 16 | BL 0 | X | 4 |
| Collingwood | Car 35 | Mel 19 | BL 4 | WB 7 | Fre 1 | GWS 36 | Ade 24 | X | 5 |
| Fremantle | WB 32 | BL 13 | GWS 0 | Ade 23 | Col 1 | Car 16 | Mel 54 | X | 7 |
| Greater Western Sydney | Ade 36 | Car 13 | Fre 0 | BL 34 | Mel 5 | Col 36 | WB 32 | X | 8 |
| Melbourne | BL 15 | Col 19 | WB 14 | Car 6 | GWS 5 | Ade 2 | Fre 54 | X | 3 |
| Western Bulldogs | Fre 32 | Ade 25 | Mel 14 | Col 7 | Car 6 | BL 7 | GWS 32 | X | 6 |

## Coach changes

| Club | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| Brisbane | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Craig Starcevich | 22 June 2016 |
| Carlton | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Damien Keeping | 29 June 2016 |
| Fremantle | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Michelle Cowan | 1 July 2016 |
| Greater Western Sydney | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Tim Schmidt | 23 July 2016 |
| Collingwood | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Wayne Siekman | 26 July 2016 |
| Western Bulldogs | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Paul Groves | 23 August 2016 |
| Adelaide | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Bec Goddard | 24 August 2016 |
| Melbourne | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Inaugural coach | Mick Stinear | 15 September 2016 |
| Greater Western Sydney | Tim Schmidt | Resigned | 21 July 2017 | Alan McConnell | 21 July 2017 |

## Club leadership

Table of club coaches, captains and vice-captains :
| Club | Coach | Captain(s) | Vice-captain(s) |
| Adelaide | Bec Goddard | Erin Phillips, Chelsea Randall | Ange Foley, Sally Riley |
| Brisbane | Craig Starcevich | Emma Zielke | — |
| Carlton | Damien Keeping | Lauren Arnell | Brianna Davey, Madeline Keryk |
| Collingwood | Wayne Siekman | Steph Chiocci | Alicia Eva |
| Fremantle | Michelle Cowan | Kara Donnellan | Kirby Bentley, Kiara Bowers |
| Greater Western Sydney | Tim Schmidt | Amanda Farrugia | Emma Swanson |
| Melbourne | Mick Stinear | Daisy Pearce | Melissa Hickey, Elise O'Dea |
| Western Bulldogs | Paul Groves | Katie Brennan | Ellie Blackburn |

## Honours
### Awards

* The league best and fairest was awarded to Erin Phillips of Adelaide, who polled fourteen votes.
* The leading goalkicker was awarded to Darcy Vescio of Carlton, 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 Brisbane.
* The wooden spoon was "awarded" to Greater Western Sydney.
* AFLW Players Association awards
** The most valuable player was awarded to Erin Phillips of Adelaide.
** The most courageous player was awarded to Chelsea Randall of Adelaide.
** The best captain was awarded to Daisy Pearce of Melbourne.

#### Best and fairest

Table of club best and fairest award recipients :
| Club | Award name | Player |
| Adelaide | Club Champion | Erin Phillips |
| Brisbane | — | Emily Bates |
| Carlton | — | Brianna Davey |
| Collingwood | — | Nicola Stevens |
| Fremantle | — | Dana Hooker |
| Greater Western Sydney | Gabrielle Trainor Medal | Jessica Dal Pos |
| Melbourne | — | Daisy Pearce |
| Western Bulldogs | Susan Alberti Award | Ellie Blackburn |
| Western Bulldogs | Susan Alberti Award | Emma Kearney |

#### AFLW leading goalkicker

* Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the season's goal kicking tally at the end of that round.
| | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Total |
| 1 | Darcy Vescio | 4$_4$ | 2$_6$ | 1$_7$ | 1$_8$ | 3$_{11}$ | 3$_{14}$ | 0$_{14}$ | 14 |
| 2 | Sarah Perkins | 1$_1$ | 2$_3$ | 0$_3$ | 1$_4$ | 2$_6$ | 1$_7$ | 4$_{11}$ | 11 |
| 3 | Kate McCarthy | 1$_1$ | 0$_1$ | 2$_3$ | 2$_5$ | 2$_7$ | 1$_8$ | 1$_8$ | 9 |
| 3 | Alyssa Mifsud | 0$_0$ | 1$_1$ | 3$_4$ | 2$_6$ | 0$_6$ | 1$_7$ | 2$_9$ | 9 |
| 5 | Erin Phillips | 3$_3$ | 0$_3$ | 1$_4$ | 1$_5$ | 0$_5$ | 0$_5$ | 3$_8$ | 8 |
| 6 | Moana Hope | 0$_0$ | 1$_1$ | 0$_1$ | 1$_2$ | 1$_3$ | 2$_5$ | 2$_7$ | 7 |
| 6 | Phoebe McWilliams | 1$_1$ | 1$_2$ | 2$_4$ | 0$_4$ | 0$_4$ | 2$_6$ | 1$_7$ | 7 |
| 8 | Jess Cameron | 0$_0$ | 1$_1$ | 1$_2$ | 0$_3$ | 1$_3$ | 1$_4$ | 2$_6$ | 6 |
| 8 | Ellie Blackburn | 1$_1$ | 0$_1$ | 0$_1$ | 1$_2$ | 3$_5$ | 0$_5$ | 1$_6$ | 6 |

#### All-Australian team

The final All-Australian team was announced on 28 March. Grand finalists Adelaide and Brisbane had the most representatives with five each, and every team had at least one representative. Melbourne captain Daisy Pearce was announced as the All-Australian captain and Adelaide co-captain Erin Phillips was announced as the vice-captain.
2017 AFL Women's All-Australian team :
| B: | Nicola Stevens (Collingwood) | Courtney Cramey (Adelaide) | |
| HB: | Chelsea Randall (Adelaide) | Brianna Davey (Carlton) | Karen Paxman (Melbourne) |
| C: | Elise O'Dea (Melbourne) | Daisy Pearce (Melbourne) (captain) | Emma Kearney (Western Bulldogs) |
| HF: | Erin Phillips (Adelaide) (vice-captain) | Sabrina Frederick-Traub (Brisbane) | Ellie Blackburn (Western Bulldogs) |
| F: | Sarah Perkins (Adelaide) | Darcy Vescio (Carlton) | |
| Foll: | Emma King (Collingwood) | Kara Donnellan (Fremantle) | Emily Bates (Brisbane) |
| Int: | Jessica Dal Pos (Greater Western Sydney) | Kate McCarthy (Brisbane) | Ebony Marinoff (Adelaide) |
| Int: | Tayla Harris (Brisbane) | Melissa Hickey (Melbourne) | Sam Virgo (Brisbane) |
| Coach: | Bec Goddard (Adelaide) | Bec Goddard (Adelaide) | Bec Goddard (Adelaide) |

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

### Result

| | AFLW State of Origin | AFLW State of Origin | AFLW State of Origin | | |
| Saturday, 2 September (7:40 pm) | Victoria | def. | Allies | Etihad Stadium (crowd: 9,400) | Report |
| | 0.2.2 (14) 0.8.5 (53) 0.11.7 (73) 0.17.11 (113) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 0.1.1 (7) 0.2.2 (14) 0.2.2 (14) 0.2.4 (16) | Umpires: Bryce, Cheever, Rodger Best on ground: Daisy Pearce Television broadcast: Network Seven, Fox Footy | Umpires: Bryce, Cheever, Rodger Best on ground: Daisy Pearce Television broadcast: Network Seven, Fox Footy |
| Super goals: Nil Garner 5, Blackburn 3, Ashmore 2, Eva, Lambert, Paxman, Kearney, Pearce, D'Arcy, Hope | Super goals: Nil Garner 5, Blackburn 3, Ashmore 2, Eva, Lambert, Paxman, Kearney, Pearce, D'Arcy, Hope | Goals | Super goals: Nil Harris, Wuetschner | Super goals: Nil Harris, Wuetschner |
| Pearce, Paxman, Donnellan, Garner, Eva, Kearney, Blackburn | Pearce, Paxman, Donnellan, Garner, Eva, Kearney, Blackburn | Best | King, Bates, Antonio, Brennan, Marinoff | King, Bates, Antonio, Brennan, Marinoff |
| Lambert (hip) | Lambert (hip) | Injuries | Harris (knee), Zielke (ribs), Randall (thigh), Bentley (knee) | Harris (knee), Zielke (ribs), Randall (thigh), Bentley (knee) |
| Nil | Nil | Reports | Nil | Nil |