# 2022 VFL Women's season

The 2022 VFL Women's season was the sixth season of the VFL Women's (VFLW). The season commenced on 12 February and concluded with the grand final on 3 July. Essendon went through the season undefeated and won its first VFLW premiership, defeating the Southern Saints by 35 points in the grand final; this resulted in the first completed VFLW season since 2019 after COVID-19 disruptions affected the previous two seasons.
The season consisted of 14 games for each of the 12 clubs, all of whom returned from the 2021 VFL Women's season. For the first time, all matches were available to watch via the AFL website/app or the VFL/VFLW YouTube channel.

## Clubs

* Carlton, Casey, Collingwood, Darebin, Essendon, Geelong Cats, Hawthorn
* North Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Southern Saints, Western Bulldogs, Williamstown

## Ladder

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Essendon (P) | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 906 | 250 | 362.4 | 52 | Finals series |
| 2 | Hawthorn | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 798 | 220 | 362.7 | 50 | Finals series |
| 3 | Casey | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 701 | 331 | 211.8 | 44 | Finals series |
| 4 | Geelong Cats | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 581 | 366 | 158.7 | 40 | Finals series |
| 5 | Southern Saints | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 537 | 424 | 126.7 | 38 | Finals series |
| 6 | Collingwood | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 450 | 499 | 90.2 | 28 | Finals series |
| 7 | North Melbourne | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 412 | 557 | 74.0 | 24 | |
| 8 | Darebin | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 307 | 568 | 54.0 | 20 | |
| 9 | Carlton | 14 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 392 | 599 | 65.4 | 18 | |
| 10 | Port Melbourne | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 305 | 662 | 46.1 | 12 | |
| 11 | Williamstown | 14 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 363 | 541 | 67.1 | 10 | |
| 12 | Western Bulldogs | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 144 | 879 | 16.4 | 0 | |

## Finals series

Match-ups set using the second McIntyre final six system.
| Qualifying final | Qualifying final | Qualifying final | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final |
| June 11, Windy Hill | June 11, Windy Hill | June 11, Windy Hill | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | Essendon | 8.12 (60) | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Hawthorn | 1.1 (7) | June 19, Windy Hill | June 19, Windy Hill | June 19, Windy Hill | | | | July 3, ETU Stadium | July 3, ETU Stadium | July 3, ETU Stadium |
| | | | Essendon | Essendon | 11.10 (76) | | | | Essendon | Essendon | 6.6 (42) |
| Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Casey | Casey | 1.3 (9) | June 26, ETU Stadium | June 26, ETU Stadium | June 26, ETU Stadium | Southern Saints | Southern Saints | 0.7 (7) |
| June 12, Casey Fields | June 12, Casey Fields | June 12, Casey Fields | | | | Casey | Casey | 2.3 (15) | | | |
| 3 | Casey | 7.3 (45) | June 19, Box Hill City Oval | June 19, Box Hill City Oval | June 19, Box Hill City Oval | Southern Saints | Southern Saints | 5.5 (35) | | | |
| 6 | Collingwood | 1.4 (10) | Hawthorn | Hawthorn | 6.3 (39) | | | | | | |
| June 11, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds | June 11, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds | June 11, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds | Southern Saints | Southern Saints | 8.7 (55) | | | | | | |
| 4 | Geelong Cats | 2.6 (18) | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Southern Saints | 4.2 (26) | | | | | | | | | |

### Qualifying and elimination finals

| | Qualifying final | Qualifying final | Qualifying final | | |
| Saturday, 11 June (11:05 am) | Essendon 8.12 (60) | def. | Hawthorn 1.1 (7) | Windy Hill | Report |
| | Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Elimination finals | | |
| Saturday, 11 June (1:05 pm) | Geelong Cats 2.6 (18) | def. by | Southern Saints 4.2 (26) | Deakin University Elite Sports Precinct | Report |
| Sunday, 12 June (11:35 am) | Casey 7.3 (45) | def. | Collingwood 1.4 (10) | Casey Fields | Report |

### Semi finals

| | Semi finals | Semi finals | Semi finals | | |
| Sunday, 19 June (11:05 am) | Essendon 11.10 (76) | def. | Casey 1.3 (9) | Windy Hill | Report |
| Sunday, 19 June (1:05 pm) | Hawthorn 6.3 (39) | def. by | Southern Saints 8.7 (55) | Box Hill City Oval | Report |

### Preliminary final

| | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | | |
| Sunday, 26 June (4:05 pm) | Casey 2.3 (15) | def. by | Southern Saints 5.5 (35) | ETU Stadium | Report |

### Grand final

| | 2022 VFLW Grand Final | 2022 VFLW Grand Final | 2022 VFLW Grand Final | | |
| Sunday, 3 July (12:15 pm) | Essendon | def. | Southern Saints | ETU Stadium | Report |
| | 2.2 (14) 4.3 (27) 6.6 (42) 6.6 (42) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 0.0 (0) 0.4 (4) 0.4 (4) 0.7 (7) | Lisa Hardeman Medal: Alana Barba (Essendon) Television broadcast: Seven Network | Lisa Hardeman Medal: Alana Barba (Essendon) Television broadcast: Seven Network |
| Frew, Tierney 2 Doonan, Nalder 1 | Frew, Tierney 2 Doonan, Nalder 1 | Goals | Nil | Nil |
| Barba, Nanscawen, Radford, Tierney | Barba, Nanscawen, Radford, Tierney | Best | Capsalis, Stuart | Capsalis, Stuart |
| Nanscawen (knee) | Nanscawen (knee) | Injuries | Nil | Nil |

## Awards

* Lambert-Pearce Medal (Best and Fairest): Georgia Nanscawen (Essendon) – 33 votes
* Rohenna Young Medal (Leading Goal kicker): Federica Frew (Essendon) – 29 goals
* Debbie Lee Medal (Rising Star): Tahlia Fellows (Casey)
* Coaches MVP: Georgia Nanscawen (Essendon)
* Coach of the Year: Brendan Major (Essendon)
* Lisa Hardeman Medal (Best on ground VFL Women's Grand Final): Alana Barba (Essendon)
2022 VFL Women's Team of the Year :
| B: | Eliza Vale (Western Bulldogs) | Katelyn Lee (Collingwood) | |
| HB: | Grace Buchan (Southern Saints) | Jenna Richardson (Hawthorn) | Nicole Callinan (Darebin) |
| C: | Samantha Johnson (Casey) | Hannah Stuart (Southern Saints) | Winnie Laing (Southern Saints) |
| HF: | Mia-Rae Clifford (c) (Essendon) | Renee Tierney (Essendon) | Tahlia Fellows (Casey) |
| F: | Federica Frew (Essendon) | Tamara Luke (Hawthorn) | |
| Foll: | Elizabeth McGrath (North Melbourne) | Georgia Nanscawen (Essendon) | Laura Gardiner (Geelong Cats) |
| Int: | Amelia Radford (Essendon) | Matilda Zander (Collingwood) | Olivia Barton (Port Melbourne) |
| Int: | Paige Sheppard (Geelong Cats) | Tayla Kearns (Southern Saints) | |
| Coach: | Brendan Major (Essendon) | Brendan Major (Essendon) | Brendan Major (Essendon) |

### Club best and fairest winners

| Club | Best & Fairest |
| Carlton | Millie Klingbeil |
| Casey | Sammie Johnson |
| Collingwood | Matilda Zander |
| Darebin | Nicole Callinan |
| Essendon | Georgia Nanscawen |
| Geelong Cats | Paige Sheppard |
| Hawthorn | Jordan Mifsud |
| North Melbourne | Liz McGrath |
| Port Melbourne | Kaitlyn O'Keefe |
| Southern Saints | Hannah Stuart |
| Western Bulldogs | Eliza Vale |
| Williamstown | Ruby Tripodi |
| Williamstown | Gabrielle Biedenweb-Webster |