# 2023 VFL Women's season

The 2023 VFL Women's season was the seventh season of the VFL Women's (VFLW). The season commenced on 25 March and concluded with the grand final on 30 July.
Port Melbourne won the club's first VFLW premiership defeating Collingwood in the grand final, a week after eliminating defending premiers Essendon in the preliminary final.

## Clubs

There was one change to the competition, with the Hawthorn Football Club transferring their VFL Women's license to Box Hill during the off-season, replicating the club's men's team reserves arrangement in the Australian Football League and Victorian Football League.
Due to ongoing construction work at the Whitten Oval, Western Bulldogs played their home matches at Port Melbourne's ETU Stadium.
| Club | Home ground(s) | Coach | Captain(s) |
| Box Hill | Box Hill City Oval | Cherie O’Neill | Nicole Garner |
| Carlton | Ikon Park | Tom Stafford | Christina Bernardi |
| Casey | Casey Fields | Peter Mercoulia | Ally Kirkwood |
| Collingwood | Victoria Park AIA Centre | Chloe McMillan | Caitlin Bunker |
| Darebin | La Trobe University, Bundoora Preston City Oval | Kate Tyndall | Steph Simpson |
| Essendon | NEC Hangar | Travis Cloke | Mia-Rae Clifford Courtney Ugle |
| Geelong Cats | Deakin University, Waurn Ponds | Elise Coventry | Chloe Leonard |
| North Melbourne | Arden Street Oval | Steph Binder | Jess Jones |
| Port Melbourne | ETU Stadium | Sean Buncle | Claire Dyett |
| Southern Saints | Trevor Barker Beach Oval RSEA Park | Michelle Densley | Tayla Kearns Ali Hynes |
| Western Bulldogs | ETU Stadium | Rhys Cahir | Mary Sandral |
| Williamstown | DSV Stadium | Liam Cavanagh | Erin Meade |

## Ladder

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Collingwood | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 522 | 377 | 138.5 | 36 | Finals series |
| 2 | Port Melbourne (P) | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 450 | 351 | 128.2 | 36 | Finals series |
| 3 | Williamstown | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 471 | 368 | 128.0 | 36 | Finals series |
| 4 | Box Hill | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 444 | 358 | 124.0 | 36 | Finals series |
| 5 | Essendon | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 404 | 387 | 104.4 | 34 | Finals series |
| 6 | Carlton | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 526 | 349 | 150.7 | 32 | Finals series |
| 7 | Southern Saints | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 365 | 334 | 109.3 | 32 | |
| 8 | Geelong Cats | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 402 | 344 | 116.9 | 30 | |
| 9 | North Melbourne | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 410 | 427 | 96.0 | 28 | |
| 10 | Casey | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 505 | 473 | 106.8 | 24 | |
| 11 | Western Bulldogs | 14 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 414 | 488 | 84.8 | 12 | |
| 12 | Darebin | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 188 | 845 | 22.2 | 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 |
| 9 July, Victoria Park | 9 July, Victoria Park | 9 July, Victoria Park | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | Collingwood | 7.6 (48) | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Port Melbourne | 3.4 (22) | 15 July, Victoria Park | 15 July, Victoria Park | 15 July, Victoria Park | | | | 30 July, ETU Stadium | 30 July, ETU Stadium | 30 July, ETU Stadium |
| | | | Collingwood | Collingwood | 3.4 (22) | | | | Collingwood | Collingwood | 3.5 (23) |
| Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Essendon | Essendon | 2.6 (18) | 23 July, ETU Stadium | 23 July, ETU Stadium | 23 July, ETU Stadium | Port Melbourne | Port Melbourne | 5.5 (35) |
| 9 July, DSV Stadium | 9 July, DSV Stadium | 9 July, DSV Stadium | | | | Essendon | Essendon | 1.5 (11) | | | |
| 3 | Williamstown | 2.6 (18) | 16 July, ETU Stadium | 16 July, ETU Stadium | 16 July, ETU Stadium | Port Melbourne | Port Melbourne | 6.5 (41) | | | |
| 6 | Carlton | 3.4 (22) | Port Melbourne | Port Melbourne | 5.7 (37) | | | | | | |
| 8 July, Box Hill City Oval | 8 July, Box Hill City Oval | 8 July, Box Hill City Oval | Carlton | Carlton | 5.6 (36) | | | | | | |
| 4 | Box Hill | 3.3 (21) | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Essendon | 4.7 (31) | | | | | | | | | |

### Qualifying and elimination finals

| | Qualifying final | Qualifying final | Qualifying final | | |
| Sunday, 9 July (11:00 am) | Collingwood 7.6 (48) | def. | Port Melbourne 3.4 (22) | Victoria Park | Report |
| | Elimination finals | Elimination finals | Elimination finals | | |
| Saturday, 8 July (11:00 am) | Box Hill 3.3 (21) | def. by | Essendon 4.7 (31) | Box Hill City Oval | Report |
| Sunday, 9 July (4:30 pm) | Williamstown 2.6 (18) | def. by | Carlton 3.4 (22) | DSV Stadium | Report |

### Semi finals

| | Semi finals | Semi finals | Semi finals | | |
| Saturday, 15 July (1:00pm) | Collingwood 3.4 (22) | def. | Essendon 2.6 (18) | Victoria Park | Report |
| Sunday, 16 July (12:00pm) | Port Melbourne 5.7 (37) | def. | Carlton 5.6 (36) | ETU Stadium | Report |

### Preliminary final

| | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | Preliminary final | | |
| Sunday, 23 July (2:00pm) | Essendon 1.5 (11) | def. by | Port Melbourne 6.5 (41) | ETU Stadium | Report |

### Grand Final

| | 2023 VFLW Grand Final | 2023 VFLW Grand Final | 2023 VFLW Grand Final | | |
| Sunday, 30 July (12:10pm) | Collingwood | def. by | Port Melbourne | ETU Stadium | Report |
| | 1.0 (6) 2.4 (16) 3.4 (22) 3.5 (23) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 2.2 (14) 3.2 (20) 4.2 (26) 5.5 (35) | Lisa Hardeman Medal: Lauren Caruso (Port Melbourne) Television broadcast: Seven Network | Lisa Hardeman Medal: Lauren Caruso (Port Melbourne) Television broadcast: Seven Network |
| Nikolitsis 2, Sargent | Nikolitsis 2, Sargent | Goals | Wilson, Frew, Bromage, Borg, Alomes | Wilson, Frew, Bromage, Borg, Alomes |
| Bates, Nikolitsis, Zander, Busch, Hales, Caris, Ricardo | Bates, Nikolitsis, Zander, Busch, Hales, Caris, Ricardo | Best | Caruso, McKellar, Whitehead, Harley, Stutt, Williams, Borg, Hartog, Bromage | Caruso, McKellar, Whitehead, Harley, Stutt, Williams, Borg, Hartog, Bromage |

## Awards

* Lambert–Pearce Medal (Best and Fairest): Jordan Mifsud (Box Hill), Akayla Peterson (Box Hill), Charlotte Simpson (Geelong Cats)
* Rohenna Young Medal (Leading Goal kicker): Sarah Cameron (Williamstown) – 18 goals
* Debbie Lee Medal (Rising Star): Charlotte Simpson (Geelong Cats)
* Coaches MVP: Jessica Bates (Collingwood)
* Coach of the Year: Sean Buncle (Port Melbourne)
* Lisa Hardeman Medal (Best on ground VFL Women's Grand Final): Lauren Caruso (Port Melbourne)
2023 VFL Women's Team of the Year :
| B: | Emily Eaves (Williamstown | Sophie Molan (Essendon) | |
| HB: | Lauren Caruso (Port Melbourne) | Tessa Boyd (Southern Saints) | Ciara Fitzgerald (North Melbourne) |
| C: | Winnie Laing (Southern Saints) | Charlotte Simpson (Geelong Cats) | Audrey Rhodes (North Melbourne) |
| HF: | Dominique Carbone (Western Bulldogs) | Nyakoat Dojiok (Collingwood) | Jordan Mifsud (Box Hill) |
| F: | Maddie Boyd (Box Hill) | Sarah Cameron (Williamstown) | |
| Foll: | Jorja Borg (Western Bulldogs) | Jessica Bates (c) (Collingwood) | Madeleine Di Cosmo (Carlton) |
| Int: | Shannon Danckert (Casey) | Kaitlyn O'Keefe (Port Melbourne) | Akayla Peterson (Box Hill) |
| Int: | Ashlee Thorneycroft (Carlton) | Sharnie Whiting (Williamstown) | |
| Coach: | Sean Buncle (Port Melbourne) | Sean Buncle (Port Melbourne) | Sean Buncle (Port Melbourne) |

### Club best and fairest winners

| Club | Best & Fairest |
| Box Hill | Jordan Mifsud |
| Carlton | Maddie Di Cosmo |
| Carlton | Ashlee Thorneycroft |
| Casey | Shree Fairchild |
| Collingwood | Jessica Bates |
| Darebin | Angelica Gogos |
| Essendon | Sophie Molan |
| Geelong Cats | Charlotte Simpson |
| North Melbourne | Audrey Rhodes |
| Port Melbourne | Lauren Caruso |
| Southern Saints | Winnie Laing |
| Western Bulldogs | Dominique Carbone |
| Western Bulldogs | Jorja Borg |
| Williamstown | Emily Eaves |