2019 AFL Women's season

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 Geelong and North Melbourne featured for the first time in 2019.

2019 AFL Women's season
Overview
Date	2 February – 31 March 2019
Teams	10
Premiers	Adelaide 2nd premiership
Runners-up	Carlton 1st runners-up result
Best and fairest	Erin Phillips (Adelaide) 19 votes
Leading goalkicker	Stevie-Lee Thompson (Adelaide) 13 goals
Attendance
Matches played	38
Total attendance	251,792 (6,626 per match)
Highest (H&A)	18,429 (round 1, Geelong v Collingwood)
Highest (finals)	53,034 (grand final, Adelaide v Carlton)
← 2018 2020 →

Adelaide won the premiership, defeating Carlton 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, Geelong and North Melbourne, joined the competition, bringing the total number of teams to ten. The North Melbourne team has a strong Tasmanian focus; some players were based in Tasmania and some home games were held in the state. The introduction of the new teams was the first stage of a two-year expansion that took the league to fourteen teams for the 2020 season.^[1]

Expansion of AFL Women's

Club	Entry in 2017		Entry in 2019/20			Entry in 2022 (S7)
	Placed bid	Granted entry	Placed bid	Granted entry		Placed bid	Granted entry
				2019	2020
Adelaide	Yes	Yes	—
Brisbane	Yes	Yes	—
Carlton	Yes	Yes	—
Collingwood	Yes	Yes	—
Essendon	No	—	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Fremantle	Yes	Yes	—
Geelong	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	—
Gold Coast	No	—	Yes	No	Yes	—
Greater Western Sydney	Yes	Yes	—
Hawthorn	No	—	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Melbourne	Yes	Yes	—
North Melbourne	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	—
Port Adelaide	No	—	No	—	—	Yes	Yes
Richmond	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	—
St Kilda	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	—
Sydney	No	—	No	—	—	Yes	Yes
West Coast	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	—
Western Bulldogs	Yes	Yes	—

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] Due to the conference system, as of 2024, this remains the only season where the North Melbourne team did not make the finals (despite a 5-2 record).

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

Pool B
Team	Stadium(s)	Capacity
Brisbane	MBC Sports Complex Hickey Park	8,000 4,000
Greater Western Sydney	Drummoyne Oval Blacktown ISP Oval UNSW Canberra Oval	6,000 10,000 16,000
Collingwood	Victoria Park Morwell Reserve Marvel Stadium	15,000 12,000 56,347
Carlton	Ikon Park	24,568
Geelong	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 1

	Round 1
Saturday, 2 February (6:40 pm)	Geelong 3.6 (24)	def.	Collingwood 3.5 (23)	GMHBA Stadium (crowd: 18,429)	Report
Saturday, 2 February (8:10 pm)	Adelaide 1.11 (17)	def. by	Western Bulldogs 2.6 (18)	Norwood Oval (crowd: 7,830)	Report
Sunday, 3 February (1:05 pm)	North Melbourne 7.10 (52)	def.	Carlton 2.4 (16)	North Hobart Oval (crowd: 4,896)	Report
Sunday, 3 February (3:05 pm)	Melbourne 8.7 (55)	def. by	Fremantle 9.5 (59)	Casey Fields (crowd: 1,800)	Report
Sunday, 3 February (4:05 pm)	Brisbane 4.5 (29)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 4.3 (27)	Moreton Bay Sports Complex (crowd: 2,850)	Report

Round 2

	Round 2
Friday, 8 February (7:15 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 2.11 (23)	def. by	North Melbourne 7.6 (48)	Drummoyne Oval (crowd: 1,365)	Report
Saturday, 9 February (4:45 pm)	Collingwood 1.3 (9)	def. by	Melbourne 3.8 (26)	Victoria Park (crowd: 7,228)	Report
Saturday, 9 February (7:15 pm)	Western Bulldogs 5.4 (34)	def.	Geelong 2.4 (16)	VU Whitten Oval (crowd: 8,612)	Report
Sunday, 10 February (4:05 pm)	Carlton 7.2 (44)	def. by	Adelaide 9.3 (57)	Ikon Park (crowd: 3,150)	Report
Sunday, 10 February (3:05 pm)	Fremantle 10.7 (67)	def.	Brisbane 6.4 (40)	Fremantle Oval (crowd: 6,007)	Report

Round 3

	Round 3
Friday, 15 February (7:15 pm)	North Melbourne 8.5 (53)	def.	Western Bulldogs 3.4 (22)	University of Tasmania Stadium (crowd: 3,123)	Report
Saturday, 16 February (4:45 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 5.6 (36)	def. by	Carlton 10.5 (65)	Blacktown ISP Oval (crowd: 3,823)	Report
Saturday, 16 February (4:15 pm)	Fremantle 7.9 (51)	def.	Collingwood 2.6 (18)	Fremantle Oval (crowd: 5,443)	Report
Sunday, 17 February (2:05 pm)	Adelaide 10.6 (66)	def.	Geelong 6.1 (37)	Norwood Oval (crowd: 4,433)	Report
Sunday, 17 February (3:35 pm)	Brisbane 3.3 (21)	def. by	Melbourne 9.6 (60)	Hickey Park (crowd: 5,453)	Report

Round 4

	Round 4
Saturday, 23 February (4:45 pm)	Geelong 2.7 (19)	def.	Carlton 1.8 (14)	GMHBA Stadium (crowd: 7,060)	Report
Saturday, 23 February (7:15 pm)	Western Bulldogs 2.5 (17)	def. by	Brisbane 7.7 (49)	VU Whitten Oval (crowd: 6,541)	Report
Saturday, 23 February (8:05 pm)	Adelaide 9.11 (65)	def.	Fremantle 3.5 (23)	TIO Stadium (crowd: 1,734)	Report
Sunday, 24 February (2:05 pm)	Collingwood 4.3 (27)	def. by	Greater Western Sydney 5.6 (36)	Morwell Recreation Reserve (crowd: 1,743)	Report
Sunday, 24 February (4:05 pm)	Melbourne 5.4 (34)	def. by	North Melbourne 6.2 (38)	Casey Fields (crowd: 4,227)	Report

Round 5

	Round 5
Saturday, 2 March (3:45 pm)	Brisbane 1.2 (8)	def. by	Geelong 5.5 (35)	Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex (crowd: 2,800)	Report
Saturday, 2 March (7:15 pm)	Carlton 4.10 (34)	def.	Collingwood 4.5 (29)	Ikon Park (crowd: 3,215)	Report
Sunday, 3 March (2:05 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 2.6 (18)	def. by	Melbourne 8.9 (57)	Blacktown ISP Oval (crowd: 1,576)	Report
Sunday, 3 March (4:05 pm)	North Melbourne 4.5 (29)	def. by	Adelaide 10.4 (64)	Avalon Airport Oval (crowd: 2,107)	Report
Sunday, 3 March (3:05 pm)	Fremantle 8.4 (52)	def.	Western Bulldogs 5.4 (34)	Fremantle Oval (crowd: 4,785)	Report

Round 6

	Round 6
Saturday, 9 March (2:35 pm)	Geelong 2.1 (13)	def. by	Fremantle 6.13 (49)	GMHBA Stadium (crowd: 4,125)	Report
Saturday, 9 March (4:45 pm)	Collingwood 5.1 (31)	def. by	North Melbourne 7.11 (53)	Marvel Stadium (crowd: 10,612)	Report
Saturday, 9 March (7:15 pm)	Western Bulldogs 6.2 (38)	def. by	Melbourne 5.9 (39)	Marvel Stadium (crowd: 10,612)	Report
Sunday, 10 March (1:35 pm)	Adelaide 9.5 (59)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 4.3 (27)	Unley Oval (crowd: 7,725)	Report
Sunday, 10 March (4:05 pm)	Carlton 6.7 (43)	def.	Brisbane 4.3 (27)	Ikon Park (crowd: 2,900)	Report

Round 7

	Round 7
Friday, 15 March (7:15 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 6.5 (41)	def.	Geelong 1.4 (10)	UNSW Canberra Oval (crowd: 4,524)	Report
Saturday, 16 March (4:45 pm)	Melbourne 1.2 (8)	def. by	Adelaide 10.8 (68)	Casey Fields (crowd: 2,239)	Report
Saturday, 16 March (4:15 pm)	Fremantle 7.10 (52)	def.	North Melbourne 4.1 (25)	Fremantle Oval (crowd: 6,386)	Report
Sunday, 17 March (2:05 pm)	Collingwood 3.7 (25)	def.	Brisbane 2.7 (19)	Victoria Park (crowd: 2,030)	Report
Sunday, 17 March (4:05 pm)	Western Bulldogs 5.8 (38)	def. by	Carlton 6.5 (41)	VU Whitten Oval (crowd: 9,609)	Report

Ladders

Conference A Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts Qualification 1 Adelaide 7 6 1 0 396 186 212.9 24 Preliminary finals 2 Fremantle 7 6 1 0 353 250 141.2 24 3 North Melbourne 7 5 2 0 298 242 123.1 20 4 Melbourne 7 4 3 0 279 251 111.2 16 5 Western Bulldogs 7 2 5 0 201 267 75.3 8 Source: womens.afl Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for. Conference B Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts Qualification 1 Carlton 7 4 3 0 257 258 99.6 16 Preliminary finals 2 Geelong 7 3 4 0 154 235 65.5 12 3 Greater Western Sydney 7 2 5 0 208 295 70.5 8 4 Brisbane 7 2 5 0 193 274 70.4 8 5 Collingwood 7 1 6 0 162 243 66.7 4 Source: womens.afl Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.

Progression by round

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

Conference A Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7   1 Adelaide 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 2 Fremantle 4 8 12 12 16 20 24 3 North Melbourne 4 8 12 16 16 20 20 4 Melbourne 0 4 8 8 12 16 16 5 Western Bulldogs 4 8 8 8 8 8 8

Conference B Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7   1 Carlton 0 0 4 4 8 12 16 2 Geelong 4 4 4 8 12 12 12 3 Greater Western Sydney 0 0 0 4 4 4 8 4 Brisbane 4 4 4 8 8 8 8 5 Collingwood 0 0 0 0 0 0 4

Finals series

	Preliminary finals				Grand final
	March 24, Adelaide Oval
	Adelaide	11.7 (73)
					March 31, Adelaide Oval
	Geelong	1.1 (7)
					Adelaide	10.3 (63)
	March 23, Ikon Park
					Carlton	2.6 (18)
	Carlton	9.10 (64)
	Fremantle	4.4 (28)

Preliminary finals

	Preliminary finals
Saturday, 23 March (2.45 pm)	Carlton 9.10 (64)	def.	Fremantle 4.4 (28)	Ikon Park (crowd: 7,146)	Report
Sunday, 24 March (12.40 pm)	Adelaide 11.7 (73)	def.	Geelong 1.1 (7)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 13,429)	Report

Grand final

Main article: 2019 AFL Women's Grand Final

	Grand final
Sunday, 31 March (12:30 pm)	Adelaide 10.3 (63)	def.	Carlton 2.6 (18)	Adelaide Oval (crowd: 53,034)	Report

Win–loss table

+	Win		Qualified for finals
-	Loss	X	Bye
	Draw		Eliminated

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	PF	GF	Ladder
Adelaide	WB 1	Car 13	Gee 29	Fre 42	NM 35	GWS 32	Melb 60	Gee 66	Car 45	A1
Brisbane	GWS 2	Fre 27	Melb 39	WB 32	Gee 27	Carl 16	Coll 6	X	X	B4
Carlton	NM 36	Adel 13	GWS 29	Geel 5	Coll 5	BL 16	WB 3	Fre 36	Ade 45	B1
Collingwood	Geel 1	Melb 17	Fre 33	GWS 9	Carl 5	NM 22	BL 6	X	X	B5
Fremantle	Melb 4	BL 27	Coll 33	Adel 42	WB 18	Gee 36	NM 27	Carl 36	X	A2
Geelong	Coll 1	WB 18	Adel 29	Carl 5	BL 27	Fre 36	GWS 31	Adel 66	X	B2
Greater Western Sydney	BL 2	NM 25	Carl 29	Coll 9	Melb 39	Adel 32	Geel 31	X	X	B3
Melbourne	Fre 4	Col 17	BL 39	NM 4	GWS 39	WB 1	Adel 60	X	X	A4
North Melbourne	Carl 36	GWS 25	WB 31	Melb 4	Adel 35	Coll 22	Fre 27	X	X	A3
Western Bulldogs	Adel 1	Geel 18	NM 31	BL 32	Fre 18	Melb 1	Carl 3	X	X	A5

Attendances

By club

2019 AFL Women's attendances

Club	Total	Games	Avg. per game	Home total	Home games	Home avg.
Adelaide	29,218	7	4,174	21,722	4	5,431
Brisbane	24,555	6	4,093	7,077	2	3,539
Carlton	34,653	7	4,950	9,265	3	3,088
Collingwood	48,700	7	6,957	21,613	4	5,403
Fremantle	30,280	7	4,326	22,621	4	5,655
Geelong	47,183	6	7,864	29,614	3	9,871
Greater Western Sydney	23,147	7	3,307	11,279	4	2,820
Melbourne	31,900	7	4,557	8,266	3	2,755
North Melbourne	32,716	7	4,674	10,126	3	3,375
Western Bulldogs	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 Adelaide, 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 Adelaide had five players selected, with nine of the league's 10 clubs represented in the final team by at least one player.^[18]
• Collingwood 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.
Adelaide	Club Champion	Erin Phillips	[19]
Brisbane	Best and fairest	Ally Anderson	[20]
Carlton	Best and fairest	Brianna Davey	[21]
		Madison Prespakis
Collingwood	Best and fairest	Jaimee Lambert	[22]
Fremantle	Fairest and best	Kiara Bowers	[19]
Geelong	Best and fairest	Meg McDonald	[19]
Greater Western Sydney	Gabrielle Trainor Medal	Rebecca Beeson	[19]
Melbourne	Best and fairest	Karen Paxman	[19]
North Melbourne	Best and fairest	Jenna Bruton	[19]
Western Bulldogs	Best and fairest	Monique Conti	[23]

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	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
North Melbourne	Inaugural coach			Scott Gowans[24]	24 October 2017
Geelong	Inaugural coach			Paul Hood[25]	23 February 2018
Collingwood	Wayne Siekman	Sacked[26]	4 April 2019	Stephen Symonds[27]	4 June 2019
Western Bulldogs	Paul Groves	Resigned[28]	17 June 2019	Nathan Burke[29]	19 September 2019

Club leadership

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

See also

• 2018 AFL Women's draft