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.^[1] 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.^[2]

2022 VFL Women's season
Teams	12
Premiers	Essendon 1st premiership
Minor premiers	Essendon 1st minor premiership
Best and fairest	Georgia Nanscawen Essendon (33 votes)
Leading goalkicker	Federica Frew Essendon (29 goals)
Matches played	91
← 2021 2023 →

The season consisted of 14 games for each of the 12 clubs, all of whom returned from the 2021 VFL Women's season.^[3] For the first time, all matches were available to watch via the AFL website/app or the VFL/VFLW YouTube channel.^[4]

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
3	Casey	14	11	3	0	701	331	211.8	44
4	Geelong Cats	14	10	4	0	581	366	158.7	40
5	Southern Saints	14	9	4	1	537	424	126.7	38
6	Collingwood	14	7	7	0	450	499	90.2	28
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

Source: AFL.com.au
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Finals series

Match-ups set using the second McIntyre final six system.

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

Qualifying and elimination finals

	Qualifying final
Saturday, 11 June (11:05 am)	Essendon 8.12 (60)	def.	Hawthorn 1.1 (7)	Windy Hill	Report

	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
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
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
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
Frew, Tierney 2 Doonan, Nalder 1		Goals	Nil
Barba, Nanscawen, Radford, Tierney		Best	Capsalis, Stuart
Nanscawen (knee)		Injuries	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)^[5]

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)
	Paige Sheppard (Geelong Cats)	Tayla Kearns (Southern Saints)
Coach:	Brendan Major (Essendon)

Club best and fairest winners

Club	Best & Fairest	Ref
Carlton	Millie Klingbeil	[6]
Casey	Sammie Johnson	[7]
Collingwood	Matilda Zander	[8]
Darebin	Nicole Callinan	[9]
Essendon	Georgia Nanscawen	[10]
Geelong Cats	Paige Sheppard	[11]
Hawthorn	Jordan Mifsud	[12]
North Melbourne	Liz McGrath	[13]
Port Melbourne	Kaitlyn O'Keefe	[14]
Southern Saints	Hannah Stuart	[15]
Western Bulldogs	Eliza Vale	[16]
Williamstown	Ruby Tripodi	[17]
	Gabrielle Biedenweb-Webster

See also

• 2022 VFL season