2023 AFL Women's season

The 2023 AFL Women's season was the eighth season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 1 September to 3 December, comprising a ten-round home-and-away season followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top eight clubs.

2023 AFL Women's season
Brisbane players celebrate after winning the 2023 AFL Women's Grand Final
Overview
Date	1 September – 3 December 2023
Teams	18
Premiers	Brisbane 2nd premiership
Runners-up	North Melbourne 1st runners-up result
Minor premiers	Adelaide 3rd minor premiership
Best and fairest	Monique Conti (Richmond) 23 votes
Leading goalkicker	Kate Hore (Melbourne) Eden Zanker (Melbourne) 20 goals
Attendance
Matches played	99
Total attendance	284,122 (2,870 per match)
Highest (H&A)	8,722 (round 1, Adelaide v Port Adelaide)
Highest (finals)	12,616 (grand final, North Melbourne v Brisbane)
← 2022 (S7) 2024 →

Brisbane won the premiership, defeating North Melbourne by 17 points in the 2023 AFL Women's Grand Final. Adelaide won the minor premiership by finishing atop the home-and-away ladder with a 9–1 win–loss record, but was eliminated by North Melbourne in the preliminary finals. Richmond's Monique Conti won the AFL Women's best and fairest award as the league's best and fairest player, and Melbourne teammates Kate Hore and Eden Zanker tied for the AFL Women's leading goalkicker award as the league's leading goalkickers.

Background

Essendon players take the field prior to the club's match against St Kilda at Windy Hill; the match marked Essendon's first top-level match at its spiritual home since 1991.^[1]

In March 2023, Australian Football League (AFL) general manager of football operations Andrew Dillon announced that the season would begin on the first weekend of September, coinciding with the AFL's pre-finals bye weekend, though neither the season length nor a specific start date was confirmed.^[2] A pre-season start date of 29 May was announced,^[2] though AFL Players Association (AFLPA) chief executive officer Paul Marsh stated that AFLW players and the AFL were "a long way apart" on agreeing to the 2023 season's length and structure as part of a joint AFL-AFLW collective bargaining agreement.^[3]

Following the end of season 7, the AFL announced that female players would be exempt from wearing white shorts as part of their away uniforms in the AFL Women's, VFL Women's and other AFL-managed female talent pathways from 2023 onwards to ease anxiety and reduce barriers for players who are menstruating.^[4] For away matches, teams would instead wear home shorts or an AFL-approved alternate coloured set for clash uniforms.^[5] In June, several other rules and rule adjustments were announced for the upcoming season:^[6]

• Quarter lengths were increased to 15 minutes plus time-on for goals or major injuries only, with time-on in the final two minutes also allowed for stoppages.
• The quarter-time and three-quarter-time intervals were reduced in length from six minutes and 30 seconds to six minutes, and the half-time interval was reduced in length from 16 minutes to 14 minutes.
• Boundary throw-ins between the 50-metre arcs were moved ten metres inwards from the boundary line.
• An interchange cap of 60 player rotations per team per match was introduced, with clubs permitted to use interchange boards to convey messages, as was commonplace in the AFL.
• Runners were only permitted to enter the field three times per quarter, for a maximum of 90 seconds on each occasion, until the last three minutes of each quarter.
• A two-year rollover period was introduced for reportable and fixed-financial offences committed by players, resulting in fine amounts increasing if a player commits the same offence more than once in the previous two years, rather than only within the current season.

The 2023 season fixture was released in July.^[7] Leading into the season, reigning premier Melbourne was the favourite to win the premiership, with publications such as Fox Sports^[8] and ESPN predicting that Melbourne would win its second consecutive premiership,^[9] and 14 of the 18 club captains tipping Melbourne as the team most likely to reach the grand final outside of their own.^[10] In August, the AFL announced that the AFLW's prize money would rise from $623,922 to $1.1 million for the upcoming season, matching the prize money for the men's competition, however the money would be split across the season's top eight teams, while the AFL's would be split between its top four teams.^[11] The league had announced earlier in the year that the McClelland Trophy, which was first awarded in 1951 and had been awarded to the AFL's minor premiers since 1991, would be revamped to incorporate both AFL and AFLW results,^[a] with an additional $1 million prize money awarded to the winning club.^[13]

Overview

North Melbourne and Brisbane players contest the football during the 2023 AFL Women's Grand Final

The season began on 1 September with a match between Melbourne and Collingwood, where Melbourne unveiled its season 7 premiership flag,^[14] and concluded on 3 December with the 2023 AFL Women's Grand Final.^[15] All matches throughout the season were broadcast live on the Seven Network and Fox Footy, and could be streamed via Kayo and the official AFLW website and app.^[16] The season featured ten home-and-away rounds and four weeks of finals, as was the case in season 7, with the final round released as a floating fixture to be determined later in the season.^[15] Adelaide won the minor premiership,^[17] while Melbourne won the McClelland Trophy as the best-performed club across the AFL and AFLW seasons despite neither of its teams reaching a grand final.^[18]

With several larger-capacity venues unavailable in December due to cricket,^[b] potential grand final venues were finalised for all 18 clubs at the time of the fixture release in July, unlike in season 7 when potential venues were only finalised nine days before the grand final.^[15] North Melbourne went on to win hosting rights for the grand final as the highest-seeded^[c] preliminary final winner,^[22] meaning that the grand final would be held in Victoria for the first time since 2018; the grand final was held at Ikon Park, with tickets selling out within three hours.^[23] Marvel Stadium, which could accommodate an additional 40,000 spectators, was overlooked after its turf was deemed unsuitable for matches.^[d] Brisbane defeated North Melbourne by 17 points in the grand final to win its second AFL Women's premiership.^[24]

Port Adelaide captain Erin Phillips announced her playing retirement towards the end of the season.

During the season, the AFL and AFLPA agreed to a five-year, $2.26 billion collective bargaining agreement through to the end of 2027, marking the first joint agreement between AFL and AFLW players; 99.7% of AFLW players agreed to the deal, which included the following changes:^[25]

• AFLW player payments would increase by 29% for the current season (to an average wage of $60,000^[26]), with the average wage to increase to $82,000 by 2027.
• Clubs would play eleven home-and-away matches in 2024, with further increases (to as many as 14 matches in 2027) dependent on the competition reaching certain performance metrics (average match attendance of 6,000 and average TV audience of 100,000^[27]).
• A twelve-month pregnancy policy which would commence from six weeks before a player's due date.
• A $60 million investment into injury hardship allowances and concussion funds over the length of the agreement.

The season's Indigenous Round was held during rounds 7 and 8, with all 18 teams wearing specially designed guernseys across the two weeks.^[28] The round is held to acknowledge the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls to Australian football and the wider community.^[29] Former player, umpire and Northern Territory women's football pioneer Ebony Abbott-McCormack was the 2023 edition's honoree.^[30] Three clubs rebranded themselves as Indigenous names across the two weeks of Indigenous Round: Fremantle as Walyalup, the traditional name for the Noongar country around Fremantle; Melbourne as Narrm, the traditional name for Melbourne in the Woiwurrung language; and Port Adelaide as Yartapuulti, the traditional name the Kaurna people gave the land around the Port River.^[31]

Hawthorn coach Bec Goddard, pictured during her time as Adelaide coach, retired from coaching at the end of the season.

Leading into the season, the AFL announced its intention to focus on "heartland venues", preferring to fill smaller venues rather than struggle to fill larger ones, despite recording a decline of 60% in attendance figures from the inaugural season in 2017 to season 7.^[32] The league recorded a cumulative attendance of 43,431 in round 1 at an average audience of 4,781 per match, a record for a single round since matches became ticketed in 2021, with the attendance of 8,412 for the match between Melbourne and Collingwood the highest for a season-opening match since 2020.^[32] However, the average attendance dropped to 2,589 per match by the end of the season,^[33] falling short of the minimum attendance required (average of 3,500 per match) to increase to twelve home-and-away rounds for the 2024 season.^[34] Sydney recorded the highest average attendance of any club for the season with 4,637, with its biggest crowd of 5,722 coming in its final home match against Collingwood.^[33] After going winless in season 7, the club's first season in the competition, Sydney would go on to make finals in 2023^[35] and win its first AFLW final in an elimination final against Gold Coast,^[36] before being eliminated by Adelaide in the semi-finals.^[37]

Among the playing retirements in 2023 was three-time premiership player and two-time AFL Women's best and fairest winner Erin Phillips, who played 66 matches for Adelaide and Port Adelaide,^[38] captaining both clubs, and was a three-time AFL Women's All-Australian and two-time grand final best-on-ground winner.^[35] Phillips' first coach at Adelaide, Bec Goddard, who coached Adelaide to the inaugural AFL Women's premiership in 2017 and had more recently coached Hawthorn for its first two seasons, announced her retirement from coaching in November.^[39] Goddard was one of four coaches to depart their respective coaching roles in 2023, with West Coast coach Michael Prior ending his tenure mid-season, Western Bulldogs coach Nathan Burke leaving after a one-win season and Collingwood coach Stephen Symonds parting ways after failing to lead his club to the finals.^[38] During the season, Burke questioned the fitness and professionalism of his players after his team lost its first five matches and criticised AFLW list sizes as too small,^[40] while Prior criticised the AFLW fixturing process after West Coast was fixtured to play against reigning premier Melbourne despite the former's 16th-place finish the previous season and lost by 70 points, before later acknowledging his comments as "unacceptable".^[41] Later in November, AFL general manager of women's football Nicole Livingstone announced her departure from the league following that weekend's grand final after seven seasons in the position; her achievements included the competition's expansion from eight clubs in 2017 to 18 clubs, and the growth of the competition to become the largest employer of female athletes in Australia, with 540 AFLW players on club lists in 2023.^[26]

Coach appointments

New coach	Club	Date of appointment	Previous coach	Ref.
Lisa Webb	Fremantle	10 February 2023	Trent Cooper	[42]
Mathew Buck	Carlton	4 April 2023	Daniel Harford	[43]

Club leadership

Club	Coach	Leadership group
		Captain(s)	Vice-captain(s)	Other leader(s)
Adelaide	Matthew Clarke[44]	Chelsea Randall	Sarah Allan	Eloise Jones, Ebony Marinoff, Stevie-Lee Thompson[45]
Brisbane	Craig Starcevich[46]	Breanna Koenen	Nat Grider	Ally Anderson, Sophie Conway, Belle Dawes, Cathy Svarc[47]
Carlton	Mathew Buck[48]	Kerryn Peterson	Jess Dal Pos, Mimi Hill	Abbie McKay, Breann Moody, Darcy Vescio[49]
Collingwood	Stephen Symonds[50]	Brianna Davey	Brittany Bonnici, Ruby Schleicher	Jordyn Allen, Lauren Butler, Mikala Cann[51]
Essendon	Natalie Wood[52]	Steph Cain, Bonnie Toogood		Georgia Nanscawen, Madison Prespakis, Jacqui Vogt[53]
Fremantle	Lisa Webb[54]	Hayley Miller	Angelique Stannett	Gabby O'Sullivan, Laura Pugh, Aine Tighe[55]
Geelong	Daniel Lowther[56]	Meg McDonald	Nina Morrison	Mikayla Bowen, Chantel Emonson, Becky Webster[57]
Gold Coast	Cameron Joyce[58]	Tara Bohanna	Jacqui Dupuy, Bess Keaney	Claudia Whitfort[59]
Greater Western Sydney	Cameron Bernasconi[60]	Alicia Eva		Rebecca Beeson, Tarni Evans, Georgia Garnett, Alyce Parker, Pepa Randall, Katherine Smith[61]
Hawthorn	Bec Goddard[62]	Tilly Lucas-Rodd	Emily Bates, Jasmine Fleming	Catherine Brown, Tamara Luke, Louise Stephenson[63]
Melbourne	Mick Stinear[64]	Kate Hore	Tyla Hanks	Libby Birch, Rhiannon Watt[65]
North Melbourne	Darren Crocker[66]	Emma Kearney	Nicole Bresnehan, Jasmine Garner	Bella Eddey, Emma King, Ash Riddell, Kate Shierlaw[67]
Port Adelaide	Lauren Arnell[68]	Erin Phillips	Janelle Cuthbertson, Ange Foley	Hannah Dunn, Justine Mules[69]
Richmond	Ryan Ferguson[70]	Katie Brennan	Gabby Seymour	Monique Conti, Sarah Hosking, Tessa Lavey, Rebecca Miller[71]
St Kilda	Nick Dal Santo[72]	Hannah Priest	Bianca Jakobsson	Steph Chiocci, Molly McDonald, Natalie Plane, Nicola Stevens, Hannah Stuart[73]
Sydney	Scott Gowans[74]	Lucy McEvoy, Chloe Molloy[75]
West Coast	Michael Prior[76]	Emma Swanson	Bella Lewis	Dana Hooker, Aisling McCarthy, Jess Sedunary[77]
Western Bulldogs	Nathan Burke[78]	Ellie Blackburn	Bailey Hunt, Kirsty Lamb	Deanna Berry, Gabby Newton[79]

Pre-season

All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au (fixture; results/report)

	Official practice matches
Friday, 18 August (4:05 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 6.7 (43)	def.	Richmond 4.3 (27)	Blacktown ISP Oval
Friday, 18 August (7:10 pm)	Port Adelaide 9.4 (58)	def.	St Kilda 2.10 (22)	Alberton Oval
Saturday, 19 August (10:35 am)	Brisbane 7.8 (50)	def.	Gold Coast 0.2 (2)	Brighton Homes Arena
Saturday, 19 August (12:05 pm)	Western Bulldogs 2.2 (14)	def. by	North Melbourne 11.11 (77)	Arden Street Oval
Saturday, 19 August (11:05 am)	Fremantle 4.7 (31)	def.	Collingwood 4.6 (30)	Victor George Kailis Oval
Saturday, 19 August (1:05 pm)	Sydney 5.8 (38)	def.	Carlton 4.5 (29)	Sydney Cricket Ground
Saturday, 19 August (2:05 pm)	Melbourne 8.16 (64)	def.	Hawthorn 0.6 (6)	Casey Fields
Saturday, 19 August (4:10 pm)	Adelaide 8.8 (56)	def.	Geelong 7.8 (50)	Adelaide Oval
Sunday, 20 August (12:35 pm)	West Coast 6.7 (43)	def.	Essendon 5.4 (34)	Mineral Resources Park

Home-and-away season

All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au

Round 1

	Round 1
Friday, 1 September (7:20 pm)	Melbourne 10.13 (73)	def.	Collingwood 4.7 (31)	Ikon Park (crowd: 8,412)	Report Stats
Saturday, 2 September (1:05 pm)	Carlton 5.4 (34)	def.	Gold Coast 4.8 (32)	Ikon Park (crowd: 3,244)	Report Stats
Saturday, 2 September (2:35 pm)	Adelaide 8.10 (58)	def.	Port Adelaide 4.4 (28)	Norwood Oval (crowd: 8,722)	Report Stats
Saturday, 2 September (5:05 pm)	Geelong 10.5 (65)	def.	Western Bulldogs 2.5 (17)	GMHBA Stadium (crowd: 4,404)	Report Stats
Saturday, 2 September (7:15 pm)	Hawthorn 4.6 (30)	def. by	Essendon 7.7 (49)	Kinetic Stadium (crowd: 3,722)	Report Stats
Sunday, 3 September (1:05 pm)	North Melbourne 8.8 (56)	def.	St Kilda 2.4 (16)	Blundstone Arena (crowd: 2,454)	Report Stats
Sunday, 3 September (3:05 pm)	Brisbane 5.4 (34)	def. by	Richmond 6.4 (40)	Brighton Homes Arena (crowd: 3,153)	Report Stats
Sunday, 3 September (3:05 pm)	Sydney 7.9 (51)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 7.4 (46)	North Sydney Oval (crowd: 5,474)	Report Stats
Sunday, 3 September (3:05 pm)	Fremantle 4.3 (27)	def.	West Coast 2.7 (19)	Fremantle Community Bank Oval (crowd: 3,790)	Report Stats
Sydney's win over Greater Western Sydney was its first AFLW win, after going winless in its inaugural season.[80]

Round 2

	Round 2
Friday, 8 September (5:05 pm)	Richmond 2.0 (12)	def. by	Adelaide 6.5 (41)	Ikon Park (crowd: 1,083)	Report Stats
Saturday, 9 September (11:05 am)	Gold Coast 15.9 (99)	def.	West Coast 4.2 (26)	Heritage Bank Stadium (crowd: 1,071)	Report Stats
Saturday, 9 September (12:35 pm)	Port Adelaide 4.2 (26)	def. by	Brisbane 11.10 (76)	Alberton Oval (crowd: 1,928)	Report Stats
Saturday, 9 September (1:05 pm)	Sydney 5.11 (41)	def. by	Geelong 10.8 (68)	North Sydney Oval (crowd: 2,878)	Report Stats
Sunday, 10 September (1:05 pm)	Western Bulldogs 5.9 (39)	def. by	Hawthorn 6.10 (46)	Mars Stadium (crowd: 1,564)	Report Stats
Sunday, 10 September (1:05 pm)	Collingwood 7.4 (46)	def.	Fremantle 3.7 (25)	Victoria Park (crowd: 1,914)	Report Stats
Sunday, 10 September (3:05 pm)	North Melbourne 10.6 (66)	def.	Carlton 1.0 (6)	Arden Street Oval (crowd: 2,788)	Report Stats
Sunday, 10 September (3:05 pm)	Essendon 6.4 (40)	def.	St Kilda 4.4 (28)	Windy Hill (crowd: 3,195)	Report Stats
Sunday, 10 September (5:05 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 3.4 (22)	def. by	Melbourne 15.9 (99)	Manuka Oval (crowd: 2,028)	Report Stats
Gold Coast's score of 15.9 (99) against West Coast was its highest ever, more than doubling its previous highest score (49), which was surpassed before half-time; Jamie Stanton (Gold Coast) kicked a career-high six goals, in what was also her 50th AFLW match.[81] Gold Coast's winning margin of 73 points over West Coast was its biggest ever, more than doubling its previous biggest win (34 points).[82]

Round 3

	Round 3
Friday, 15 September (5:05 pm)	Geelong 3.4 (22)	def. by	North Melbourne 4.7 (31)	GMHBA Stadium (crowd: 2,907)	Report Stats
Saturday, 16 September (1:35 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 5.4 (34)	def. by	Richmond 7.11 (53)	Blacktown ISP Oval (crowd: 1,051)	Report Stats
Saturday, 16 September (2:35 pm)	Adelaide 12.9 (81)	def.	Essendon 5.4 (34)	Unley Oval (crowd: 2,238)	Report Stats
Saturday, 16 September (3:05 pm)	Melbourne 12.11 (83)	def.	Western Bulldogs 6.5 (41)	Casey Fields (crowd: 1,457)	Report Stats
Saturday, 16 September (3:05 pm)	Fremantle 5.5 (35)	def.	Hawthorn 3.4 (22)	Fremantle Community Bank Oval (crowd: 2,092)	Report Stats
Sunday, 17 September (1:05 pm)	St Kilda 7.6 (48)	def. by	Port Adelaide 8.8 (56)	RSEA Park (crowd: 2,016)	Report Stats
Sunday, 17 September (1:05 pm)	West Coast 3.6 (24)	def. by	Carlton 12.5 (77)	Mineral Resources Park (crowd: 1,208)	Report Stats
Sunday, 17 September (3:05 pm)	Collingwood 2.9 (21)	def. by	Gold Coast 5.3 (33)	Victoria Park (crowd: 2,537)	Report Stats
Sunday, 17 September (5:05 pm)	Brisbane 14.3 (87)	def.	Sydney 4.8 (32)	Brighton Homes Arena (crowd: 2,582)	Report Stats
The start of the Greater Western Sydney v Richmond match was delayed by 30 minutes after a red-bellied black snake was found on the field leading into the match.[83] Melbourne's win over the Western Bulldogs was its twelfth consecutive win, a new AFLW record;[84] it would win a further two consecutive matches to extend the record to 14.[85]

Round 4

	Round 4
Friday, 22 September (5:05 pm)	Hawthorn 1.5 (11)	def. by	Melbourne 10.10 (70)	Kinetic Stadium (crowd: 2,817)	Report Stats
Saturday, 23 September (11:05 am)	Greater Western Sydney 5.7 (37)	def. by	Adelaide 16.10 (106)	Manuka Oval (crowd: 1,809)	Report Stats
Saturday, 23 September (1:05 pm)	Carlton 6.4 (40)	def. by	Richmond 7.5 (47)	Ikon Park (crowd: 2,304)	Report Stats
Saturday, 23 September (12:35 pm)	Port Adelaide 5.12 (42)	def. by	Geelong 11.4 (70)	Alberton Oval (crowd: 2,132)	Report Stats
Sunday, 24 September (1:05 pm)	Sydney 5.4 (34)	def.	West Coast 2.9 (21)	Henson Park (crowd: 4,595)	Report Stats
Sunday, 24 September (1:05 pm)	North Melbourne 5.3 (33)	def. by	Brisbane 5.5 (35)	University of Tasmania Stadium (crowd: 1,093)	Report Stats
Sunday, 24 September (3:05 pm)	Essendon 7.8 (50)	def.	Fremantle 4.6 (30)	Windy Hill (crowd: 2,822)	Report Stats
Sunday, 24 September (3:05 pm)	St Kilda 7.5 (47)	def.	Collingwood 5.5 (35)	RSEA Park (crowd: 3,230)	Report Stats
Sunday, 24 September (5:05 pm)	Gold Coast 7.6 (48)	def.	Western Bulldogs 7.2 (44)	Heritage Bank Stadium (crowd: 1,181)	Report Stats
Adelaide's score of 16.10 (106) against Greater Western Sydney was its highest ever.[86] The aggregate score of 21.17 (143) in the Greater Western Sydney v Adelaide match was the highest in AFLW history.[87]

Round 5

	Round 5
Thursday, 28 September (6:15 pm)	Geelong 4.1 (25)	def. by	Melbourne 11.8 (74)	GMHBA Stadium (crowd: 4,312)	Report Stats
Friday, 29 September (1:05 pm)	Richmond 4.6 (30)	def. by	Fremantle 5.7 (37)	Ikon Park (crowd: 2,406)	Report Stats
Friday, 29 September (4:05 pm)	Carlton 6.8 (44)	def.	Sydney 6.3 (39)	Ikon Park (crowd: 2,079)	Report Stats
Friday, 29 September (7:15 pm)	Western Bulldogs 6.0 (36)	def. by	St Kilda 8.6 (54)	Whitten Oval (crowd: 2,807)	Report Stats
Friday, 29 September (7:15 pm)	West Coast 6.3 (39)	def.	Port Adelaide 4.9 (33)	Mineral Resources Park (crowd: 1,134)	Report Stats
Saturday, 30 September (11:05 am)	Collingwood 6.8 (44)	def.	Essendon 3.6 (24)	Punt Road Oval (crowd: 1,422)	Report Stats
Sunday, 1 October (1:05 pm)	North Melbourne 4.8 (32)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 0.2 (2)	Arden Street Oval (crowd: 1,833)	Report Stats
Sunday, 1 October (3:05 pm)	Hawthorn 5.2 (32)	def. by	Brisbane 8.11 (59)	Kinetic Stadium (crowd: 1,755)	Report Stats
Sunday, 1 October (4:35 pm)	Adelaide 7.5 (47)	def.	Gold Coast 2.3 (15)	Unley Oval (crowd: 3,300)	Report Stats
The Collingwood v Essendon match was originally scheduled to be played at AIA Centre, but was moved to Punt Road Oval so that AIA Centre could become a live site for the AFL Grand Final played later that day (in which Collingwood's AFL team was playing), where both the AFLW match and grand final could be streamed on big screens at the venue for fans to watch.[88] West Coast's win over Port Adelaide ended a ten-match losing streak.[89]

Round 6

	Round 6
Friday, 6 October (7:15 pm)	Western Bulldogs 4.10 (34)	def. by	Carlton 8.5 (53)	Whitten Oval (crowd: 2,163)	Report Stats
Saturday, 7 October (1:05 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 6.8 (44)	def.	West Coast 3.6 (24)	Blacktown ISP Oval (crowd: 927)	Report Stats
Saturday, 7 October (3:05 pm)	Melbourne 7.4 (46)	def. by	Adelaide 8.8 (56)	Casey Fields (crowd: 1,975)	Report Stats
Saturday, 7 October (3:05 pm)	St Kilda 7.3 (45)	def.	Hawthorn 5.6 (36)	RSEA Park (crowd: 2,812)	Report Stats
Saturday, 7 October (4:35 pm)	Port Adelaide 3.12 (30)	def. by	Sydney 6.9 (45)	Alberton Oval (crowd: 2,597)	Report Stats
Saturday, 7 October (6:15 pm)	Brisbane 3.10 (28)	def. by	Collingwood 5.3 (33)	Brighton Homes Arena (crowd: 3,276)	Report Stats
Sunday, 8 October (1:05 pm)	Essendon 4.5 (29)	def.	Geelong 2.7 (19)	Reid Oval (crowd: 2,832)	Report Stats
Sunday, 8 October (3:05 pm)	Richmond 5.5 (35)	def. by	Gold Coast 5.6 (36)	Ikon Park (crowd: 1,848)	Report Stats
Sunday, 8 October (2:05 pm)	Fremantle 3.3 (21)	def. by	North Melbourne 10.6 (66)	Fremantle Community Bank Oval (crowd: 2,022)	Report Stats
Melbourne's loss to Adelaide ended a 14-match winning streak.[85]

Round 7

	Round 7 (Indigenous Round week 1)
Friday, 13 October (6:45 pm)	Adelaide 9.5 (59)	def.	Western Bulldogs 2.5 (17)	Norwood Oval (crowd: 2,745)	Report Stats
Saturday, 14 October (1:05 pm)	St Kilda 7.6 (48)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 5.5 (35)	RSEA Park (crowd: 1,402)	Report Stats
Saturday, 14 October (3:05 pm)	Geelong 6.11 (47)	def.	Fremantle 3.5 (23)	GMHBA Stadium (crowd: 2,166)	Report Stats
Saturday, 14 October (3:05 pm)	Sydney 3.8 (26)	def. by	Hawthorn 5.10 (40)	Henson Park (crowd: 4,514)	Report Stats
Saturday, 14 October (4:05 pm)	Gold Coast 3.3 (21)	def. by	Brisbane 8.9 (57)	Heritage Bank Stadium (crowd: 1,873)	Report Stats
Saturday, 14 October (7:20 pm)	Richmond 5.6 (36)	def. by	Essendon 8.5 (53)	Ikon Park (crowd: 2,847)	Report Stats
Sunday, 15 October (1:05 pm)	North Melbourne 13.9 (87)	def.	Port Adelaide 3.6 (24)	Arden Street Oval (crowd: 1,912)	Report Stats
Sunday, 15 October (3:05 pm)	Carlton 1.4 (10)	def. by	Collingwood 4.3 (27)	Ikon Park (crowd: 3,111)	Report Stats
Sunday, 15 October (2:05 pm)	West Coast 2.0 (12)	def. by	Melbourne 11.16 (82)	Mineral Resources Park (crowd: 1,232)	Report Stats
North Melbourne's score of 13.9 (87) against Port Adelaide was its highest ever.[90]

Round 8

	Round 8 (Indigenous Round week 2)
Friday, 20 October (6:45 pm)	Hawthorn 4.6 (30)	def. by	Richmond 6.5 (41)	Cazalys Stadium (crowd: 1,933)	Report Stats
Saturday, 21 October (1:05 pm)	Western Bulldogs 6.3 (39)	def. by	Sydney 14.12 (96)	Whitten Oval (crowd: 2,982)	Report Stats
Saturday, 21 October (2:05 pm)	Brisbane 5.12 (42)	def.	Adelaide 6.3 (39)	Brighton Homes Arena (crowd: 2,544)	Report Stats
Saturday, 21 October (3:05 pm)	Greater Western Sydney 8.1 (49)	def.	Carlton 7.5 (47)	Henson Park (crowd: 1,574)	Report Stats
Saturday, 21 October (4:35 pm)	Port Adelaide 7.3 (45)	drew with	Gold Coast 7.3 (45)	Alberton Oval (crowd: 1,853)	Report Stats
Saturday, 21 October (7:15 pm)	Melbourne 5.7 (37)	def.	North Melbourne 2.2 (14)	Ikon Park (crowd: 2,704)	Report Stats
Sunday, 22 October (1:05 pm)	Collingwood 4.6 (30)	def.	Geelong 3.6 (24)	Victoria Park (crowd: 2,527)	Report Stats
Sunday, 22 October (12:05 pm)	Fremantle 6.9 (45)	def.	St Kilda 3.3 (21)	Fremantle Community Bank Oval (crowd: 1,850)	Report Stats
Sunday, 22 October (5:05 pm)	Essendon 2.7 (19)	def. by	West Coast 3.5 (23)	Windy Hill (crowd: 2,108)	Report Stats
Sydney's score of 14.12 (96) against the Western Bulldogs was its highest ever, surpassing its previous highest score (51)[91] before half-time; it was also the highest score ever conceded by the Western Bulldogs.[92] 208 tackles were recorded in the Essendon v West Coast match, an AFLW record.[93]

Round 9

	Round 9
Friday, 27 October (6:45 pm)	Gold Coast 7.6 (48)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 2.5 (17)	Heritage Bank Stadium (crowd: 1,045)	Report Stats
Saturday, 28 October (1:05 pm)	Melbourne 8.13 (61)	def.	Fremantle 4.4 (28)	Casey Fields (crowd: 1,650)	Report Stats
Saturday, 28 October (3:05 pm)	St Kilda 8.7 (55)	def.	Brisbane 5.4 (34)	RSEA Park (crowd: 2,005)	Report Stats
Saturday, 28 October (3:05 pm)	Essendon 8.8 (56)	def.	Carlton 3.6 (24)	Windy Hill (crowd: 3,812)	Report Stats
Saturday, 28 October (2:05 pm)	West Coast 5.6 (36)	def. by	Western Bulldogs 6.8 (44)	Mineral Resources Park (crowd: 1,447)	Report Stats
Saturday, 28 October (7:15 pm)	Richmond 1.5 (11)	def. by	Geelong 6.13 (49)	Ikon Park (crowd: 2,021)	Report Stats
Sunday, 29 October (1:05 pm)	Sydney 9.4 (58)	def.	Collingwood 5.9 (39)	Henson Park (crowd: 5,722)	Report Stats
Sunday, 29 October (2:35 pm)	Adelaide 6.5 (41)	def.	North Melbourne 5.8 (38)	Norwood Oval (crowd: 3,362)	Report Stats
Sunday, 29 October (5:05 pm)	Hawthorn 6.4 (40)	def.	Port Adelaide 5.2 (32)	Kinetic Stadium (crowd: 1,771)	Report Stats
The Adelaide v North Melbourne match was originally scheduled to be played at Unley Oval, but was moved to Norwood Oval[94] after the former was closed by Unley Council to allow for a complete redevelopment of its playing surface.[95]

Round 10

	Round 10 (Pride Round)
Friday, 3 November (6:45 pm)	Gold Coast 6.3 (39)	def.	Essendon 3.7 (25)	Great Barrier Reef Arena (crowd: 2,131)	Report Stats
Saturday, 4 November (1:05 pm)	Western Bulldogs 1.3 (9)	def. by	North Melbourne 7.13 (55)	Whitten Oval (crowd: 2,608)	Report Stats
Saturday, 4 November (2:35 pm)	Port Adelaide 13.10 (88)	def.	Greater Western Sydney 4.6 (30)	Alberton Oval (crowd: 3,353)	Report Stats
Saturday, 4 November (5:05 pm)	Geelong 9.6 (60)	def.	Hawthorn 3.2 (20)	GMHBA Stadium (crowd: 3,658)	Report Stats
Saturday, 4 November (2:05 pm)	West Coast 6.9 (45)	def. by	Adelaide 11.5 (71)	Mineral Resources Park (crowd: 938)	Report Stats
Saturday, 4 November (6:05 pm)	Brisbane 8.5 (53)	def.	Melbourne 4.4 (28)	Brighton Homes Arena (crowd: 3,004)	Report Stats
Sunday, 5 November (1:05 pm)	Carlton 3.8 (26)	def. by	St Kilda 7.4 (46)	Ikon Park (crowd: 2,649)	Report Stats
Sunday, 5 November (3:05 pm)	Collingwood 4.1 (25)	def. by	Richmond 11.11 (77)	Victoria Park (crowd: 3,948)	Report Stats
Sunday, 5 November (2:05 pm)	Fremantle 2.6 (18)	def. by	Sydney 5.10 (40)	Fremantle Community Bank Oval (crowd: 2,271)	Report Stats
Port Adelaide's score of 13.10 (88) against Greater Western Sydney was its highest ever.[96] Richmond's score of 11.11 (77) against Collingwood was its highest ever, and its winning margin of 52 points[97] was its biggest ever.[98]

Ladder

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	PF	PA	PP	Pts	Qualification
1	Adelaide	10	9	1	0	599	314	190.8	36	Finals series
2	Melbourne	10	8	2	0	653	293	222.9	32
3	North Melbourne	10	7	3	0	478	213	224.4	28
4	Brisbane (P)	10	7	3	0	505	339	149.0	28
5	Gold Coast	10	6	3	1	416	351	118.5	26
6	Geelong	10	6	4	0	449	318	141.2	24
7	Essendon	10	6	4	0	379	354	107.1	24
8	Sydney	10	6	4	0	462	432	106.9	24
9	St Kilda	10	6	4	0	408	399	102.3	24
10	Richmond	10	5	5	0	382	379	100.8	20
11	Collingwood	10	5	5	0	331	399	83.0	20
12	Carlton	10	4	6	0	361	420	86.0	16
13	Fremantle	10	4	6	0	289	402	71.9	16
14	Hawthorn	10	3	7	0	307	456	67.3	12
15	Port Adelaide	10	2	7	1	404	538	75.1	10
16	Greater Western Sydney	10	2	8	0	316	596	53.0	8
17	West Coast	10	2	8	0	269	530	50.8	8
18	Western Bulldogs	10	1	9	0	320	595	53.8	4

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

Progression by round

4	Finished the round in first place	0	Finished the round in last place
4	Won the minor premiership	0	Won the wooden spoon
4	Finished the round inside the top eight
41	Subscript indicates the ladder position at the end of the round

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Adelaide	44	83	123	162	202	241	281	282	322	361
Melbourne	43	82	122	161	201	203	243	281	321	322
North Melbourne	42	81	121	123	163	202	242	243	243	283
Brisbane	012	47	85	124	164	164	204	244	244	284
Gold Coast	010	46	84	126	125	165	167	187	226	265
Geelong	41	84	86	125	126	128	166	168	207	246
Essendon	45	85	810	127	129	167	205	205	245	247
Sydney	48	49	413	811	813	1212	1212	1610	208	248
St Kilda	017	015	015	413	812	1210	1610	1612	209	249
Richmond	47	412	88	128	127	129	1211	1611	1612	2010
Collingwood	016	411	412	412	811	1211	168	206	2010	2011
Carlton	49	413	89	89	128	166	169	169	1611	1612
Fremantle	46	410	87	810	1210	1213	1213	1613	1613	1613
Hawthorn	014	48	411	415	415	415	814	814	1214	1214
Port Adelaide	015	017	414	414	414	414	415	617	617	1015
Greater Western Sydney	011	016	016	017	018	416	416	815	815	816
West Coast	013	018	018	018	416	417	417	816	816	817
Western Bulldogs	018	014	017	016	017	018	018	018	418	418

Source: Australian Football

Home match attendance

The following table includes all home match attendance figures from the home-and-away season.

Team	Hosted	Total	Highest	Lowest	Average
					2022 (S7)[99]	2023[100]	Change
Adelaide	5	20,367	8,722	2,238	2,540	4,073	1,533
Brisbane	5	14,559	3,276	2,544	1,888	2,912	1,024
Carlton	5	13,387	3,244	2,079	2,097	2,677	580
Collingwood	5	12,348	3,948	1,422	1,954	2,470	516
Essendon	5	14,769	3,812	2,108	4,868	2,954	1,914
Fremantle	5	12,025	3,790	1,850	1,415	2,405	990
Geelong	5	17,447	4,404	2,166	2,548	3,489	941
Gold Coast	5	7,301	2,131	1,045	1,017	1,460	443
Greater Western Sydney	5	7,389	2,028	927	1,546	1,478	68
Hawthorn	5	11,998	3,722	1,755	1,826	2,400	574
Melbourne	5	16,198	8,412	1,457	4,601	3,240	1,361
North Melbourne	5	10,080	2,788	1,093	1,829	2,016	187
Port Adelaide	5	11,863	3,353	1,853	6,735	2,373	4,362
Richmond	5	10,205	2,847	1,083	1,707	2,041	334
St Kilda	5	11,465	3,230	1,402	1,850	2,293	443
Sydney	5	23,183	5,722	2,878	3,773	4,637	864
West Coast	5	5,959	1,447	938	2,483	1,192	1,291
Western Bulldogs	5	12,124	2,982	1,564	1,690	2,425	735
Total/overall	90	232,667	8,722	927	2,748	2,585	163

Source: Australian Football

Finals series

	Qualifying and elimination finals					Semi-finals						Preliminary finals					Grand final
	11 November, Norwood Oval
	1	Adelaide	5.7 (37)
	4	Brisbane	6.3 (39)			18 November, Norwood Oval
						Adelaide		12.10 (82)
	11 November, Heritage Bank Stadium					Sydney		2.3 (15)				25 November, Brighton Homes Arena
	5	Gold Coast	6.5 (41)									Brisbane		6.2 (38)
	8	Sydney	9.4 (58)									Geelong		5.4 (34)			3 December, Ikon Park
																	North Melbourne		4.3 (27)
	12 November, GMHBA Stadium											26 November, Ikon Park					Brisbane		7.2 (44)
	6	Geelong	7.9 (51)									North Melbourne		4.8 (32)
	7	Essendon	5.3 (33)			19 November, Ikon Park						Adelaide		4.7 (31)
						Melbourne		6.9 (45)
	12 November, Ikon Park					Geelong		7.8 (50)
	2	Melbourne	1.3 (9)
	3	North Melbourne	7.8 (50)

All starting times are local time. Source: afl.com.au

Finals week 1

	First qualifying final
Saturday, 11 November (2:35 pm)	Adelaide 5.7 (37)	def. by	Brisbane 6.3 (39)	Norwood Oval (crowd: 4,209)	Report Stats
	1.0 (6) 4.0 (24) 5.3 (33) 5.7 (37)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4	2.3 (15) 3.3 (21) 5.3 (33) 6.3 (39)
Jones 4, Kelly		Goals	Davidson 2, O'Dwyer 2, Anderson, Smith
Jones, Marinoff, Hatchard, Randall, Biddell		Best	O'Dwyer, Anderson, Hodder, Dawes, Davidson, Ellenger

	First elimination final
Saturday, 11 November (6:15 pm)	Gold Coast 6.5 (41)	def. by	Sydney 9.4 (58)	Heritage Bank Stadium (crowd: 2,710)	Report Stats
	1.0 (6) 3.0 (18) 5.3 (33) 6.5 (41)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4	4.2 (26) 7.2 (44) 9.3 (57) 9.4 (58)
Bohanna 4, Dupuy, Girvan		Goals	Molloy 3, McEvoy 2, C. Hamilton, Newman, Privitelli, Whelan
Bohanna, Drennan, Keaney, Single		Best	Molloy, Hurley, Kennedy, Gardiner, Ham, C. Hamilton

	Second elimination final
Sunday, 12 November (1:05 pm)	Geelong 7.9 (51)	def.	Essendon 5.3 (33)	GMHBA Stadium (crowd: 6,678)	Report Stats
	3.4 (22) 7.7 (49) 7.9 (51) 7.9 (51)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4	0.1 (1) 2.1 (13) 2.1 (13) 5.3 (33)
A. Moloney 2, Crockett-Grills, A. McDonald, Parry, G. Prespakis, Scheer		Goals	M. Prespakis 2, Alexander, Gamble, Toogood
G. Prespakis, A. McDonald, A. Moloney, Webster, Morrison, Parry		Best	M. Prespakis, Nanscawen, Toogood, Alexander

	Second qualifying final
Sunday, 12 November (3:05 pm)	Melbourne 1.3 (9)	def. by	North Melbourne 7.8 (50)	Ikon Park (crowd: 5,431)	Report Stats
	0.1 (1) 0.1 (1) 0.2 (2) 1.3 (9)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4	1.4 (10) 2.4 (16) 5.6 (36) 7.8 (50)
Bannan		Goals	Randall 3, Eddey 2, E. King, O'Loughlin
Hanks, Purcell, Hore, Goldrick, Gay		Best	Garner, Riddell, Kearney, Randall, Wright, Pullar

Finals week 2

	First semi-final
Saturday, 18 November (7:15 pm)	Adelaide 12.10 (82)	def.	Sydney 2.3 (15)	Norwood Oval (crowd: 4,688)	Report Stats
	2.2 (14) 5.5 (35) 8.5 (53) 12.10 (82)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4	1.0 (6) 2.0 (12) 2.3 (15) 2.3 (15)
Bonner 2, Hatchard 2, Randall 2, Waterhouse 2, Gould, Jones, M. Newman, Ponter		Goals	Molloy, A. Newman
Hatchard, Marinoff, Randall, J. Allan, Ponter, Kelly		Best	Gardiner, Molloy, Heads, Tarrant

	Second semi-final
Sunday, 19 November (3:05 pm)	Melbourne 6.9 (45)	def. by	Geelong 7.8 (50)	Ikon Park (crowd: 5,057)	Report Stats
	0.2 (2) 1.4 (10) 1.7 (13) 6.9 (45)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4	2.4 (16) 4.5 (29) 6.7 (43) 7.8 (50)
Zanker 3, Gay, Hanks, A. Mackin		Goals	A. McDonald 2, Crockett-Grills, Darby, A. Moloney, Parry, Scott
Hanks, West, Zanker, Pearce, Paxman, Gay		Best	Morrison, Webster, A. McDonald, M. McDonald, Parry, Darby

Finals week 3

	First preliminary final
Saturday, 25 November (6:45 pm)	Brisbane 6.2 (38)	def.	Geelong 5.4 (34)	Brighton Homes Arena (crowd: 4,903)	Report Stats
	2.1 (13) 4.2 (26) 5.2 (32) 6.2 (38)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4	0.1 (1) 3.3 (21) 4.4 (28) 5.4 (34)
Davidson 2, Campbell, Hodder, Mullins, O'Dwyer		Goals	Parry 2, A. Moloney, Scheer, Scott
Anderson, O'Dwyer, Ellenger, Dawes, C. Svarc, Koenen		Best	Prespakis, D. Moloney, Morrison, Kearns, Gunjaca

	Second preliminary final
Sunday, 26 November (3:05 pm)	North Melbourne 4.8 (32)	def.	Adelaide 4.7 (31)	Ikon Park (crowd: 5,163)	Report Stats
	2.1 (13) 3.2 (20) 4.4 (28) 4.8 (32)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4	1.2 (8) 1.5 (11) 3.7 (25) 4.7 (31)
Randall 2, Garner, Shierlaw		Goals	Ponter 3, Hatchard
Bruton, Garner, Riddell, Pullar, Wright		Best	Marinoff, Ponter, Thompson, Biddell, Hatchard

Grand final

Main article: 2023 AFL Women's Grand Final

	Grand final
Sunday, 3 December (2:30 pm)	North Melbourne 4.3 (27)	def. by	Brisbane 7.2 (44)	Ikon Park (crowd: 12,616)	Report Stats
	1.0 (6) 2.2 (14) 4.3 (27) 4.3 (27)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4	0.0 (0) 2.1 (13) 3.2 (20) 7.2 (44)	Best on ground: Breanna Koenen (Brisbane)[101] Field umpires: Matt Adams, Joel Clamp, Samuel Nippress[102] National anthem: Vera Blue[103]
Garner 2, O'Loughlin, Shierlaw		Goals	Davidson 2, Hampson 2, Koenen, Mullins, O'Dwyer
Garner, M. King, Riddell, Rennie, Kearney		Best	Koenen, Dawes, Anderson, Grider, Hodder
Three female umpires (goal umpires Georgia Henderson and Emilie Hill and boundary umpire Greta Miller) officiated an AFL Women's Grand Final for the first time.[102] Brisbane recorded 109 tackles in the grand final against North Melbourne, an AFLW record.[104]

Win–loss table

The following table can be sorted from biggest winning margin to biggest losing margin for each round. If two or more matches in a round are decided by the same margin, these margins are sorted by percentage (i.e. the lowest-scoring winning team is ranked highest and the lowest-scoring losing team is ranked lowest). Home matches are in bold, and opponents are listed above the margins.

+	Win		Qualified for finals
-	Loss	X	Bye
	Draw		Eliminated

Team	Home-and-away season										Ladder	Finals series
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10		F1	F2	F3	GF
Adelaide	PA +30	RIC +29	ESS +47	GWS +69	GC +32	MEL +10	WB +42	BRI -3	NM +3	WC +26	1 (9–1–0)	BRI -2	SYD +67	NM -1
Brisbane	RIC -6	PA +50	SYD +55	NM +2	HAW +27	COL -5	GC +36	ADE +3	STK -21	MEL +25	4 (7–3–0)	ADE +2	X	GEE +4	NM +17
Carlton	GC +2	NM -60	WC +53	RIC -7	SYD +5	WB +19	COL -17	GWS -2	ESS -32	STK -20	12 (4–6–0)
Collingwood	MEL -42	FRE +21	GC -12	STK -12	ESS +20	BRI +5	CAR +17	GEE +6	SYD -19	RIC -52	11 (5–5–0)
Essendon	HAW +19	STK +12	ADE -47	FRE +20	COL -20	GEE +10	RIC +17	WC -4	CAR +32	GC -14	7 (6–4–0)	GEE -18
Fremantle	WC +8	COL -21	HAW +13	ESS -20	RIC +7	NM -45	GEE -24	STK +24	MEL -33	SYD -22	13 (4–6–0)
Geelong	WB +48	SYD +27	NM -9	PA +28	MEL -49	ESS -10	FRE +24	COL -6	RIC +38	HAW +40	6 (6–4–0)	ESS +18	MEL +5	BRI -4
Gold Coast	CAR -2	WC +73	COL +12	WB +4	ADE -32	RIC +1	BRI -36	PA 0	GWS +31	ESS +14	5 (6–3–1)	SYD -17
Greater Western Sydney	SYD -5	MEL -77	RIC -19	ADE -69	NM -30	WC +20	STK -13	CAR +2	GC -31	PA -58	16 (2–8–0)
Hawthorn	ESS -19	WB +7	FRE -13	MEL -59	BRI -27	STK -9	SYD +14	RIC -11	PA +8	GEE -40	14 (3–7–0)
Melbourne	COL +42	GWS +77	WB +42	HAW +59	GEE +49	ADE -10	WC +70	NM +23	FRE +33	BRI -25	2 (8–2–0)	NM -41	GEE -5
North Melbourne	STK +40	CAR +60	GEE +9	BRI -2	GWS +30	FRE +45	PA +63	MEL -23	ADE -3	WB +46	3 (7–3–0)	MEL +41	X	ADE +1	BRI -17
Port Adelaide	ADE -30	BRI -50	STK +8	GEE -28	WC -6	SYD -15	NM -63	GC 0	HAW -8	GWS +58	15 (2–7–1)
Richmond	BRI +6	ADE -29	GWS +19	CAR +7	FRE -7	GC -1	ESS -17	HAW +14	GEE -38	COL +52	10 (5–5–0)
St Kilda	NM -40	ESS -12	PA -8	COL +12	WB +18	HAW +9	GWS +13	FRE -24	BRI +21	CAR +20	9 (6–4–0)
Sydney	GWS +5	GEE -27	BRI -55	WC +13	CAR -5	PA +15	HAW -14	WB +57	COL +19	FRE +22	8 (6–4–0)	GC +17	ADE -67
West Coast	FRE -8	GC -73	CAR -53	SYD -13	PA +6	GWS -20	MEL -70	ESS +4	WB -8	ADE -26	17 (2–8–0)
Western Bulldogs	GEE -48	HAW -7	MEL -42	GC -4	STK -18	CAR -19	ADE -42	SYD -57	WC +8	NM -46	18 (1–9–0)

Source: Australian Football

Season notes

• Round 3 was the highest-scoring round in AFLW history.^[105]
• Greater Western Sydney^[86] and the Western Bulldogs recorded their worst ever starts to an AFLW season,^[106] losing their first five^[107] and eight matches, respectively.^[91]
• Melbourne teammates Eden Zanker (round 9) and Kate Hore (round 10) became the first players to kick 20 goals in an AFLW home-and-away season;^[108] both players finished with 20 goals to lead the league goalkicking for the home-and-away season, becoming the first shared winners of the award.^[109]
• Despite averaging the highest score in AFLW history during the season,^[110] Melbourne was eliminated from the finals in straight sets, losing three consecutive matches for the first time in its history in the process.^[111]

Milestones

Round	Player	Club	Milestone	Ref.
1	Tyla Hanks	Melbourne	50th AFLW game	[112]
	Elle Bennetts	Western Bulldogs	50th AFLW game	[112]
	Georgia Gee	Essendon	50th AFLW game	[112]
	Jesse Wardlaw	St Kilda	50th AFLW game	[113]
2	Chelsea Randall	Adelaide	50th AFLW game	[114]
	Jamie Stanton	Gold Coast	50th AFLW game	[114]
	Dana Hooker	West Coast	50th AFLW game	[114]
	Sophie Conway	Brisbane	50th AFLW game	[114]
	Aliesha Newman	Sydney	50th AFLW game	[114]
	Phoebe McWilliams	Carlton	50th AFLW game	[115]
	Nicola Barr	Greater Western Sydney	50th AFLW game	[115]
3	Danielle Ponter	Adelaide	50th AFLW goal	[116]
	Bonnie Toogood	Essendon	50th AFLW game	[117]
	Jess Wuetschner	Essendon	50th AFLW game	[117]
	Angelique Stannett	Fremantle	50th AFLW game	[117]
	Bianca Jakobsson	St Kilda	50th AFLW game	[118]
	Brittany Bonnici	Collingwood	50th AFLW game	[118]
	Phoebe Monahan	Brisbane	50th AFLW game	[118]
	Chloe Molloy	Sydney	50th AFLW game	[118]
4	Ashleigh Saint	Port Adelaide	50th AFLW goal	[119]
	Meg McDonald	Geelong	50th AFLW game	[120]
	Kim Rennie	North Melbourne	50th AFLW game	[121]
5	Maddison Gay	Melbourne	50th AFLW game	[122]
	Brooke Lochland	Sydney	50th AFLW game	[123]
	Jesse Wardlaw	St Kilda	50th AFLW goal	[124]
	Emma Swanson	West Coast	50th AFLW game	[123]
	Gemma Houghton	Port Adelaide	50th AFLW goal	[125]
	Katherine Smith	Greater Western Sydney	50th AFLW game	[126]
	Danielle Ponter	Adelaide	50th AFLW game	[126]
6	Madeline Keryk	Port Adelaide	50th AFLW game	[127]
	Nat Grider	Brisbane	50th AFLW game	[127]
	Mikala Cann	Collingwood	50th AFLW game	[127]
	Madison Prespakis	Essendon	50th AFLW game	[128]
7	Chantel Emonson	Geelong	50th AFLW game	[129]
	Belle Dawes	Brisbane	50th AFLW game	[129]
	Cathy Svarc	Brisbane	50th AFLW game	[129]
	Ash Riddell	North Melbourne	50th AFLW game	[130]
	Kate Shierlaw	North Melbourne	50th AFLW game	[130]
	Sarah Rowe	Collingwood	50th AFLW game	[130]
8	Greta Bodey	Hawthorn	50th AFLW game	[131]
	Katie Brennan	Richmond	50th AFLW game	[131]
	Orla O'Dwyer	Brisbane	50th AFLW game	[131]
	Jordyn Allen	Collingwood	50th AFLW game	[132]
	Julia Crockett-Grills	Geelong	50th AFLW game	[132]
	Laura Pugh	Fremantle	50th AFLW game	[132]
9	Alison Drennan	Gold Coast	50th AFLW game	[133]
	Pepa Randall	Greater Western Sydney	50th AFLW game	[133]
	Shelley Heath	Melbourne	50th AFLW game	[133]
	Ally Anderson	Brisbane	75th AFLW game	[133]
	Sophie Alexander	Essendon	50th AFLW game	[133]
	Bonnie Toogood	Essendon	50th AFLW goal	[134]
	Stephen Symonds	Collingwood	50th AFLW game coached	[135]
	Ebony Marinoff	Adelaide	75th AFLW game	[135]
	Emily Bates	Hawthorn	75th AFLW game	[135]
10	Sophie Van De Heuvel	Essendon	50th AFLW game	[136]
	Bailey Hunt	Western Bulldogs	50th AFLW game	[136]
	Rebecca Beeson	Greater Western Sydney	50th AFLW game	[136]
	Jasmine Grierson	Greater Western Sydney	50th AFLW game	[136]
	Chloe Scheer	Geelong	50th AFLW goal	[137]
	Kellie Gibson	West Coast	50th AFLW game	[136]
	Craig Starcevich	Brisbane	75th AFLW game coached	[136]
	Libby Birch	Melbourne	75th AFLW game	[136]
	Chloe Molloy	Sydney	50th AFLW goal	[138]
F1	Breanna Koenen	Brisbane	75th AFLW game	[139]
	Dakota Davidson	Brisbane	50th AFLW goal	[140]
	Lauren Bella	Gold Coast	50th AFLW game	[139]
F2	Mick Stinear	Melbourne	75th AFLW game coached	[141]
	Olivia Purcell	Melbourne	50th AFLW game	[141]
F3	Dakota Davidson	Brisbane	50th AFLW game	[142]
	Rebecca Webster	Geelong	50th AFLW game	[142]
	Tahlia Randall	North Melbourne	75th AFLW game	[143]
GF	Jasmine Garner	North Melbourne	75th AFLW game	[144]
	Shannon Campbell	Brisbane	75th AFLW game	[144]
	Jade Ellenger	Brisbane	50th AFLW game	[144]
	Tahlia Hickie	Brisbane	50th AFLW game	[144]

Coach departures

Outgoing coach	Club	Manner of departure	Date of departure	Caretaker coach	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Michael Prior	West Coast	Stepped down mid-season	25 October 2023[145]	Rohan McHugh[146]	Daisy Pearce	11 December 2023[147]
Stephen Symonds	Collingwood	Mutually parted ways	8 November 2023[148]	—	Sam Wright	22 December 2023[149]
Nathan Burke	Western Bulldogs	Dismissed with one year remaining on contract	15 November 2023[150]	—	Tamara Hyett	16 February 2024[151]
Bec Goddard	Hawthorn	Retired from coaching	17 November 2023[152]	—	Daniel Webster	5 February 2024[153]

Awards

Brisbane captain Breanna Koenen, grand final best-on-ground

Richmond's Monique Conti, league best and fairest winner

North Melbourne's Jasmine Garner, AFLPA most valuable player and AFLCA champion player of the year

Melbourne captain Kate Hore, AFLPA best captain, All-Australian captain and equal leading goalkicker

Major awards

See also: 2023 AFL Women's best and fairest, 2023 AFL Women's All-Australian team, and 2023 AFL Women's Rising Star

• The AFL Women's best and fairest was awarded to Richmond's Monique Conti.^[154]
• The AFLPA AFLW most valuable player was awarded to North Melbourne's Jasmine Garner; Melbourne captain Kate Hore was voted as best captain, Brisbane's Courtney Hodder was voted as most courageous player, and Geelong's Aishling Moloney was voted as best first-year player.^[155]
• The AFLCA AFLW champion player of the year was awarded to North Melbourne's Jasmine Garner;^[156] Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich and Sydney coach Scott Gowans tied for coach of the year.^[157]
• The AFL Women's Grand Final best-on-ground medal was awarded to Brisbane captain Breanna Koenen.^[101]
• The AFL Women's All-Australian team was announced on 27 November; Melbourne captain Kate Hore was named captain and Essendon co-captain Bonnie Toogood was named vice-captain, while North Melbourne captain Emma Kearney was selected for the eighth consecutive season.^[158]
• The AFL Women's leading goalkicker was awarded to Melbourne's Kate Hore and Eden Zanker.^[108]
• The AFL Women's Rising Star was awarded to Greater Western Sydney's Zarlie Goldsworthy.^[159]
• The Goal of the Year was awarded to Richmond's Caitlin Greiser.^[160]
• The Mark of the Year was awarded to Brisbane's Courtney Hodder.^[161]

Leading goalkickers

1	Led the goalkicking at the end of the round
1	Led the goalkicking at the end of the home-and-away season
11	Subscript indicates the player's goal tally to that point of the season
–	Did not play during that round
X	Had a bye during that round

#	Player	Team	Home-and-away season (AFL Women's leading goalkicker)										Finals series				Total	Games	Average
			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	F1	F2	F3	GF
1	Dakota Davidson	Brisbane	22	46	28	–8	311	011	112	113	215	217	219	X19	221	223	23	12	1.92
	Eden Zanker	Melbourne	22	13	25	38	210	515	217	118	220	020	020	323			23	12	1.92
3	Tahlia Randall	North Melbourne	22	46	17	07	07	512	214	014	115	116	319	X19	221	021	21	13	1.62
4	Kate Hore	Melbourne	11	56	28	210	414	014	216	117	219	120	020	020			20	12	1.67
	Danielle Ponter	Adelaide	00	11	34	26	28	210	111	314	115	116	016	117	320		20	13	1.54
	Chloe Scheer	Geelong	11	56	06	410	010	212	214	014	115	318	119	–19	120		20	12	1.67
7	Caitlin Gould	Adelaide	11	34	26	17	29	110	313	114	216	218	018	119	019		19	13	1.46
8	Eloise Jones	Adelaide	11	12	02	46	28	19	110	212	113	013	417	118	018		18	13	1.38
	Chloe Molloy	Sydney	22	13	03	25	05	16	06	39	312	214	317	118			18	12	1.50
10	Gemma Houghton	Port Adelaide	11	12	02	35	27	18	19	211	213	316					16	10	1.60
	Jackie Parry	Geelong	33	36	06	28	08	08	19	110	111	112	113	114	216		16	13	1.23
	Jamie Stanton	Gold Coast	11	67	310	212	012	113	013	114	115	116	016				16	11	1.45
	Bonnie Toogood	Essendon	22	13	25	27	310	111	112	113	215	015	116				16	11	1.45
	Alyssa Bannan	Melbourne	33	36	06	17	07	07	512	012	012	012	113	013			13	12	1.08
	Darcy Vescio	Carlton	33	03	25	05	05	16	06	17	07	07					7	10	0.70

Source: Australian Football

Club best and fairest

Player(s)	Club	Award	Ref.
Ebony Marinoff	Adelaide	Club Champion	[162]
Ally Anderson	Brisbane	Best and fairest	[163]
Breann Moody	Carlton	Best and fairest	[164]
Brittany Bonnici	Collingwood	Best and fairest	[165]
Bonnie Toogood	Essendon	Best and fairest	[166]
Angelique Stannett	Fremantle	Fairest and best	[167]
Georgie Prespakis	Geelong	Best and fairest	[168]
Claudia Whitfort	Gold Coast	Club Champion	[169]
Zarlie Goldsworthy	Greater Western Sydney	Gabrielle Trainor Medal	[170]
Emily Bates	Hawthorn	Best and fairest	[171]
Tyla Hanks, Kate Hore	Melbourne	Daisy Pearce Trophy	[172]
Jasmine Garner	North Melbourne	Best and fairest	[173]
Abbey Dowrick	Port Adelaide	Best and fairest	[174]
Monique Conti	Richmond	Best and fairest	[175]
Jaimee Lambert	St Kilda	Best and fairest	[176]
Laura Gardiner	Sydney	Club Champion	[177]
Charlie Thomas	West Coast	Club Champion	[178]
Ellie Blackburn	Western Bulldogs	Best and fairest	[179]

Player movement and draft

Main articles: 2023–24 AFL Women's player movement period and 2023 AFL Women's draft

The player movement period ran from November 2023 to March 2024.^[180] Among the mechanisms used were an expansion under-18 talent pathway pre-signing period,^[181] allowing the four newest teams (Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Sydney) to sign players from their women's academies,^[e] and the supplemental selection period, during which clubs could recruit players who nominated for and were overlooked in the national draft,^[183] which was held on 18 December 2023.^[184]

See also

• 2023 AFL season

Notes

1. AFL wins would be worth four premiership points and draws worth two points, while AFLW wins would be worth eight premiership points and draws worth four points to reflect the shorter season, with the formula to later be reviewed based on potential future changes to AFLW season length.^[12]
2. Several Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket matches were scheduled to be played across eleven venues around Australia between October 2023 and February 2024.^[19]
3. During the finals series, amid confusion among the remaining teams regarding finals rankings after the home-and-away season's top two teams, Adelaide and Melbourne, lost their respective qualifying finals, the AFL clarified that rankings would change depending on finals results; in this case, as the highest-placed team to reach a preliminary final, North Melbourne was the top seed.^[20] The AFL Commission codified this system into the laws of the game in February 2024.^[21]
4. While the venue had technically become available after concerts scheduled for that weekend were postponed, the AFL ruled that its turf was "not suitable for any games" after hosting several concerts and a 2023 FIM Supercross World Championship event.^[23]
5. Upon their entry into the competition, the four clubs were each given the option of signing three academy players over a two-year period, however this was extended to three years given the supplementary draft held earlier in the year was for overage players only.^[182]