2018 AFL Women's season
The 2018 AFL Women's season was the second season of the elite women's Australian rules football competition. Eight teams competed in the league, the same as the previous season, all of which are associated with existing Australian Football League clubs. The first game was played on Friday, 2 February, and concluded with the grand final on Saturday, 24 March.
Rule changes
Three rules were changed heading into the 2018 season:- A free kick is paid against a player who last touches the ball before it goes out of bounds under the following conditions,
- The interchange has been reduced to five players from six players in 2017.
- Time-on will occur during the last two minutes of each quarter.
Premiership season
- Unlike the previous season, there were no double-headers with men's preseason matches.
- ,, and each played four home games, while the other four clubs played three.
- Adelaide,, GWS, and Melbourne each hosted matches at grounds outside of their home metropolitan area with trips to Darwin, Moe, Canberra and Alice Springs respectively.
- Carlton and Collingwood featured in the most free-to-air televised matches, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs had two each, while GWS and Fremantle had one each.
- Many games were scheduled for the late afternoon to avoid the summer heat, especially in Brisbane and Western Australia.
- All starting times are local.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Win/Loss table
Bold – Home gameX – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin
This table can be sorted by margin, winners are represented in the first half of each column, and losers are represented in the second half of each column once sorted
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | GF | Ladder |
| X | 5 | ||||||||
| 2 | |||||||||
| X | 8 | ||||||||
| X | 6 | ||||||||
| X | 7 | ||||||||
| X | 4 | ||||||||
| X | 3 | ||||||||
| 1 |
Ladder
Ladder progression
- Numbers highlighted in green indicates the team finished the round inside the top 2.
- Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished in first place on the ladder in that round.
- Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| 1 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 20 | |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 16 | |
| 3 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 16 | |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 14 | |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 14 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 12 | |
| 7 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | |
| 8 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Grand final
In the absence of a finals series, the two teams who finished the highest on the ladder at the end of the home and away season played in the AFL Women's Grand Final.Attendances
By club
By ground
| Ground | Total | Games | Avg. per game |
| Blacktown International Sportspark | 1 | ||
| Casey Fields | 3 | ||
| Drummoyne Oval | 1 | ||
| Fremantle Oval | 2 | ||
| Ikon Park | 3 | ||
| Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex | 1 | ||
| Norwood Oval | 3 | ||
| Olympic Park Oval | 2 | ||
| Optus Stadium | 1 | ||
| South Pine Sports Complex | 2 | ||
| Ted Summerton Reserve | 1 | ||
| TIO Stadium | 1 | ||
| TIO Traeger Park | 1 | ||
| UNSW Canberra Oval | 1 | ||
| VU Whitten Oval | 3 |
Awards
- The league best and fairest was awarded to Emma Kearney.
- The leading goalkicker was awarded to Brooke Lochland of the, who kicked twelve goals during the home and away season.
- The Rising Star was awarded to Chloe Molloy.
- The best on ground in the AFL Women's Grand Final was awarded to Monique Conti.
- The goal of the year was awarded to Aliesha Newman.
- The mark of the year was awarded to Tayla Harris.
- The minor premiership was awarded to.
- AFLW Players Association awards
- *The most valuable player was awarded to Courtney Gum.
- *The most courageous player was awarded to Chelsea Randall.
- *The best captain was awarded to Daisy Pearce.
- *The best first year player was awarded to Chloe Molloy.
- Chelsea Randall was named the captain of the 2018 AFL Women's All-Australian team. The grand finalists, Western Bulldogs and Brisbane Lions, along with Melbourne each had 4 players selected, with all eight clubs represented in the final team by at least one player.
- The wooden spoon was "awarded" to.
Best and fairest
| Club | Award name | Player | Ref. |
| Club Champion | |||
| Best and fairest | |||
| Best and fairest | |||
| Best and fairest | |||
| Best and fairest | |||
| Fairest and best | Ebony Antonio | ||
| Gabrielle Trainor Medal | |||
| Best and fairest | |||
| Susan Alberti Award |
AFLW leading goalkicker
- Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the season's goal kicking tally at the end of that round.
- Underlined numbers indicates the player did not play that round.
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Total | |
| 1 | Brooke Lochland | 11 | 01 | 12 | 79 | 211 | 011 | 112 | 12 |
| 2 | Jess Wuetschner | 22 | 24 | 15 | 27 | 07 | 18 | 311 | 11 |
| 3 | Christina Bernardi | 00 | 22 | 02 | 13 | 14 | 37 | 29 | 9 |
| 3 | Tegan Cunningham | 11 | 23 | 25 | 05 | 16 | 39 | 09 | 9 |
| 5 | Sabrina Frederick-Traub | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 33 | 14 | 48 | 8 |
| 5 | Moana Hope | 00 | 00 | 22 | 24 | 04 | 37 | 18 | 8 |
| 7 | Phoebe McWilliams | 33 | 14 | 26 | 06 | 17 | 07 | 07 | 7 |
| 7 | Erin Phillips | 00 | 00 | 44 | 04 | 04 | 37 | 07 | 7 |
| 7 | Ruth Wallace | 11 | 12 | 02 | 13 | 36 | 06 | 17 | 7 |
| 10 | Katie Brennan | 33 | 03 | 25 | 05 | 05 | 05 | 16 | 6 |
| 10 | Kate Hore | 11 | 01 | 01 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 16 | 6 |
| 10 | Amy Lavell | 22 | 13 | 14 | 04 | 04 | 04 | 26 | 6 |