The AFLW season is less than a month away and while there’s still a lot to learn about all 14 clubs as they ramp up training in January, it’s worth looking at what we know so far.
Here’s a club-by-club at a glance preview of where your team sits heading into the 2021 season and everything you need to know.
Adelaide
Adelaide’s 2020 season was derailed by injuries to key players, missing finals altogether in Conference A, but the two-time premiership winners enter 2021 with renewed confidence. Co-captain Chelsea Randall returns from a torn ACL and superstar Erin Phillips is fully healthy after her own recovery from the same injury. They did however lose a few key players over the off-season, with Courtney Cramey, Jess Foley, Courtney Gum and Sophie Li retiring. Their list is filled with young talent ready to step up, including the likes of ruck Montana McKinnon and forward Teah Charlton and they still boast the premiership experience and stars that made them the best team of the first era of AFLW. The question will be whether their older guard has the means to carry them to another premiership.
Brisbane
After a strong start to 2020, undefeated in the first month, the Lions fell away and were comfortably beaten by Carlton in finals. A young team, Brisbane still exceeded expectations last season after multiple years of upheaval with key players leaving for expansion clubs. The Lions had a blissfully uneventful off-season, able to keep their core of players together and build some continuity. They used their first pick in the draft on prodigious talent Zimmorlei Farquharson and traded for Taylor Smith from Gold Coast. It looms as another year of building for Brisbane, but they will hope internal improvement allows them to stay in the finals hunt. The Lions are a perennially sound and well coached team that will surprise a few in 2021.
Carlton
Carlton finished the 2020 season set for a Preliminary Final clash with North Melbourne, having lost only one game. Star midfielder Maddy Prespakis took home the competition best and fairest award, polling three votes in every Blues victory. They enter 2021 with the youngest list in AFLW, while somehow also having the most experienced list in the league. This was helped by the addition of former Melbourne captain Elise O’Dea during the trade period. The veteran midfielder comes in, while Sarah Hosking departs for Richmond and Chloe Dalton takes a year off to prepare for the Olympics. Stacked with young talent across all three lines, Carlton goes into 2021 as one of the premiership favourites and will be hoping young stars like Georgia Gee, Lucy McEvoy, Grace Egan, Vaomua Laloifi and Charlotte Wilson continue their upward trajectory.
Collingwood
Collingwood was the big improver of 2020, rising from the bottom of the ladder to play finals. Players across the board took huge steps forward, coupled with the return of star youngster Chloe Molloy from injury and bringing in Brianna Davey from Carlton. A fully fit Davey in 2021 looms as a potential game changer for the Magpies after she battled leg issues in 2020. Star defender Ash Brazill will also return from a torn ACL suffered during the season. They also traded for Melbourne speedster Aliesha Newman and will hope she can provide another spark inside 50. Collingwood nearly upset North Melbourne in that Elimination Final and these additions and improvements could take them into premiership calculations if they’re able to find another level of internal improvement.
Fremantle
Fremantle finished the 2020 season undefeated, having blown out an exhausted Suns team in the first week of finals. The Dockers rightly were the premiership favourites when the AFL pulled the curtain on the season and they’ll be hoping they can do it again. Their only real move of the off-season was trading for Roos defender Jess Trend, however she will be inactive for the 2021 season. They also drafted versatile defender Sarah Verrier with their first selection. The Dockers took advantage of the schedule changes, avoiding their main competitors in North Melbourne, Melbourne and Carlton en route to their undefeated season, leaving them with a point to prove. However, they rightly go into the 2021 season as the premiership favourites.
Geelong
Geelong continues to play a slow and steady game, backing in the list they built when they entered the competition. They made no moves for players in the trade period and took Darcy Moloney, Laura Gardiner and Olivia Barber with three picks inside the top 21 of the draft. They’ll be hoping to finally get a full season out of former number one draft pick Nina Morrison, with the star midfielder tearing her ACL for the second time during the 2020 season. They also have a new captain, with star defender Meg McDonald replacing the retired Melissa Hickey. The biggest question for the Cats is how they elevate themselves from the middle of the pack to the finals picture.
Gold Coast
The Suns were very much an unknown going into 2020, but their fast pace and offensive play made them one of the most exciting young teams in the competition. They managed to squeeze into the expanded finals, but back to back trips to Perth at the end of the season left them without much juice. Kalinda Howarth was the breakout star of their inaugural season, with the mercurial forward making the All-Australian team. The Suns were quiet in the trade period and drafted inside midfielder Annise Bradfield with pick seven. Gold Coast will be hoping their young core makes a big leap in 2021 and carries them to finals.
GWS
The Giants enter 2021 on awkward footing, with COVID-19 breakouts in New South Wales forcing them to relocate to Albury. They’re coming off a decent 2020 campaign, where they finished second in Conference A, but the lopsided nature of the conferences make it hard to evaluate that ranking properly. In reality, they were likely behind the top four sides in Conference B. GWS made moves around the periphery in the trade period, bringing in Katherine Smith from Melbourne and Lisa Whiteley from Adelaide. The easy improvement for the Giants will come on the scoreboard as they were the least accurate team in front of goal in 2020, kicking 26.45 for the season. They will be a team to watch, particularly with the current issues in the state.
Melbourne
The Demons were set to head to Perth for a Preliminary Final before the 2020 season was cancelled and have made sweeping changes to their squad since then. They traded away six players, including former captain Elise O’Dea, Aliesha Newman, Harriet Cordner, Bianca Jakobsson, Katherine Smith and Maddy Guerin. They did this to improve their draft hand and reset their older list before further expansion of the competition. They used three picks in the top 20 of the draft and will be hoping the list overhaul doesn’t negatively impact what has been the most consistently performing squad across the league’s short history. They made the brave call to reset their list, but there’s every chance they’ve also taken themselves out of premiership contention.
North Melbourne
After a round one loss to Melbourne, the Kangaroos were close to unstoppable across the remainder of the 2020 season. They went undefeated from there, including a hard-fought finals victory over Collingwood that had them in the final four when the season was cancelled. Their midfield quartet of Jasmine Garner, Emma Kearney, Ash Riddell and Jenna Bruton dominated teams and gave them control of field position and will do so again in 2021. They retained their strong list going into 2021, but also regain star defender Jess Duffin from pregnancy and added inside midfielder Grace Campbell from Richmond. Due to COVID-19 cuts, they parted ways with coach Scott Gowans and hired internally, giving the role to Darren Crocker. The big question will be whether the coaching change positively or negatively impacts a list that should be among the premiership favourites.
Richmond
2020 was not the inaugural season Richmond fans were envisioning, with the team going winless and finishing with a percentage of 35.7. They were ravaged by injuries across the season, including captain Katie Brennan who dealt with serious concussion symptoms. However, their list build in general left a lot to be desired with the midfield and backline in particular heavily reliant on players new to the AFLW system. Following the season, they parted ways with coach Tom Hunter and hired internally to find his replacement, choosing development coach Ryan Ferguson. The Tigers also cut ties with the VFLW competition, opting to align with Port Melbourne. They were active in the trade period, bringing in Sarah Hosking from Carlton, Sarah Darcy and Sarah Dargan from Collingwood and Harriet Cordner from Melbourne. They also selected midfielder Ellie McKenzie with the number one overall pick in the draft. They will hope this injection of AFLW-standard talent allows them to be competitive in 2021.
St Kilda
The Saints brought a list built mainly from their pre-existing VFLW side into the 2020 season and showed great development under coach Peta Searle. They only won the two games, but were competitive and finished with a percentage of 90.6. They made some savvy moves in the trade period, bringing in Carlton defender Jade Van Dyk and Melbourne defender Bianca Jakobsson for next to nothing, but lost Alison Drennan to the Gold Coast and Jess Sedunary back to Adelaide. They should be a team on the rise in 2021, with another year of development into star young midfielder Georgia Patrikios and 2020 leading goal kicker Caitlin Greiser. The Saints were also plagued by injuries last year and will hope key duo Kate McCarthy and Nat Exon get a good run at it.
West Coast
West Coast struggled in their inaugural season, with their only win coming in round four against the Western Bulldogs. They entered the competition with the oldest list in the league, but relied heavily on midfield duo Dana Hooker and Emma Swanson. The Eagles also struggled greatly to hit the scoreboard, kicking a measly 11 goals for the season. If not for Richmond’s season, they would have received far harsher scrutiny given they actually finished with a worse percentage of 32.1. They made a big signing in the trade period, bringing in breakout Bulldogs star Aisling McCarthy, but also parted ways with coach Luke Dwyer. Former North Melbourne defender Daniel Pratt will take the reins in 2021. The Eagles will need to be significantly better this season, especially in attack.
Western Bulldogs
The Bulldogs have been hit hard by expansion clubs in recent years, losing star after star since their premiership year. That was evident in their one-win 2020 season, losing five games in a row to close the year. The Dogs had four of the top 10 draft picks in 2020 and also had the Rising Star winner in Isabel Huntington, highlighting that they’re still a young developing team. They lost Irish star Aisling McCarthy in the trade period, bringing in Katie Lynch from Collingwood. However, the Dogs finally have a year without major overhaul and will be hoping to build on that continuity. How they deploy Huntington and former number one pick Gabby Newton will be something to keep an eye on.