This page is a complete chronological listing of AFL Women's minor premiers. The AFL Women's (AFLW) is the elite national competition in women's Australian rules football.
The team that finishes the home-and-away season on top of the premiership ladder is known as the "minor premier". In the inaugural two AFL Women's seasons, the minor premier hosted the AFL Women's Grand Final, as there was no finals series. This was unlike the Australian Football League (AFL), where the AFL Grand Final is the culmination of a finals series, and finishing on top of the ladder provides only minor benefits. No award has yet been given to the AFL Women's minor premier, and the main league award is the AFL Women's premiership, which is awarded to the winner of the AFL Women's Grand Final.
There were no officially recognised minor premiers in 2019 and 2020 due to the use of a conference system in those seasons. [1] [2] The league reverted to a single ladder in 2021, thus making the recognition of minor premiers an obvious process. [3]
The following is a list of minor premiers, ladder details and results.
| No official minor premier due to the use of a conference system |
| Season | Minor premier | Points | Percentage | Second place | Margin | Final result | Premiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Brisbane | 26 | 151.4 | Adelaide | 6 points | Runners-up | Adelaide |
| 2018 | Western Bulldogs | 20 | 142.5 | Brisbane | 4 points | Premiers | |
| 2019 | Adelaide | ||||||
| 2020 | — [a] | ||||||
| 2021 | Adelaide | 28 | 208.4 | Brisbane | 13.4% | Runners-up | Brisbane |
| 2022 (S6) | Adelaide (2) | 36 | 216.6 | Melbourne | 30.1% | Premiers | |
| 2022 (S7) | Brisbane (2) | 36 | 282.4 | Melbourne | 0.3% | Runners-up | Melbourne |
| 2023 | Adelaide (3) | 36 | 190.8 | Melbourne | 4 points | Third | Brisbane |
| 2024 | North Melbourne | 42 | 315.4 | Hawthorn | 2 points | Premiers | |
Notes
| Club | Seasons in competition | Minor premierships | Minor premiers and premiers in same season | Most recent minor premiership | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Seasons | ||||
| Adelaide | 2017–present | 3 | 1 | S6 | 2023 |
| Brisbane | 2017–present | 2 | 0 | — | 2022 (S7) |
| North Melbourne | 2019–present | 1 | 1 | 2024 | 2024 |
| Western Bulldogs | 2017–present | 1 | 1 | 2018 | 2018 |
| Carlton | 2017–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| Collingwood | 2017–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| Fremantle | 2017–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| Greater Western Sydney | 2017–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| Melbourne | 2017–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| Geelong | 2019–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| Gold Coast | 2020–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| Richmond | 2020–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| St Kilda | 2020–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| West Coast | 2020–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| Essendon | 2022 (S7)–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| Hawthorn | 2022 (S7)–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| Port Adelaide | 2022 (S7)–present | 0 | — | — | — |
| Sydney | 2022 (S7)–present | 0 | — | — | — |
Daisy Pearce is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) and is the current AFLW senior coach of the West Coast Eagles.
AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 14 teams in 2020 and 18 teams in 2022. The league is run by the Australian Football League (AFL) and is contested by each of the clubs from that competition. The reigning premiers are the North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos.
Monique Conti is an Australian sportswoman who plays Australian rules football and basketball. Conti currently plays for the Richmond Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW), having previously played for the Western Bulldogs from 2018 to 2019. She also plays in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) for Geelong United.
Katie Brennan is an Australian rules footballer with and captain of the Richmond Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for and captained the Western Bulldogs from 2017 to 2019. Brennan was signed as a marquee player by the Bulldogs ahead of the inaugural AFL Women's season in 2017, and was their leading goalkicker in 2019.
The 2017 AFL Women's season was the inaugural season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season ran from 3 February to 25 March, comprising a seven-round home-and-away season followed by a grand final contested by the top two clubs. Eight Australian Football League (AFL) clubs featured in the inaugural season: Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Greater Western Sydney, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs.
Ebony Marinoff is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She is a three-time AFL Women's premiership player, seven-time AFL Women's All-Australian and dual Adelaide Club Champion winner. In 2017, Marinoff won the inaugural AFL Women's Rising Star award and represented The Allies in the inaugural AFL Women's State of Origin match, and in 2024, she won the AFL Women's best and fairest, AFLPA AFLW most valuable player, AFLPA AFLW best captain and AFLCA AFLW champion player of the year awards. Marinoff has served as Adelaide co-captain since 2024, and is the Adelaide and AFL Women's games record holder with 93 games.
Karen "Paxy" Paxman is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). A defender, 1.70 metres (5.6 ft) tall, Paxman plays primarily on the half-back line with the ability to push into the midfield. She first played football at sixteen years of age and won a premiership and league best and fairest in her first year. She played in the premier division of the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) from the 2008 season and won three VWFL premierships with St Albans and Darebin, in addition to a VFL Women's premiership with Darebin. Her accolades in football include three league best and fairests, state representation on four occasions, best-on-ground in a grand final, and five-time AFLW All-Australian honours.
Angela Foley is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for the Adelaide Football Club from 2017 to season 6. A defender, 1.73 metres (5.7 ft) tall, Foley plays primarily on the half-back line with the ability to push into the midfield.
Alexandra Anderson is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Anderson won the 2022 AFL Women's season 7 best and fairest award, and is a dual AFL Women's premiership player, three-time AFL Women's All-Australian and three-time Brisbane best and fairest winner. Anderson is the Brisbane games record holder with 92 games.
The AFL Women's Grand Final is an annual women's Australian rules football match to determine the AFL Women's (AFLW) premiers for that year. Each year, the winning club receives a premiership trophy and premiership flag; all players in the winning team receive a premiership medallion.
The 2018 AFL Women's season was the second season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured eight clubs and ran from 2 February to 24 March, comprising a seven-round home-and-away season followed by a grand final contested by the top two clubs.
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.
The 2019 AFL Women's Grand Final was an Australian rules football match held at Adelaide Oval on 31 March 2019 to determine the premiers of the league's third season. Admission was free to the general public, and the match between Adelaide and Carlton was contested before a crowd of 53,034 – which at that time was the record for a stand-alone women's sporting event in Australia. It was won by Adelaide, 10.3 (63) to 2.6 (18), and Adelaide claimed its second premiership in three years. Its co-captain Erin Phillips was voted best on ground, despite suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in the third quarter.
The 2019 season was Geelong Football Club's first in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition. Geelong joined the league as an expansion club alongside North Melbourne, having initially been denied entry into the competition's first season in 2017. Paul Hood was the club's inaugural senior coach, and Melissa Hickey was appointed club captain.
The 2020 AFL Women's season was the fourth season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 14 clubs and ran from 7 February to 22 March; it was intended to comprise an eight-round home-and-away season followed by a three-week finals series featuring the top three clubs from each conference, however the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March saw the season curtailed and finally abandoned without a premiership being awarded. Australian Football League (AFL) clubs Gold Coast, Richmond, St Kilda and West Coast featured for the first time in 2020.
The 2021 AFL Women's season was the fifth season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 14 clubs and ran from 28 January to 17 April, comprising a nine-round home-and-away season followed by a three-week finals series featuring the top six clubs.
The 2021 AFL Women's Grand Final was an Australian rules football match held at the Adelaide Oval on 17 April to determine the premiers of the fifth season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition. The match was contested by the Adelaide Crows and Brisbane Lions. It was the second grand final between the two clubs after the 2017 Grand Final which was won by Adelaide. Both clubs were appearing in their third grand final, following Adelaide's premierships in 2017 and 2019, and Brisbane's losses in the 2017 and 2018 grand finals.
2022 AFL Women's season 6 was the sixth season of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, the highest-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 14 clubs and ran from 7 January to 9 April, comprising a ten-round home-and-away season followed by a three-week finals series featuring the top six clubs. It was the first of two seasons to take place in the 2022 calendar year, with the competition's seventh season held from August to November.
