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 8 teams; the league expanded to ten teams in the 2019 season and 14 teams in the 2020 season. The league is run by the Australian Football League (AFL) and is contested by a subset of clubs from that competition. The reigning premiers are Brisbane.
Emma Swanson is an Australian rules footballer and the captain of the West Coast Eagles in the AFL Women's competition.
Amanda Farrugia is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the AFL Women's competition. She was the club's inaugural AFLW captain and played in all 21 possible matches across her three seasons at the club.
Emma Michelle Kearney is an Australian rules footballer and cricketer. She plays for and captains the North Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW) and plays for the Melbourne Stars in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).
Melissa Hickey is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She served as Geelong captain in the club's first two AFL Women's seasons. She also played in the Victorian Women's Football League/VFL Women's for eleven seasons, representing the St Albans Spurs, Darebin and Geelong. In the VWFL/VFLW, Hickey won seven premierships, represented Victoria on three occasions and featured in the VFL Women's team of the year.
Karen 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 2009 season and won three VWFL premierships with St Albans and the Darebin Falcons, in addition to a VFL Women's premiership with Darebin. Her accolades in football include three league best and fairest, state representation on four occasions, featuring in the VFL Women's team of the year and is a five-time All-Australian.
Richelle Cranston is an Australian rules footballer with the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She was drafted by Melbourne with their third selection and twenty-fourth overall in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. She made her debut in the fifteen point loss to Brisbane at Casey Fields in the opening round of the 2017 season. She was suspended for one match after her debut match due to front on contact with Brisbane's Jamie Stanton. After returning from suspension, she played every match for the year to finish with six games.
Shelley Scott is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She was drafted by Melbourne with their sixth selection and forty-first overall in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. She made her debut in the fifteen point loss to Brisbane at Casey Fields in the opening round of the 2017 season. She missed one match during the season, the round five match against Greater Western Sydney due to a shoulder injury.
Katherine Smith is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She was drafted by Melbourne with their seventh selection and fifty-sixth overall in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. She made her debut in the fifteen point loss to Brisbane at Casey Fields in the opening round of the 2017 season. After the two-point win against Adelaide at TIO Stadium in round six—in which she recorded ten disposals and a mark—she was the round nominee for the AFLW Rising Star. She played every match in her debut season to finish with seven games.
Lily Mithen is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She was drafted by Melbourne with their tenth selection and seventy-third overall in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. She made her debut in the fifteen point loss to Brisbane at Casey Fields in the opening round of the 2017 season. After the nineteen point win against Collingwood at Ikon Park in round two—in which she recorded fourteen disposals, three marks and two tackles—she was the round nominee for the AFLW Rising Star. She played every match in her debut season to finish with seven games. She also won Geelong's 2017 best and fairest award in the club's VFL Women's team.
Mia-Rae Clifford is an Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne, Geelong, and Fremantle in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition.
Brooke Patterson is an Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. She was drafted by Melbourne with their thirteen selection and 104th overall in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. She made her debut in the nineteen point win against Collingwood at Ikon Park in round two of the 2017 season. She played the next two matches before missing the round five match against Greater Western Sydney due to a hamstring injury. She returned for the final round match against Fremantle at Casey Fields to finish with four matches for the season.
Jasmine Grierson is an Australian rules footballer playing for Greater Western Sydney in the AFL Women's(AFLW) competition. She has previously played for Melbourne and North Melbourne.
Alicia Eva is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for the Collingwood Football Club in 2017. Eva was selected in the AFL Women's All-Australian team and won the Gabrielle Trainor Medal in her first season at the Giants in 2018. She has served as Greater Western Sydney captain since the 2020 season.
Bianca Jakobsson is an Australian rules footballer playing for the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW). She previously played for Carlton and Melbourne.
Ashleigh Guest is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Guest was drafted by the Greater Western Sydney Giants with their second selection and sixteenth overall in the 2016 AFL Women's draft. She made her debut in the thirty-six point loss to Adelaide at Thebarton Oval in the opening round of the 2017 season. She played every match in her debut season to finish with seven games. She was traded to the Melbourne Football Club at the conclusion of the 2017 season.
Nina Morrison is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). A midfielder who won multiple accolades at junior level and played in the VFL Women's (VFLW) as a teenager, Morrison was the first selection in the 2018 AFL Women's draft. She received a nomination for the 2019 AFL Women's Rising Star award in round 1 of the 2019 season, her debut match.
Rebecca Webster is an Australian rules footballer with the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW).
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.
