Women's Australian rules football, is the female-only form of Australian rules football, generally with some modification to the laws of the game. It is played by more than half a million women worldwide and with 119,447 Australian adult and 66,998 youth female participants in 2023 is the second most played code among women and girls in Australia behind soccer.
The Darebin Women's Sports Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is a sports club based in the northern suburbs of Melbourne that is primarily notable for its Australian rules football team which competes in the highest-level Victorian state league – the VFL Women's (VFLW). It is the only VFLW club that is not affiliated with a side from the national AFL Women's (AFLW) competition or the Australian Football League (AFL).
Parkside Spurs is a women's Australian rules football club that competes in the Western Region Football League and AFL Masters Victoria competition. Based in Footscray, they play home games at Henry Turner Oval. They were formerly known as the St Albans Spurs and then Western Spurs, and competed for multiple decades in the Victorian Women's Football League.
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.
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.
Moana Hope is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the AFL Women's competition from 2017 to 2019, including 13 matches over two seasons at Collingwood and a further seven matches over one season at North Melbourne. Each followed an extended career at state-league level before the creation of a national league.
Darcy Vescio is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the AFL Women's competition. As a heavily marketed marquee player, Vescio has been referred to as a "household name" in Australia by ESPN.
Stephanie Chiocci is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for the Collingwood Football Club from 2017 to 2022 (S7). Chiocci served as Collingwood captain for the duration of her Collingwood career, including as co-captain alongside Brianna Davey from 2021 to season seven.
Emma Michelle Kearney is an Australian rules footballer and former cricketer. A decorated midfielder in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition, Kearney won the league's best and fairest award while playing for the ‹See Tfd›Western Bulldogs in 2018 and has captained ‹See Tfd›North Melbourne since 2019. She previously played cricket for the Melbourne Stars in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) and for Victoria in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL).
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.
Elise O'Dea is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She served as Melbourne co-captain for the 2019 season.
Aasta O'Connor is a retired Australian rules footballer who played as a ruck for ‹See Tfd›Western Bulldogs and for ‹See Tfd›Geelong in the AFL Women's competition. She is also a member of the Darebin Falcons' VFL Women's team.
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.
Libby Birch is an Australian rules footballer who plays for North Melbourne in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played for the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne. She previously played netball and captained Victoria at the National Netball Championships. Birch is currently studying a Physiotherapy degree at La Trobe University. In 2016, Birch switched from netball to Australian rules football and was recruited by the Western Bulldogs as a rookie after having only played football for three months for the Darebin Falcons in the VFL Women's.
VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL), and has since evolved into what is also the second primary competition for AFL Women's (AFLW) clubs in Victoria.
Kirsty Maree Lamb is an Australian rules footballer playing for Port Adelaide in the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition. She has previously played for the Western Bulldogs Lamb previously played cricket for Victoria in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) and for the Melbourne Renegades in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).
Peta Searle is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. Searle was senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW) from 2020 to 2021. Searle was previously the first woman appointed as an assistant coach in the Australian Football League when she was joined St Kilda as a development coach in 2014.
The Lambert–Pearce Medal is awarded to the best and fairest player in the VFL Women's (VFLW) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game. It is the most prestigious award for individual players in the VFLW.
The 2016 VFL Women's season was the inaugural season of the VFL Women's (VFLW). The season commenced on 3 April and concluded with the grand final on 18 September 2016. The competition was contested by ten clubs, most of whom were independent clubs that had been transferred from the now-defunct Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL).
