PLAYERS will hit the track from Monday as AFLW pre-season training officially returns.
After a week full of meetings, admin and time trials, clubs are permitted to properly train from Monday onwards as they track towards season 10’s August 14 start date, where Carlton and Collingwood will reprise hostilities at Ikon Park.
So far, Sydney and North Melbourne are the only clubs to make the results of last week’s time trials public, with midfielder Laura Gardiner taking out the Swans’ 1.5km time trial (with Lulu Pullar coming in second and Sofia Hurley third), while Alice O’Loughlin won the Kangaroos’ (followed by Tayla Gatt then Eliza Shannon).
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New faces
A host of exciting draftees will be keen to get their hands dirty leading into their first AFLW season. Collingwood’s prized No.1 pick Ash Centra is set to have an immediate impact, while Carlton trio Poppy Scholz, Sophie McKay, and Lou-Lou Field will be pressing for a debut in that season opener.
In Sydney, Zippy Fish will bring her class across half back, as will Molly O’Hehir at Melbourne.
Tough nuts Lucia Painter and Sierra Grieves will add some physicality to the midfields of West Coast and Richmond respectively, while the pure class of Grace Belloni, Havana Harris, and India Rasheed will hit Essendon, Gold Coast, and Adelaide.
(Back) Grace Belloni, Lu Painter, Poppy Scholz, Emma McDonald, India Rasheed, Sara Howley, Sophie McKay; (front) Sierra Grieves, Havana Harris, Ash Centra, Molly O’Hehir and Zippy Fish during the 2024 Draft at Marvel Stadium. Picture: AFL Photos
Five 2023 draftees will also get their first look at footy, after being listed as inactive last year. Prodigious talent Lauren Young will be a welcome sight at Port Adelaide, as will Georgia Stubs (North Melbourne), Kayley Kavanagh (West Coast), Sienna McMullen (Gold Coast) and Jacinta Host (Melbourne).
Meanwhile, another nine Irishwomen have signed on with AFLW clubs over the off-season, taking the active Irish contingent in the League to a new record of 39.
On the comeback
Two much-loved veterans in Western Australia will make their return in 2025 after giving birth last year.
Fremantle will welcome back three-time All-Australian Kiara Bowers, and the Eagles will do the same with two-time All-Australian Dana Hooker. The latter has played some WAFLW footy on her path back to the AFLW and doesn’t look like slowing down.
Dana Hooker in action during the AFLW R1 match between West Coast and Fremantle at Fremantle Oval on September 3, 2023. Picture: AFL Photos
The Dockers will also welcome back captain Ange Stannett alongside Bowers, while Indy Tahau (Port Adelaide), Erone Fitzpatrick (Carlton), and Nell Morris-Dalton (Collingwood) are others on track to return from injury this year.
Other clubs will be hopeful that players who copped injuries during the 2024 season will be able to get back on the park at some point this year, including Sydney trio Chloe Molloy, Ally Morphett, and Montana Ham, star Essendon ruck Steph Wales and Geelong leading goalkicker Chloe Scheer.
Inaugural Bulldog Ellie Blackburn is another that fans will be hanging out to see once again as she works back from a nasty foot injury, and Melbourne utility Tayla Harris, who was felled in the first round last year with a shoulder injury and was ruled out for the season.
Tayla Harris sings the team song after Melbourne’s win over Geelong at GMHBA Stadium in week one, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos
New colours
They say that change is as good as a holiday, and there were plenty of players who changed guernseys over the offseason.
Melbourne games record holder Lily Mithen opted to move north to Gold Coast in arguably the biggest shift during trade period, while Gold Coast leading goalkicker and captain Tara Bohanna made her way to Carlton.
Nicola Barr, the first player ever drafted, changed her orange and charcoal kit for St Kilda’s candy stripes, and dynamic Richmond midfielder Eilish Sheerin only strengthened reigning premier North Melbourne’s list.
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Following in good friend Laura Gardiner‘s footsteps, Darcy Moloney moved from Geelong to Sydney, Mattea Breed leveraged a breakout season at Hawthorn to become a Magpie, and Paige Scott opted to go to the draft in order to land at Richmond.
Who won’t we see
Four much-loved players will miss the 2025 AFLW season through pregnancy – Kerryn Peterson, Ebony Antonio, Chantel Emonson, and Bess Keaney – while Irish duo Anna-Rose Kennedy (Geelong) and Niamh Martin (North Melbourne) have opted out this year to focus on life back in Ireland.
Kerryn Peterson in action during the match between Carlton and Essendon at Ikon Park in round 10, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos
Unfortunately, injury and personal issues have ruled out St Kilda’s Emmelie Fiedler, Carlton’s Tarni Brown, Richmond’s Zoe Hargreaves, Essendon’s Emily Gough, Greater Western Sydney’s Meghan Gaffney and Melbourne’s Aimee Mackin.
Off-season work
With players contracted year-round now, an inclusion in the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), there has been plenty of training over the off-season. Players have been doing strength and conditioning work to be primed and ready for the start of pre-season in earnest, while a large batch have played in state league matches or club-organised scratch matches.
Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide came together to play three scratch matches throughout April and May, giving inexperienced players, or those working back from injury, an opportunity to play in real match scenarios.
In Western Australia, Hooker had her first hitout in over a year for Subiaco, and young Dockers Matilda Banfield, Indi Strom, Evie Parker and Holly Ifould all suited up for their respective WAFLW sides.
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In Victoria, several AFLW sides chose to run players through their aligned VFLW programs in recent weeks. The Western Bulldogs established elements of their game plan with 13 different players getting minutes, and Essendon showed off the class of its first and second-year players.
Brooke Vickers made a strong return from a season-ending hamstring injury with three big performances in the VFLW, with Lila Keck, Lou-Lou Field, Maddie Hendrie and Amelia Velardo also playing multiple games.
Lila Keck handpasses the ball during the VFLW match between North Melbourne and Carlton at Arden Street Oval in round one, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos
This season
The 2025 AFLW season will all kick off on Thursday August 14 at the home of the League, Ikon Park. It will be the longest season yet, with 12 home and away rounds, followed by a month of finals footy. The Grand Final is slated for Saturday, November 29.
After last year’s compressed fixture and period of mid-week footy, the routine of Thursday to Sunday footy will return. A full fixture is expected later in May.
Following the season, the trade period will run from December 4 to 10, with the Telstra AFLW Draft to take place on Monday, December 15.
