ADELAIDE is the early front-runner in the 2025 McClelland Trophy and the $1 million prize, but changes to the rules this year means it’s a more open race than ever.
Under the new format, clubs will be ranked on their combined finishing position after the finals series of the Toyota AFL Premiership Season and the NAB AFL Women’s competition.
In the past two years, the trophy has been awarded based on ladder positions after the home and away season, rather than finals.
That led to Hawthorn winning last year’s prize after registering a higher combined home and away ladder position than Brisbane, despite the Lions making the men’s and women’s Grand Finals while the Hawks were knocked out in the semi-finals.
Adelaide’s men’s team finished first after this year’s home and away season, earning them 18 ranking points under the new system. The Crows’ women are sixth after three rounds of the AFLW season, worth 13 points, making a total of 31 ranking points.
>> SEE BELOW FOR THE FULL McCLELLAND TROPHY TABLE
Brisbane (third in men’s, ninth in women’s) is second with 26 points, while Hawthorn (eighth in men’s, fifth in women’s) and Sydney (10th in men’s, third in women’s) are equal third on 25 points.
The changes mean there could be far more movement on the McClelland Trophy ladder, potentially making for a thrilling race to the $1 million prize, of which $500,000 goes to the players and $500,000 goes to the club.
For instance, Fremantle and Hawthorn, who finished sixth and eighth respectively after the men’s home and away season, could give themselves a huge boost with a strong showing in the AFL finals series.
The new-look trophy will have the backing of Brisbane AFLW coach Craig Starcevich, who last year urged the League to alter the criteria to take finals into account.
“We’re a competition which values finals so highly,” he said.
“Clearly our code values finals, so therefore why shouldn’t an award like this value finals as well?
“We’re not the EPL, we’re not competitions around the world where you finish top and that’s it. Finals are a key part of what we do.”
2025 McClelland Trophy ladder after AFLW R3
| AFL pts | AFLW pts | TOTAL | |
| Adelaide | 18 | 13 | 31 |
| Brisbane | 16 | 10 | 26 |
| Hawthorn | 11 | 14 | 25 |
| Sydney | 9 | 16 | 25 |
| Collingwood | 15 | 8 | 23 |
| Melbourne | 5 | 17 | 22 |
| North Melb | 3 | 18 | 21 |
| Carlton | 8 | 12 | 20 |
| Geelong | 17 | 3 | 20 |
| Essendon | 4 | 15 | 19 |
| Fremantle | 13 | 5 | 18 |
| W. Bulldogs | 10 | 7 | 17 |
| GWS | 14 | 2 | 16 |
| Port Adel | 6 | 9 | 15 |
| Gold Coast | 12 | 1 | 13 |
| St Kilda | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| West Coast | 1 | 11 | 12 |
| Richmond | 2 | 4 | 6 |
The new McClelland Trophy criteria
- At the end of the finals in both the men’s and women’s competitions, teams will be ranked 1 to 18, with the top-ranked team getting 18 points and the bottom-placed team receiving one point
- Where two teams are knocked out in the same week of finals, the club that finished higher on the ladder at the end of the home and away season will be given a higher ranking
- In the event that two or more clubs have the equal highest combined ranking score, the number of trophy points and then combined percentage will be used as the tiebreaker
