2025 VFL Women's season
The 2025 VFL Women's season is the ninth season of the VFL Women's (VFLW), the state-level senior women's Australian rules football competition in Victoria.[1] The season began on 19 April and conclude on either 30 August or 31 August.[2]
Background
League membership
On 28 October 2024, the Sandringham Football Club announced that the Southern Saints would be known as the Sandringham Zebras (as of 1 November 2024), consolidating the identities of its men's and women's teams under the one club for the 2025 season.[3][4] The Saints were formed ahead of the 2018 VFLW season and were managed by the St Kilda Football Club until 2020.[5][6]
On 21 February 2025, Richmond announced it would not renew its affiliation agreement with Port Melbourne for the 2025 VFLW season, with Port Melbourne instead competing as a standalone club.[7][8] The affiliation had been in place since the 2021 VFLW season.[9][10]
Reigning premiers North Melbourne entered into an affiliation with VFL club Werribee, becoming known as the North Melbourne Werribee Kangaroos and playing up to four games a season at Chirnside Park.[11]
Unlike the previous season, the two NSW-based AFL Women's teams have not been fixtured to take part in any matches against VFL Women's teams.[12]
Fixture dates
Beginning this season, the VFLW season will be played between April and August, instead of March to July.[13] The change will occur after the Australian Football League (AFL) announced that the AFL Women's season would commence the week beginning 11 August 2025, two weeks earlier than in previous years.[14][15] The season fixture was announced in February 2025.[16]
Home-and-away season
Round 1
| Round 1 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, 18 April (9:15am) | North Melbourne Werribee 9.11 (65) | def. | Carlton 2.5 (17) | Arden Street Oval | Report |
| Saturday, 19 April (11:05am) | Sandringham 8.5 (53) | def. | Darebin 3.3 (21) | Trevor Barker Beach Oval | Report |
| Saturday, 19 April (11:05am) | Geelong Cats 4.6 (30) | def. by | Box Hill 14.4 (88) | Deakin University | Report |
| Saturday, 19 April (2:35pm) | Casey 3.1 (19) | def. by | Collingwood 7.5 (47) | Casey Fields | Report |
| Saturday, 19 April (4:05pm) | Port Melbourne 7.7 (49) | def. | Essendon 4.6 (30) | ETU Stadium | Report |
| Sunday, 20 April (11:05am) | Western Bulldogs 2.6 (18) | def. by | Williamstown 4.4 (28) | Mission Whitten Oval | Report |
Round 2
| Round 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, 25 April (10:35am) | North Melbourne Werribee | v | Williamstown | Arden Street Oval | |
| Saturday, 26 April (10:05am) | Western Bulldogs | v | Darebin | Mission Whitten Oval | |
| Saturday, 26 April (11:05am) | Essendon | v | Collingwood | Windy Hill | |
| Saturday, 26 April (12:05pm) | Geelong Cats | v | Carlton | Deakin University | |
| Saturday, 26 April (2:05pm) | Sandringham | v | Casey | RSEA Park | |
| Sunday, 27 April (2:35pm) | Box Hill | v | Port Melbourne | Wonthaggi Recreation Reserve | |
Ladder
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Melbourne Werribee | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 17 | 382.4 | 4 | Finals series |
| 2 | Box Hill | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 30 | 293.3 | 4 | |
| 3 | Sandringham | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 21 | 252.4 | 4 | |
| 4 | Collingwood | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 19 | 247.4 | 4 | |
| 5 | Port Melbourne | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 30 | 163.3 | 4 | |
| 6 | Williamstown | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 18 | 155.6 | 4 | |
| 7 | Western Bulldogs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 28 | 64.3 | 0 | |
| 8 | Essendon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 49 | 61.2 | 0 | |
| 9 | Casey | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 47 | 40.4 | 0 | |
| 10 | Darebin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 53 | 39.6 | 0 | |
| 11 | Geelong Cats | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 88 | 34.1 | 0 | |
| 12 | Carlton | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 65 | 26.2 | 0 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
Progression by round
Win/loss table
- Fixture list
- Home matches are in bold and opponents are listed above the margins.
| + | Win | Draw | |
| - | Loss | X | Bye |
| Team | Home-and-away season | Finals series | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | FW1 | FW2 | FW3 | GF | |
| Box Hill | GEE +58 |
PM | CAS | NM | COL | WB | ESS | DAR | CAS | COL | SAN | ESS | WIL | CAR | ||||
| Carlton | NM -48 |
GEE | SAN | ESS | DAR | WIL | CAS | SAN | GEE | PM | COL | WB | DAR | BOX | ||||
| Casey | COL -28 |
SAN | BOX | WB | ESS | DAR | CAR | WIL | BOX | ESS | GEE | COL | NM | PM | ||||
| Collingwood | CAS +28 |
ESS | WB | DAR | BOX | NM | SAN | ESS | PM | BOX | CAR | CAS | GEE | WIL | ||||
| Darebin | SAN -32 |
WB | PM | COL | CAR | CAS | GEE | HAW | NM | SAN | ESS | WIL | CAR | GEE | ||||
| Essendon | PM -19 |
COL | NM | CAR | CAS | GEE | BOX | COL | WIL | CAS | DAR | BOX | SAN | WB | ||||
| Geelong Cats | BOX -58 |
CAR | WIL | SAN | PM | ESS | DAR | NM | CAR | WB | CAS | SAN | COL | DAR | ||||
| North Melbourne Werribee | CAR +48 |
WIL | ESS | BOX | WB | COL | PM | GEE | DAR | WIL | WB | PM | CAS | SAN | ||||
| Port Melbourne | ESS +19 |
BOX | DAR | WIL | GEE | SAN | NM | WB | COL | CAR | WIL | NM | WB | CAS | ||||
| Sandringham | DAR +32 |
CAS | CAR | GEE | WIL | PM | COL | CAR | WB | DAR | BOX | GEE | ESS | NM | ||||
| Western Bulldogs | WIL -10 |
DAR | COL | CAS | NM | BOX | WIL | PM | SAN | GEE | NM | CAR | PM | ESS | ||||
| Williamstown | WB +10 |
NM | GEE | PM | SAN | CAR | WB | CAS | ESS | NM | PM | DAR | BOX | COL | ||||
Representative match
Announced in February 2025, the competition's best VFLW-listed players were selected in a team to play against the SANFL Women's League during the 2025 AFL Gather Round in South Australia. It was the first time since the formation of the competition in 2017 that a state league representative fixture was played.[17]
A 50-player squad was announced in late March, with the team coached by 2024 North Melbourne premiership coach Brett Gourley. The squad included 13 members of the 2024 VFLW Team of the Year.[18]
| 2025 AAMI State Game | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, 11 April (18:30 ACST) | SANFL Women | def. by | VFL Women | Alberton Oval, Adelaide | Report |
| 0.1 (1) 1.6 (7) 2.11 (23) 4.12 (36) |
Q1 Q2 Q3 Final |
4.2 (26) 7.2 (44) 8.5 (53) 9.9 (63) |
Television broadcast: afl.com.au | ||
| L. Breguet, K. Lee, C. Leuzzi, K. Rosenzweig | Goals | T. Fellows 4 L. Williamson 2 E. Chaston, N. Dojiok, S. Whiting | |||
| C. Leuzzi, J. Bates, L. Ebert, Z. Venning, M. Anderson, T. King | Best | T. Fellows, A. Barba, D. Carbone, L. Williamson, E. Chaston, S. Casey | |||
Final team
| VFLW State Team[19] | |||
| B: | 16 Sophie Casey (Casey) |
12 Gen Lawson-Tavan (North Melbourne Werribee) |
|
| HB: | 26 El Chaston (Essendon) |
1 Lauren Caruso (Port Melbourne) |
28 Lauren Brazzale (vc) (Sandringham) |
| C: | 15 Meg MacDonald (Casey) |
13 Lauren Szigeti (Collingwood) |
10 Ava Seton (Port Melbourne) |
| HF: | 9 Abbey McDonald (Essendon) |
18 Tahlia Fellows (Collingwood) |
27 Jaimi Tabb (Western Bulldogs) |
| F: | 31 Nyakoat Dojiok (North Melbourne Werribee) |
50 Sharnie Whiting (Williamstown) |
|
| Foll: | 30 Maddison Torpey (Box Hill) |
25 Alana Barba (North Melbourne Werribee) |
7 Dom Carbone (c) (Collingwood) |
| Int: | 19 Tessa Boyd (North Melbourne Werribee) |
29 Maddie Di Cosmo (North Melbourne Werribee) |
36 Lauren Jatczak (Casey) |
| 17 Stella Reid (North Melbourne Werribee) |
14 Lily-Rose Williamson (Collingwood) |
4 Tamsin Crook (Western Bulldogs) | |
| Coach: | Brett Gourley (North Melbourne Werribee) | ||
See also
References
- ^ "Season dates confirmed for 2025 VFL and VFLW seasons". AFL.com.au. 20 December 2024. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
- ^ "Dates revealed for VFL, VFLW seasons". Star Weekly. 6 January 2025. Archived from the original on 6 February 2025. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
- ^ "Southern Saints to become Sandringham Zebras". Sandringham Football Club. 28 October 2024. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
- ^ "Southern Saints to become Sandringham Zebras". AFL.com.au. 28 October 2024. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
- ^ "Southern Saints to join VFL Women's". St Kilda Football Club. 11 October 2017. Archived from the original on 20 May 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
- ^ "Southern Saints VFLW". Sandringham Football Club. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
- ^ Vinall, Marnie (21 February 2025). "'Angry and frustrated': VFLW player payments cut across women's programs". ABC News. Archived from the original on 21 February 2025. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "Richmond VFLW Alignment Update". Richmond Football Club. 21 February 2025. Archived from the original on 21 February 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
- ^ "Richmond form Port Melbourne alignment for 2021 VFLW season". Richmond Football Club. 28 October 2020. Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ Black, Sarah (29 October 2020). "Port Melbourne joins VFLW, competition start date locked in". AFL.com.au. Archived from the original on 21 February 2025. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ Sophie Welsh (15 March 2025). "Roos join forces with Werribee for VFLW and NGA programs". afl.com.au.
- ^ "2025 Smithy's VFL and rebel VFLW fixtures released". afl.com.au. 25 February 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ Cellini, Aidan (20 December 2024). "VFL and VFLW 2025 start dates confirmed, fixture details revealed". ZeroHanger. Archived from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
- ^ "2025 NAB AFLW Season set for August start". Western Bulldogs. 19 November 2024. Archived from the original on 28 November 2024. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
- ^ McWilliams, Phoebe (15 January 2025). "Big milestones, stars returning: Everything we know about AFLW in 2025". AFL.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
- ^ "2025 Smithy's VFL and rebel VFLW fixtures released". afl.com.au. 25 February 2025.
- ^ "VFL and SANFL rivalry set for historic new chapter". AFL.com.au. 21 February 2025. Archived from the original on 21 February 2025. Retrieved 21 February 2025.
- ^ "rebel VFLW State Team squad announced". afl.com.au. 27 March 2025. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
- ^ "Big V teams named for AAMI State Games". afl.com.au. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 11 April 2025.