It’s time for another season of AFLW, which returns this week during the men’s pre-finals bye. 

Here’s everything you need to know to get up to speed, including who is best-placed to win the premiership, which names have changed clubs, and what’s new for 2024. 

When does the AFLW season start?

The 2024 season kicks off with a double-header on Friday, August 30, starting with the Sydney Swans hosting Collingwood at North Sydney Oval at 7:15pm AEST.

West Coast will then take on Richmond at Mineral Resources Park in Perth, with that game kicking off at 7:15pm, local time (AWST), or 9:15pm AEST.

Other notable clashes include a Round One showdown between the Power and Crows at Alberton Oval on Saturday night, while the Brisbane Lions and Kangaroos face off in a grand final re-match in Ipswich on Sunday afternoon.

Who won the premiership last year?

The Brisbane Lions won their second Premiership in arguably the best grand final in AFLW history, played in front of a sold-out crowd at Princes Park.

The Kangaroos looked winners until Dakota Davidson stepped up in the final quarter, kicking two match-winning goals to lead the Lions to a 17-point come-from-behind win.

Best on ground was awarded to Lions captain Bre Koenen, while Jas Garner starred for the Roos.

Who is in contention for this year’s Premiership?

North Melbourne

The Kangaroos looked on track for a maiden premiership until Brisbane’s last-quarter heroics denied them last season.

But the good news is that over the last three seasons of AFLW, the premiership has been won by last season’s runner-up, including Adelaide, Melbourne, and, of course, Brisbane.

The Roos’ list has been bolstered by the acquisition of two-time All-Australian defender and two-time Premiership winner Libby Birch, who crosses over from Melbourne.

They will also welcome back Jenna Bruton early in the season after she partially ruptured her Achilles in the opening minutes of the 2023 grand final.

Adelaide

As ever, the Crows loom as one of the competition heavyweights, after finishing minor Premiers in season 2023.

Adelaide has had a long time to process losing by just a single point to North Melbourne in the Preliminary final, after arguably being the team to beat all season, and will be fired up to push further in 2024.

Remarkably, the Crows have won three premierships in just seven completed seasons of AFLW, while they have been runners-up once.

Brisbane

The perennially under-rated Lions are no longer the competition’s underdogs, with eight of 18 club captains tipping Brisbane to go back-to-back in 2024 (albeit none of them tipped the Lions to win last year).

There’s no reason they can’t do it again; like Adelaide, the Lions have been one of the AFLW’s most consistent performers, and were unlucky to lose the grand final to Melbourne in 2022.

Last year’s victory, meanwhile, came off the back of losing several of their top-flight players, whereas this off-season has been less disruptive.

They’ve also added several handy players, including Shanae Davison (from West Coast) who is coming off a career-best season with the Eagles.

Geelong

And, for what it’s worth, at least one club captain tipped the Cats to win their first AFLW premiership, after they made it to their first Preliminary final last season, losing to eventual premiers the Lions.

Who are the big names to move clubs?

She may have retired after securing an elusive Premiership in 2022, but Daisy Pearce was one of the biggest names to move clubs in the off-season, and will make her senior coaching debut with the West Coast Eagles.

Pearce gave up a development coaching role with Geelong, as well as her expert commentary role, to take on the position.

The former Melbourne captain has a task ahead of her, with the Eagles having significantly under-performed in AFLW to date.

This season, West Coast will be without former club best and fairest Dana Hooker, who is pregnant with her second child, while two-time club champion runner-up Aisling McCarthy has left for cross-town rivals Fremantle.

McCarthy will be joined at the Dockers by dual sporting star Ash Brazill (from Collingwood), while Gabby Newton — the Western Bulldogs’ former number-one draft pick — will relish a fresh start after poor luck with injury.

Newtown heads a long list of significant off-season departures for the Bulldogs, including most notably premiership player, All-Australian, and former best and fairest Kirsty Lamb, who heads to Port Adelaide.

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Celine Moody, who had fallen down the pecking order to Alice Edmonds, also joins sister Breann Moody at the Blues.

The Dogs will welcome defender Lauren Ahrens from the Suns, while All Australian Katie Lynch heads the other way to the Gold Coast.

As above, the Kangaroos will be buoyed by the arrival of All Australian defender Libby Birch from Melbourne, while the Demons have also lost Maddi Gay (to Essendon), as well as Casey Sherriff and Eliza West (to Hawthorn).

What’s new this season?

A new boss

The most obvious is a new head of AFLW, with Emma Moore coming in to replace Nicole Livingstone, who has been at the helm since season one.

Moore was previously head of Marketing and Strategy at NAB, and says she comes to the role with “true purpose” and “passion” for women’s football, inspired partly by having four daughters who “play the game and love it”.

In a wide-ranging interview, she gave the following direction on how AFLW might progress under her leadership:

On playing at bigger stadiums, like the AFL-owned Docklands, she said “patience” is needed and “growth doesn’t happen overnight”

Said it was incumbent on the media to grow the players’ profiles, enabling new audiences to connect with the competition

On when to play the season, said she wanted a decision within the first five months of her tenure, but what was most important was “reliability”. “I want us to know when something is going to happen. I want players to have that certainty; I want clubs to have that certainty,” she told AFL media.

Would not necessarily commit to full-time professionalism by 2026, stating: “we’ve already seen huge achievement to date… what we’ve done is build a huge eco-system in terms of development pathways”.

Open to the idea of introducing an ‘international rules’ series between Ireland and Australia, as well as state of origin

Mid-week games, 5pm Friday starts

Much to the ire of some, this season’s AFLW fixtures will feature a month of Tuesday and Wednesday night matches.

There will also be several Friday night games played at 5:05pm AEST in the lead-up to AFL men’s finals, presenting a clear barrier to attendance.

This is especially concerning in the context of a collective bargaining agreement clause that stipulates that the season will not be extended unless certain attendance metrics are met.

Some technology changes

Another gripe of AFLW fans has been the absence of score-review technology for the women’s game, with some progress to be made this season.

The AFL has announced that it will introduce “smart-ball technology” which will provide score assist officials with alerts if the ball hits the post, is touched, or crosses the goal line.

This will reportedly operate like the “silent reviews” which take place in the AFL men’s competition, with those officials then able to alert umpires to the need for a score review.