| 2018 VFL Women's season | |
|---|---|
 Hawthorn andGeelong Cats in theGrand Final | |
| Teams | 13 |
| Premiers | Hawthorn 1st premiership |
| Minor premiers | Collingwood 1st minor premiership |
| Best and fairest | Jess Duffin Williamstown (23 votes)[1] |
| Leading goalkicker | Darcy Vescio Carlton (26 goals)[2] |
The2018 VFL Women's season was the third season of theVFL Women's (VFLW). The season commenced on 5 May and concluded with theGrand Final on 23 September 2018. The competition was contested by thirteen clubs.
Significant overhaul and changes were made to composition of the competition ahead of the 2018 season. With the establishment of the nationalAFL Women's competition in 2017, the league sought to affiliate clubs more closely to existing AFL/AFLW clubs.[3] Consequently five foundation clubs departed; leaving Darebin, Melbourne University and VU Western Spurs (who were taken over by and renamed the Western Bulldogs to align with the AFL club) as the remaining clubs. The departing clubs were replaced by the AFL-alignedCarlton,Collingwood,Essendon,Richmond andSouthern Saints, the VFL-alignedCasey andWilliamstown, and theNorth East Australian Football League (NEAFL)-alignedNorthern Territory;[4] Northern Territory aligned withAdelaide's AFLW team, giving Crows players an opportunity to play in the Victorian competition.[5] The thirteen clubs were as follows:
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collingwood | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 607 | 328 | 185.1 | 50 | Finals series |
| 2 | Hawthorn(P) | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 596 | 332 | 179.5 | 48 | |
| 3 | Northern Territory | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 831 | 430 | 193.3 | 44 | |
| 4 | Geelong Cats | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 599 | 367 | 163.2 | 42 | |
| 5 | Darebin | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 527 | 481 | 109.6 | 32 | |
| 6 | Western Bulldogs | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 494 | 589 | 83.9 | 28 | |
| 7 | Carlton | 14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 562 | 536 | 104.9 | 24 | |
| 8 | Southern Saints | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 439 | 475 | 92.4 | 20 | |
| 9 | Melbourne University | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 455 | 585 | 77.8 | 20 | |
| 10 | Casey | 14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 414 | 594 | 69.7 | 20 | |
| 11 | Williamstown | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 473 | 676 | 70.0 | 16 | |
| 12 | Richmond | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 358 | 521 | 68.7 | 16 | |
| 13 | Essendon | 14 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 292 | 733 | 39.8 | 4 |
| First Semi Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 8 September (10:15 am) | Collingwood 3.3 (21) | def. by | Hawthorn 5.2 (32) | ETU Stadium | [6] |
| Second Semi Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday 9 September (11:45 am) | NT Thunder 6.6 (42) | def. by | Geelong Cats 7.9 (51) | ETU Stadium | [7] |
| Preliminary Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday 16 September (11:45 am) | Collingwood 4.4 (28) | def. by | Geelong Cats 5.12 (42) | ETU Stadium | [8] |
| 2018 VFLW Grand Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday 23 September (12:30 pm) | Hawthorn | def. | Geelong Cats | Marvel Stadium | [9][10] |
| 1.3 (9) 2.6 (18) 3.6 (24) 4.6 (30) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 1.1 (7) 1.1 (7) 1.5 (11) 2.7 (19) | Lisa Hardeman Medal:Chantella Perera(Hawthorn) Television broadcast:Seven Network | ||
| S. Perkins, T. Luke, E. Mackie, E. Gilder 1 | Goals | M. Boyd, K. Darby 1 | |||
| C. Perera, P. McWilliams, M. Hutchins, R. Beeson, T. Luke, J. Van Dyk | Best | H. Burchell, N. Morrison, M. McMahon, M. Keryk, C. Blakeway, O. Purcell | |||
| B: | Jayde Van Dyk (Hawthorn) | Rebecca Goring (Geelong) | Kate Gillespie-Jones (Melbourne Uni) |
| HB: | Ashleigh Riddell (Melbourne Uni) | Meg McDonald (Darebin) | Bianca Jakobsson (Casey) |
| C: | Alison Drennan (Southern Saints) | Jess Duffin (Williamstown) | Rebecca Beeson (Hawthorn) |
| HF: | Sarah D'Arcy (Collingwood) | Jasmine Garner (Williamstown) | Jess Sedunary (NT Thunder) |
| F: | Hayley Bullas (Essendon) | Darcy Vescio (Carlton) | Mia-Rae Clifford (Geelong) |
| Foll: | Rhiannon Watt (Southern Saints) | Richelle Cranston (Geelong) | Ange Foley (NT Thunder) |
| Int: | Emma Swanson (NT Thunder) | Sophie Alexander (Collingwood) | Alice Edmonds (Richmond) |
| Libby Birch (Western Bulldogs) | Lauren Pearce (Darebin) | Emma Mackie (Hawthorn) | |
| Coach: | Penny Cula-Reid (Collingwood) | ||