Umpiring, winless teams and clubs on rise in spotlight midway through AFLW season

The AFLW has passed the midway point of this year’s home-and-away season, with some expected storylines and some surprises.

With all the twists and turns, here’s what fans are talking about the most.

Will pressure come on coaches without a win?

It’s the question fans could be heard right around the boundary fence asking on Sunday  afternoon: “Will Essendon win a game this year?”

The Bombers recorded their sixth straight loss, this time against Gold Coast by 41 points, which raised some doubts about the future of head coach Natalie Wood.

Last year, Essendon finished 14th with four wins and eight losses, but escaped a lot of scrutiny due to a high injury toll taking the blame.

This year, fans expected better. Against the Suns, the only goal came off the boot of Emily Gough.

But they’re not the only ones. St Kilda remains without a victory and with a percentage of just 36.5.

It’s the sixth season head coach Nick Dal Santo has been at the helm, over which time he’s taken the team to one finals campaign (last year, in which it lost an elimination final to Adelaide by 44 points).

This year, they lost to Geelong by 85 points in round two, North Melbourne by 92 points in round five, and managed just one goal against Sydney in round three.

Then at Collingwood, the inaugural AFLW side continue to struggle for success, with another year down the bottom end of the ladder.

Sam Wright took over as head coach ahead of the 2024 season and quietly re-signed until the end of 2027 last week. It came amid media reports of player concern about the lack of direction in the club’s AFLW program.

Wood and Dal Santo are both out of contract at season’s end.

In 2022, Carlton launched an independent review into its AFLW program after managing just six wins across two seasons. The club then signed Mathew Buck as coach and rose to become a genuine finals contender.

Many are now starting to ask whether it’s time Collingwood, Essendon and St Kilda do the same.

North are no longer a top of the ladder

Hawthorn’s Friday night win over two-time reigning premiers North Melbourne sent shock waves through the AFLW competition.

The Kangaroos were on a 32-match winning streak — the longest in AFL/VFL/AFLW history — and had gone undefeated since 2023, a total of 1,020 days.

Carlton had got close to them the week before, going down by just 10 points, and many thought Melbourne might be the ones to break the run in round seven.

But then came along the Hawks in humid Cairns, where a clutch Lucy Wales goal in the dying minutes of a hard-fought four quarters changed the narrative of the season.

The unbeatable Kangaroos were beaten and the premiership race was blown wide open.

Less than 24 hours later, Melbourne put its foot down against Carlton to remain the only team undefeated this season and take the top spot on the ladder.

Umpiring an issue

One consistency across all leagues and codes, no matter the gender or sport, is fans having a gripe with umpiring or refereeing decisions.

But AFLW fans may have a better leg to stand on than most.

This season, Ray Chamberlain, who retired from the AFL at the end of 2024 after 389 games, returned to help officiate and mentor the next generation of umpires in the AFLW.

He wasn’t alone, with the AFL putting a call out to retired umpires to make a return in the women’s game, which former AFL-listed umpires such as Jordan Bannister and Chris Donlon answered.

Ahead of the season, Chamberlain said he was happy to help because there was “a need there”.

“You want to do it well and you want to support what they’re doing,” Chamberlain told SEN.com.au.

The state leagues are still the primary pathway for umpires wanting to make into the AFL, which has its finals campaigns running concurrently to the AFLW’s start of the season.

With a lot of umpires prioritising the state leagues, there was a dearth of experienced umpires to officiate the AFLW and there was a desperate need for mentoring and development.

Who saw this coming from the Dogs and Suns?

While many of the top eight were predicted by pundits at the start of the season to be finals contenders — Melbourne, North Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Carlton and Hawthorn — two teams on the rise that have surprised fans have been the Gold Coast Suns and the Western Bulldogs.

The Suns have lured some big-name recruits in recent years, including premiership players Anne Hatchard and Lily Mithen.

But much of their rise this year has come off the back of teenagers.

The teams has enjoyed the fruits of the Suns Academy, with graduates Ava Usher, Alannah Welsh, Sunny Lappin, Georgia Davies, Mikayla Nurse, Dakota Baron and Bronte Parker all catching the eyes of the competition. And they’ve helped steer their side to four wins and two losses.

Meanwhile, things have started to click at the Kennel under Tamara Hyett, with the Dogs also sitting at 4-2.

The Dogs have struggled in recent years, and they finished in 12th place last season. But, buoyed by an extremely strong pre-season, they launched into this year with gusto.

Credit to them, they stuck to the plan even when external scrutiny came. Now they pose a serious threat to the teams coming up against them. All this work has been led by captain Isabelle Pritchard, forward Emma McDonald and midfielder Jess Fitzgerald.

There is still a lot to play out in the remaining half of the home-and-away season, particularly with Richmond and Fremantle knocking on the door of the top eight.

But one thing is for sure: It’s got an ending a lot less clear than when the year started out.