‘Incredibly disappointing’ dive; shock finals surge prediction — Mid-Season Report Card

We’re just over halfway through the AFLW season — and the contenders are separate themselves from the contenders.

The top two teams are standouts, while the only winless side has been mightily disappointing — and beware the 13th-placed Bulldogs.

Foxfooty.com.au analyses and grades all 18 teams’ 2025 campaigns so far — and how they’re placed for the run home.

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ADELAIDE CROWS

Ladder position: 4th (5-2, 136.4%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “I don’t think their season has been their most convincing season ever, given where they’re sitting on the ladder. They were behind at three quarter-time against Gold Coast, who’ve only won the one game, and it took them a fourth-quarter effort to get over the top of them – and that was probably superior experience and conditioning that got them there. And the following week against Sydney, they just made it over the line. They haven’t been super convincing, add to that some of the injury concerns – Chelsea Randall has been in and out of the team and obviously they’ve lost Caitlin Gould – and I thought they struggled against Sydney to find a mid-forward connection and rhythm. It’s now more about who steps up when Gould is out and how does that forward line settle into a good rhythm without Gould there.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: B+

Run Home: Richmond (away), West Coast (home), North Melbourne (away), Port Adelaide (home), Fremantle (home)

Crows down the Suns | 01:07

BRISBANE LIONS

Ladder position: 7th (4-3, 131.4%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “It’s been uncharacteristic of Brisbane. It was their worst start to the season when they were 2-3 at Round 5, which was a concern. Even against Richmond on the weekend, they didn’t kick a goal in the first quarter and were behind at half-time. We haven’t seen this kind of inconsistent football from Brisbane probably since Season 3. What we’re learning is they’ll certainly be a top-eight team, but are they a shoe-in for the Grand Final like we would’ve said in previous years? You’d say no at this point.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: C-

Run Home: Gold Coast (away), Port Adelaide (home), Essendon (away), Melbourne (home), Collingwood (away)

CARLTON

Ladder position: 5th (5-2, 118.8%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “When we talk about consistency, style of play and growth in the collective rather than relying on one star player to change things for them, they’ve shown the most consistent improvement on-field and across the whole list – and it’s been really exciting to see. You know what you’re going to get now when you come and see Carlton play in a positive way. They had an admirable loss to Hawthorn, they beat Brisbane – which gives them great belief and shows their system can beat one of the better teams. They got smashed by North Melbourne a couple of weeks ago – and that was probably an indication of where they’re at. But this is the best I’ve seen Carlton play for many, many years.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: A

Run Home: Geelong (away), Sydney (away), St Kilda (home), GWS Giants (home), West Coast (away)

'Painting over dog poo' | 02:54

COLLINGWOOD

Ladder position: 16th (2-5, 63.3%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “I still think it’s that mid-forward connection, but that first half of the season they’ve been riddled with significant injuries. Jordy Allen has only just come back into the team and Ruby Schleicher is a test for this week after taking a few weeks to get into the team. They’ve lost Kalinda Howarth – and when she’s in the team, they look a lot more settled and positive in the forward-half of the ground because she brings versatility, elite game awareness and the ability to execute what a lot of other small to medium forwards can’t bring. They’re just not there yet.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: C

Run Home: West Coast (away), St Kilda (away), Richmond (home), Gold Coast (away), Brisbane (home)

ESSENDON

Ladder position: 11th (3-4, 74.1%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “Again, injuries have smashed their team and their season before they even got to Round 1. Maddi Gay not being in the team for the year, among other personnel availability issues among walk-up starters, is quite significant. You look at where the other teams are that they’ve beaten, you’d say given where West Coast have gone from that Round 2 game, if that match was played now the result would be different you’d imagine. Their best is really good and competitive – and we saw that on the weekend early against North Melbourne – but they don’t have the cattle on the park to be able to deliver their best on a consistent basis. I don’t think we know what they could be this year because they’ve got so many injuries.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: C-

Run Home: Melbourne (away), Western Bulldogs (away), Brisbane (home), Hawthorn (home), Sydney (away)

FREMANTLE

Ladder position: 12th (3-4, 64.8%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “The teams that they’re thereabouts with, they’re beating. But they’ve had a really hard draw – Brisbane, North Melbourne and Sydney back-to-back-to-back is not ideal – and then they came up against a really good Carlton on the weekend and only went down by nine points. Could they finish where they did last year? It looks unlikely at this point. Have they improved from last year? Probably not – and that’s a concern when there’s improvement in other teams. But they haven’t gotten worse at the same time. So it’s about finding improvement from here.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: D+

Run Home: Hawthorn (away), Melbourne (home), GWS Giants (away), Richmond (home), Adelaide (away)

Dropped captain Meg McDonald opens up | 05:10

GEELONG CATS

Ladder position: 10th (3-4, 95.4%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “You could say it was a pretty disappointing start, but look at who they played. They probably had the toughest first three weeks of any team in the competition, you’d imagine. But the way in which they’ve responded and bounced back from that is really exciting. The forward firepower has really hurt them – and probably cost them the game against Hawthorn on the weekend – with no Chloe Scheer, no Shelley Scott and Kate Darby has been in and out of the team, so that’s where they’re lacking in depth. Their backs and their mids have generally held up well, but they’re one of those teams again where injury is having an impact on them. And a player they recruited in to be an emerging ruck (Caitlin Tipping) hasn’t played yet, so they’re lacking in the ruck stocks. They haven’t been able to get a genuine ruck on the park and they’re missing a couple of forwards who, if they’re not game-winners, are certainly contributors to a positive scoreboard. We haven’t seen their best list on the park.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: C-

Run Home: Carlton (home), GWS Giants (home), West Coast (away), Western Bulldogs (away), Melbourne (home)

GOLD COAST SUNS

Ladder position: 17th (1-6, 40.2%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “They’re young as a list, but they’re also young as a collective of people. Rhyce Shaw is in his first year and it’s really different coaching an academy group to a group that plays for scoreboard reward and you’re under that pressure and microscope with a really young list at this level. They’re all on a learning journey together and we can see how far back they’re coming from. But we’ve also seen from their gameplan that they’re trying different things with players in different spots. He (Shaw) is really instilling a system of discipline and integrity around selection where players who would’ve been walk-up starts last year may not be getting those opportunities or sitting on the emergencies list for a while. Creating a system around mindset of the players and how they play is slowly developing. We saw some great maturity in the game against Adelaide a couple of weeks ago when they changed it up. At times it’s been effective.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: D

Run Home: Brisbane (home), Hawthorn (away), Western Bulldogs (home), Collingwood (home), Richmond (away)

'Got a bit emotional & it's a Rnd 5 win' | 01:21

GWS GIANTS

Ladder position: 15th (2-5, 65.1%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “Those back-to-back wins was the first time they’d won two games in a row since 2021 – and had they beaten West Coast, it would’ve been their biggest winning streak ever. In their 10th season in the competition, it’s a pretty significant position when a team has never won three games in a row. I guess there are a lot of question marks around the ability of their list to execute the gameplan consistently. When they do it – which we saw against Western Bulldogs and Sydney where they balanced that inside-outside game – you can see the gameplan is really positive and works well. But there are question marks over which of their playing group can execute week-in, week-out and, therefore, you can rely on them. I just think there are some challenges on the playing group more broadly to do that.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: C-

Run Home: St Kilda (home), Geelong (away), Fremantle (home), Carlton (away), Port Adelaide (home)

HAWTHORN

Ladder position: 3rd (6-1, 117.8%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “We’ve seen teams scrap their way to a flag by just finding ways to win – and I think that’s the positive for Hawthorn. They finished top four last year, so the opposition that comes up against them this year will respect them and you often play your best footy against the best teams. So Hawthorn keeps getting teams that really put their best foot forward and still find a way to win. After losing those two finals last year, what I’d be taking heart from if I’m a Hawthorn supporter or coach Daniel Webster is that despite them not always controlling games and not getting it on their own terms, they’re still finding a way to win. Plus if you look at why they were so prolific up forward last year, they had a couple of players that played significant roles while having a good run with injury. Aine McDonagh and Aileen Gilroy are just so significant – and when they’re in the team together with their long kicking, class versatility and agility, it’s really important to this group. Those two players haven’t been in the same team a lot this year due to Gilroy’s injury, but when they’re both there, the Hawks look so much better. Gilroy and Kaitlin Ashmore out have affected their outside run and dash, while Jas Fleming was out for a few weeks, so they just haven’t been able to get into a rhythm. But if I’m Hawthorn I’m excited we’ve still been able to win amid all of those challenges wins ins and outs and injuries. It means they’ve been able to teach them how to win.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: A

Run Home: Fremantle (home), Gold Coast Suns (home), Port Adelaide (away), Essendon (away), North Melbourne (home)

Dees continue win streak, Suns down GWS | 00:43

MELBOURNE

Ladder position: 2nd (6-1, 294.2%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “I don’t know (if they’re North Melbourne’s biggest challenger) because if you look at their fixture, given they finished ninth last year, they’ve got a really easy fixture. So that’s the question mark. They’ve played Western Bulldogs, St Kilda, Collingwood, Richmond, West Coast and Gold Coast. Then when they were challenged by Port Adelaide – a team who’s travelling reasonably well in terms of how they play their footy – they lost that by two points at Alberton Oval. If you’re going to be a contender to North Melbourne, you’re not dropping a game to Port Adelaide at Alberton by two points. You’ve got to be able to adjust and they just didn’t. They haven’t played anyone above eighth so far. Now they’ve got Essendon (11th), Fremantle (12th), Sydney (6th), Brisbane (7th) and Geelong (10th) – so no North Melbourne, Hawthorn, Adelaide or Carlton. You’d say they’re probably going to finish top two, but we don’t have evidence their style of football can match the Kangaroos. Everyone’s talking about them being North’s No.1 contender – because of their win-loss record. But the Demons haven’t played anyone who plays like North.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: A+

Run Home: Essendon (home), Fremantle (away), Sydney (home), Brisbane (away), Geelong (home)

NORTH MELBOURNE

Ladder position: 1st (7-0, 316.3%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “You look at their system both on-field and off-field and as a club overall, it’s elite. There’s so much that every other club can learn by what they do. They just look unshakeable. Even on the weekend when Essendon showed up and played some pretty good footy and they were scoreless in the first quarter … but they clicked into gear. Is there anything North Melbourne has done that’s surprised me? No. Should they be in the position they are based on the on-field and off-field systems, personnel and experience? Absolutely. Are they playing the way they should be? Absolutely? Are they getting the results based on all that? Absolutely. So no surprises. We’d say they weren’t performing if they weren’t on top of the ladder right now.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: A+

Run Home: Sydney (home), Richmond (away), Adelaide (home), St Kilda (home), Hawthorn (away)

Controversial umpiring call in Cats win | 01:29

PORT ADELAIDE

Ladder position: 14th (2-5, 84.3%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “They should’ve known how to put St Kilda away – and they weren’t able to do that, so a massive question mark there. Then the game against Geelong, they had that dubious call, but they should’ve still beaten Geelong at home. For me that’s probably a bit of experience in some of their young list. They’ve had some injuries around key personnel and key positions, but they’ve had some really good return, too. Indy Tahau has been a standout performer and they’ve been able to reinvent her game forward of the footy. If you look at last year and how they made it through to a prelim, you could argue they overperformed a little on where their list was at. But they certainly will be kicking themselves that they dropped the last two because they were certainly winnable – even the West Coast game too. The second-half fade-outs, what’s going on there?”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: D+

Run Home: Western Bulldogs (home), Brisbane (away), Hawthorn (home), Adelaide (away), GWS Giants (away)

RICHMOND

Ladder position: 18th (0-7, 53.9%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “I think they’re incredibly disappointing, given the personnel that they’ve got. I think there are significant question marks around the system that they’ve got around – and if it was working, the scoreboard would tell a different story. They’ve had Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, but the other teams, you’d think personnel-wise through the middle and up forward with some consistent defenders they’d be winning more games. The list doesn’t feel like a team that should be winless at the moment, so they’re incredibly disappointing. I think there are question marks around the return on investment of their program.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: F

Run Home: Adelaide (home), North Melbourne (home), Collingwood (away), Fremantle (away), Gold Coast Suns (home)

ST KILDA

Ladder position: 9th (4-3, 93.1%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “I wonder about the belief in their system. Maybe the game on the weekend against Port Adelaide with that ability to come from behind and outrun teams – like the week before against Richmond – so I wonder what their learnings are around what belief they’ve got in themselves and their system. It’s exciting for St Kilda and the way in which they played on the weekend, any team who can come back and do that has got a bit of depth about them. They’ve probably got to win three games to get into the top eight, you’d imagine. They’ve got GWS, Collingwood, Carlton, North and Western Bulldogs – and it could come down to that game at the end of the season. I think given their fixture and where they’re currently positioned, if they don’t win seven games and make finals, it’d be disappointing.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: B-

Run Home: GWS Giants (away), Collingwood (home), Carlton (away), North Melbourne (away), Western Bulldogs (home)

Record crowd sees Giants upset Swans | 00:52

SYDNEY SWANS

Ladder position: 6th (4-3, 135.4%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “We’ve seen their best and it’s really pretty, really good footy. They play a beautiful brand of footy to watch, how they move the ball is exciting. But what we learned about them in those games against Collingwood and GWS, when the inside pressure comes and they get a reasonable match-up for Chloe Molloy and she’s kept a bit quieter, they’re really relying on players up the field. Do they need more scoring opportunities in their team? Bec Privitelli has been in and out, Bailey Martin looks like a reasonable player but is super young and has been in and out and. What we’re seeing is where there are holes in their zones where they maybe don’t have the class of player in certain positions they’re going to need to be a top-four contender. But I think they have a lot of confidence in the off-field and on-field system. It’s either now get experience into their younger players or top up their personnel with spots where they’ve got gaps.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: B

Run Home: North Melbourne (away), Carlton (home), Melbourne (away), West Coast (home), Essendon (home)

WEST COAST EAGLES

Ladder position: 8th (4-3, 110.6%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “They’re just a lovely, consistent team of players. They’ve got young class in each zone. Ella Roberts is fantastic and just pops up everywhere on the field with that workrate and game sense to know where the ball is going to fall, plus her execution and decision-making is elite. But for all the talk about her, the potential class of the playing list overall is really solid. The exciting thing is there’s a level of consistency about them. That Round 2 loss to Essendon could very much be a win now and the Fremantle game they’ll be disappointed about but I think that was just a bit of age and experience. But you can see they’re building a system that’s going to be solid for a long time in the future once they get more games into this group. They’ve got a hard run home – Adelaide, Geelong, Sydney and Carlton at their best would be a challenge for them – but that’s the opportunity for them. They’re at risk of missing given their run home, but I think we’ll learn a lot more about how their growth is holding up in their last four rounds.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: A

Run Home: Collingwood (home), Adelaide (away), Geelong (home), Sydney (away), Carlton (home)

WESTERN BULLDOGS

Ladder position: 13th (2-5, 85.7%)

Chyloe Kurdas says: “If you look at the Dogs and how they played their footy against Collingwood, if they play that way for the rest of the season and leverage the personnel in the right positions at the right time, they can beat Port Adelaide, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Geelong and St Kilda. They had a terrible start to the season and they’re sitting 13th, but if they win the next five, they play finals. I think they’re all winnable games. I hope from the weekend the playing group gets a bit of belief in what the coaches are trying to do with them. The coaching staff learned a lot about, yes Ellie Blackburn in the midfield is good, but is that combination in the midfield with Isabelle Pritchard, who had her best game ever. What Ellie in the midfield does is create freedom for Issy Pritchard – who’s just getting better and better – so you get the best out of her when one of the best mid defenders is trying to account for Ellie Blackburn. You play Ellie as a mid with rests forward, she can be damaging in both zones.”

Foxfooty.com.au mid-season grade: C

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