The AFLW is speeding up and these numbers prove it

Ask a regular punter down the street what they think of AFLW and there's a good chance you'll get some version of "it's improving every year".

While this is not intended to be dismissive of those pioneers who helped lay the groundwork for the league a decade later, there is clear evidence that games are faster, more competitive, and more entertaining than ever.

And yes, there are teams still dwelling down the bottom, struggling to grow alongside the rest of the competition, but there is increasing pressure on those clubs to make adjustments in order to catch up.

The numbers are stark. Average scores are the highest they've ever been as metrics across the competition indicate increasing strategic control, and a growing desire to move the ball to attack, rather than focus wholly on defending the opposition.

Over the opening seven rounds of the 2026 season, teams are kicking an average of 45.6 points per game. This is an increase of 4.6 points compared to the previous all-time high of 41.1 points struck last year.

Of the 18 clubs, only four have failed to average a higher score in 2026 compared to 2025: Brisbane (-9.8 points per game), North Melbourne (-5.2), Port Adelaide (-18.5), and St Kilda (-7.2).

In line with this, inside 50s (avg. 35.1) and shots on goal (avg. 15.4) are at an all-time high, as are goal assists (avg. 4.2), all suggesting greater nuance in the attacking style employed by clubs.

Scoring is ultimately the end product of the way sides are moving the ball down the ground. Early days of AFLW were stoppage and tackle-heavy, keeping things caught in a rolling maul for extended periods of time.

But as we've seen fitness, skill, and strategy develop, the capacity to move the ball on the outside has become a weapon for a host of sides. 

Rule changes last year — specifically, the adjudication of holding the ball — forced stoppages down from an average of 67 per game in 2024, to 44 in 2025.

That number has dropped again by 2.9 per game, which is another indicator of that desire to spread away from contest and use the ball in a more productive way.

Fewer sides are relying on resetting the ground via a stoppage in order to regain control.

Fremantle has been the clearest proponent of this shift. In 2025 it was caught out, relying heavily on a contested possession game, the late news that the holding the ball interpretation had been changed throwing the club out of sorts. No longer could heavy contest be the solution, and adjusting on the run was tough work.

This year, the Dockers have moved away from that contested game, averaging a positive uncontested possession differential for the first time in their 11-season history, and are reaping the benefits of the shift.

It is just one example of increased reliance on outside ball, with uncontested possession at an all-time high of 142.4 per game, up 10.2 on last year's record, while contested possession has marginally dropped. Disposal efficiency has also shot up to a record 63.6 per cent.

Teams are establishing far more control in game with ball in hand and enjoying a greater connection between lines.

Transition the key for improving sides

Clubs have opted to go one of two ways with their ball movement this year. The likes of Richmond, Hawthorn, and Adelaide have leaned into kick-mark football, choosing to control play with systematic build up. Whereas teams like Geelong, Gold Coast, and Carlton have taken the AFLW by storm with aggressive run and carry, moving the ball by hand and at speed.

Both methods have been beneficial in the increase in end-to-end transition throughout the season, with defensive half to inside 50 movement up to 20.6 per cent from 18.6 per cent last year, and defensive 50 to inside 50 movement also up by two per cent. This is combined with effective metres gained rising by 120 per game as well.

There has been AFLW-wide growth in handball metres gained with the average going from 160.7 last year to 224.5 this year, led by the Suns (+197) and Geelong (+130). A shift in Collingwood's game style has also seen it grow in this area (+119) and Carlton (+90) has doubled down on this after making its big move in this area last year.

It's hard to quantify the increased trust teams have in their system and willingness to attack, rather than simply rely on defence. With long kicks down the line marginally down — an indicator of the preference to build the ball up rather than opt for a bail out kick — and the aforementioned uncontested possession and stoppage metrics, there has been a clear move toward system, structure, and attack.

It requires teams to go into matches with faith that their system will do the job, rather than simply planning for how to stymie the opposition's style of play.

So, when that punter says that the AFLW is improving every year, they are correct, but this year more than ever. And the numbers back it up.