THE PRACTICE games are on the horizon, so now is the perfect time to make an AFLW Fantasy team for 2025.
Ever since the AFLW Fantasy game opened, my team has cycled through any number of structures and Fantasy players.
With there still being two weeks before the first lockout, and without the chance to see a lot of players in a pre-season hitout, my team is still in a state of flux.
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This article, instead of going line-by-line, talking about why I have picked different players, breaks my team into four categories, based on how likely they are to be in my final team:
- The Guarantees: Players who haven't left the squad and aren't changing in the foreseeable future;
- The Highly Likelys: Marginally less confident, but on the whole, they have been consistently in my draft squads, and have very few flags or question marks;
- The Probables: Players with great upside but come with more risk, be it because of role, health, or price; and
- The Possibles: The players who have most consistently changed, and who will almost certainly not be the same in a fortnight.
This should hopefully closely mirror how you go building out an AFLW squad!
The Guarantees
Ebony Marinoff (MID, $1,876,000), Kiara Bowers (MID, $1,159,000), Bonnie Toogood (FWD, $501,000), Zippy Fish (MID, $404,000), Ash Centra (MID, $420,000)
Building this squad, Ebony Marinoff is the first port of call. Yes, she is extremely expensive. Yes, it's not always good process to pick someone without much value. However, with the need to have a captain week-to-week, and the gap between Noffy and every other option in the game, I cannot go past picking her. To justify the extreme Noffy price tag, Kiara Bowers and Bonnie Toogood both need to be locked into the squad. Both present substantial value, and have the proven capacity to score at a top-five level in midfield and forward line.
It should also come as no surprise that the other two locks in my squad are rookies. Ash Centra and Zippy Fish were both picked early in the 2024 AFLW Draft, and all signs point to them being given plum scoring roles to start the season. Pre-season reports on Fish suggest that she'll start her career as a running half-back, replacing the scoring (and kick-ins) which left when Ella Heads went to Port Adelaide. Centra might float among the lines, but with the possibility of some midfield minutes, and with the best underage scoring pedigree we've seen from any No.1 draft pick, I am willing to trust that she'll score no matter where she is played.
The Highly Likelys
Serene Watson (DEF, $876,000), Eleanor Brown (DEF, $425,000), Georgie Prespakis (MID, $948,000), Angelique Stannett (FWD, $766,000)
Before the platform opened, doing my pre-preseason research, the defenders looked to be the most difficult line to pick, with a small pool of players with immediately identifiable value. In that small pool though, were Serene Watson and Eleanor Brown. Watson scored at a top five level after Week 3 in 2024 (70+), after St Kilda realised that her kicking was a genuine weapon out of D50, and her intercept marking was an asset they had previously lacked. She ought to have a lion's share of the kick ins again, so I have little cause to believe that her elite scoring won't continue.
Brown's value proposition is very different. Having left the Western Bulldogs for GWS - which is in dire need of experienced defenders - and with a double discount due to not playing in seasons seven and eight, there are very few options who present such predictable value at below $500k.
Georgie Prespakis struggled to get going in 2024, much like Geelong, missing games through injury and not quite being fit on her return. With a ceiling well in excess of 100 points, this midfielder is priced 20-30 points below what she is capable of when healthy. There is one small flag: her damaging disposal makes her a tag target for opposition teams, but those tags are stomachable when she is so cheap.
Ange Stannett is another piece I'm adding to the forward line who comes in with an injury discount. I am not expecting an average over 80, but I am relatively confident that her scoring can match the 73.9 she did in 2023 playing a mid-fwd role. Part of that confidence comes from her being captain of Fremantle, meaning she's sure to get some time in the midfield, or at a bare minimum, as the high half forward rolling up to stoppages.
The Probables
Lauren Butler (FWD, $458,000), Lucille Cronin (DEF, $598,000), Charlie Rowbottom (MID, $1,377,000), Chloe Molloy (FWD, $891,000), Ally Morphett (RUC, $1,018,000), Maddison Gay (DEF, $1,065,000)
This is where things start to get a little bit more questionable, with a number of these players currently in the squad but with some red flags on their scoring role or health.
Lauren Butler and Lucy Cronin are both expected to be playing in defence for Collingwood, never a bad proposition when the Pies are expected to sit near the bottom of the ladder again in 2025. Butler has the scoring pedigree in that role (52avg in season 6 and 58avg in season 7), but she was thrown forward in 2024. Cronin's scoring was a bit of a rollercoaster in her rookie year, but with a handful of 70s and 80s interspersed in the back half of the year. Are both able to coexist as scorers in that defence? I will need to watch the Pies' practice match to figure that out.
Charlie Rowbottom was a top two premium in the first half of last year (118avg) but looked noticeably hobbled after the Suns' double game week, only hitting 100+ once in the final five games. She's a dominant scorer at her best, and I back her to improve, but I cannot shake the uncertainty that the Suns may look to shift their game style under new coach Rhyce Shaw, and that Rowbottom's crash and bash stoppage dominance takes a less prominent role due to the AFLW's rule changes.
Molloy and Morphett's spots in my squad all rest on their fitness - Morphett hasn't finished a season healthy in her young career, and Molloy is coming off an ACL. They are currently in the squad because they are both capable of top-three scoring, with Morphett in particular having the ability to push into the 90s. This is in spite of my concerns about the ruck and holding ball rule ranges potentially subduing some scorers who rely on stoppages for points. Both Morphett and Molloy have parachute options at their price point (Matilda Scholz and Goldsworth/Moloney/Wardlaw respectively) if their preseason form meets my expectations.
Maddison Gay is a little different to the rest of the players in this category. I have no question about her scoring or her role. In fact, I think she has headroom on her ‘24 average of 82.3 (read more here in the defenders article). My issue is the cost and the weakness of my D4, F4 and F5 as a result (more about the forwards later). In spite of my belief in the likelihood of elite scoring again, I may baulk at her price and trim down an underpriced premium (Thomas, Goodwin, Georgostathis) if my cheap forwards aren't up to snuff in the pre-season.
Also in consideration: Darcy Vescio (FWD, $469,000), Lily Postlethwaite (DEF, $643,000), Monique Conti (MID, $1,248,000), Gabby Newton (MID, $982,000), Matilda Scholz (RUC, $934,000), Zarlie Goldsworthy (FWD, $1,001,000), Aisling Moloney (FWD, $878,000), Caitlin Gould (FWD, $899,000), Charlotte Thomas (DEF, $911,000), Sarah Goodwin (DEF, $752,000)
The Possibles
Jade Ellenger (DEF, $824,000), Lou Field (DEF, $300,000), Katelyn Cox (FWD, $300,000), Piper Dunlop (RUC, $300,000), Erone Fitzpatrick (MID, $429,000), Hannah Ewings (FWD, $466,000), Ally Morphett (RUC, $1,018,000)
Ellenger is the only premium in this category and has an awkward spot in the squad. Her finals scoring and CBA heavy role merit selection, but Brisbane has so many levers to pull when it comes to the roles that Ellenger can play (HB, Wing, 4th CBA mid), so I am low in confidence without having seen a practice match to confirm where Ellender will line up.
Field and Cox both joined the squad recently, as both looked excellent in the Carlton vs Richmond match simulation (the only one that was live streamed). The D6 and F6 spots always rotate substantially at this time of the pre-season, so why not go with two that I have seen and who looked to both be 40+ averaging options. A similar theory is applied to the selection of Piper Dunlop, the Geelong rookie, who based on eyewitness reports, was the No.1 ruck option for the Cats in their match simulation. If that changes, and Erica Fowler (who appears to have missed the game with a "chest contusion") is the preferred ruck, Fowler would almost immediately jump into my team over Dunlop.
Erone Fitzpatrick is the one player who most impressed me in the two match simulations I saw (having also trekked out to the bitterly cold Casey Fields). Playing as a HF and inside mid, Ronny was the most impactful and electric player for the Blues, far exceeding her $427k price point. Some of that was done with Maddy Guerin off the ground with injury. However, If Fitzpatrick manages to look as lively vs GWS in the practice match, particularly if Guerin is also playing, I might be willing to take on the risk of this overpriced rookie in my utility.
To round this team I have Hannah Ewings: the player that I have the least confidence in making it to my Round 1 squad. I am unsure of what role she has in a stacked Adelaide team, and her fitness to run out games. She made this draft team on sheer name value - a former Rising Star winner with a ceiling in the 90s - combined 30 per cent discount on her 2023 average of 45. I will be laser focussed on Ewings in her practice match, but her spot in the squad is extremely shaky. If I make any haircuts (say to D1, R1, or M2), this is the spot I'll be looking to spend the cash first.
Also in consideration: Elisabeth Georgostathis (DEF, $732,000), Maggie Gorham (DEF, $631,000), Isabel Bacon (DEF, $321,000), Lara Hausegger (DEF, $397,000),), Grace Kos (FWD, $300,000), Shanae Davison (FWD, $308,000), Erica Fowler (RUC, $300,000), Courtney Murphy (RUC, $300,000), Liz McGrath (RUC, $499,000), Rene Caris (RUC, $424,000), Brooke Boileau (FWD, $440,000), Sierra Greaves (MID, $380,000), Molly O'Hehir (MID, $412,000), Sara Howley (MID, $406,000), Paige Scott (FWD, $477,000), Taylah Levy (FWD, $475,000), Kalinda Howarth (FWD, $549,000)
There we go, that's the full squad of 21 players, with a remarkable $0 of remaining salary (which makes me quite nervous).
Hopefully this was helpful in spelling out how my squad is currently looking, and which most spots are the most likely to change in the next fortnight.
