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AFLW Draft

Rules by Year

11 list-building cycles since 2016 · 18 clubs

  1. 2016

    For Season 1, 2017

    1. Marquee, priority and rookie signings
    2. 12 OctDraft
    • Two marquee players a club, from any state, on a higher wage.
    • Priority players with existing ties to the club.
    • Up to two rookies who had not played Australian football in the previous three years.
    • State-based draft: players nominated a state, and only that state's clubs could take them.
    • Draft order by random draw, run as a snake: the first pick of round one also had the last of round two.
  2. 2017

    For Season 2, 2018

    1. 15 MayFirst trade period
    2. 18 OctDraft
    3. 20 OctRookie draft
    • Clubs could trade players and draft picks for the first time, over 12 days.
    • A one-off rookie draft for players under 21 or crossing from another sport.
    • Lists of 30: 27 senior and three rookies.
  3. 2018

    For Season 3, 2019

    1. 11 MayExpansion signings, ten days
    2. 23 OctDraft
    • Geelong and North Melbourne could sign at most four players between them from any one existing club.
    • Geelong and North Melbourne picked at the end of each round, with compensation picks to Geelong and to clubs that lost players.
    • Victorian players nominated one of three zones: Geelong, Melbourne metro or the whole state.
    • First father-daughter selection: Abbie McKay, Carlton, pick 16.
  4. 2019

    For Season 4, 2020

    1. 8 AprPre-listings and expansion signings
    2. 22 OctDraft
    • The new clubs could pre-list up to 10 players from their academies or development zones, at most seven of them open-age.
    • Each new club could sign up to 12 players from existing clubs. Existing clubs could lose at most four, Brisbane and Fremantle eight.
    • Contracts of one or two years.
    • Draft pools by state or metropolitan region.
    • First academy bids matched: Richmond and West Coast.
    • A train-on list: clubs could replace players with long-term injuries before round one.
  5. 2020

    For Season 5, 2021

    1. 3 AugTrade period, delayed by COVID-19
    2. 6 OctDraft
    • Richmond and West Coast were given picks 15 and 16 to trade for established players, and could not take picks back in those trades.
  6. 2021

    For Season 6, 2022

    1. 31 MayTrade period
    2. 27 JulDraft
    • Special assistance for Gold Coast, Geelong, West Coast, St Kilda and Richmond: extra early picks and, for some, mature-age signings.
    • Contracts of one or two years.
  7. 2022

    For Season 7, 2022

    1. Pre-listings and expansion signings
    2. 29 JunDraft
    • The new clubs pre-listed open-age and academy players and signed players off existing lists.
    • A second season in one calendar year: Season 6 ran from January, Season 7 from August.
  8. 2023

    For Season 8, 2023

    1. 1 MarPriority Signing Period
    2. 10 MarSign-and-trade period
    3. 4 AprSupplementary draft
    • Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Sydney could sign players with three or more AFLW seasons from other clubs.
    • Clubs that lost players got compensation picks in bands, used in the December 2023 draft.
    • A one-off national draft for players over 19.
  9. 2023

    For Season 9, 2024

    1. 14 NovExpansion under-18 pre-signings
    2. 7 DecTrade period
    3. 18 DecDraft
    • The draft moved to December, after the season, as the men's does.
    • An eleven-club trade on the last day of the trade period: twelve players and 24 picks.
    • Players could opt in to a national pool. Nearly 70 per cent did.
  10. 2024

    For Season 10, 2025

    1. 5 DecTrade period
    2. 16 DecDraft
    • A fully national draft for the first time.
    • Draftees on contracts of at least two years.
  11. 2025

    For Season 11, 2026

    1. 4 DecTrade period
    2. 15 DecDraft
    3. 4 May 2026Pre-season draft
    • Future picks could be traded for the first time.
    • An assistance package for Greater Western Sydney.
    • The first pre-season draft, in place of most inactive-list and replacement signings.