Following the conclusion of Season 10 of the AFLW home and away season, the AFL have released some key metrics surrounding the game.
With rule changes and adjustments made almost every year, many to try and facilitate better results in these metrics, the league says 2025 has overall produced the fastest, highest-scoring football the competition has ever seen.
According to newly released AFL data, every major metric has improved this year. Scoring, ball movement, and attacking efficiency have all hit record highs, thanks in large part to a suite of recent rule changes designed to open the game up.
Teams are now averaging 41.2 points per game, up 9.6% from 2024 and the highest figure in the league's history. Adjusted to match the men's game length, which equates to an impressive 84.3 points, almost identical to AFL averages for the first time.
It's long been bemoaned by AFLW fans that comparing the men's and women's leagues serves little purpose, as the games are vastly different, at different stages of development and athletes are on differing contracts, however, the AFL stipulates that "this is purely for context only... we don't usually compare this data between the competitions, and it doesn't reflect any desire to obtain the same numbers across both."
With that in mind, the lift in scoring has been underpinned by a 14.3% rise in shots on goal, up from 12.6 to 14.4 per team per game, and a record 33.8 inside fifties, marking a 6.3% increase from last year. The AFL says ball movement from defensive half to forward half is faster and cleaner than ever, with far fewer stoppages slowing the play.
While inside 50s are up and scoring is too, inaccuracy still plagues the league. There are more shots at goal, but conversion can be patchy, a perfect example was Friday night's final between the Kangaroos and Hawks.
While North Melbourne have dominated all season comparatively, their efficiency inside fifty only sat at 36.4% with 12 behinds for the game, and the Hawthorn at a staggeringly low 7.1% efficiency with just three points.
Stoppages have been a key talking point all season, and this season has seen a 36.1% reduction in them, but there is good reason for this.
This year, the AFL introduced an adjustment to the holding the ball, announcing that they would be amending the interpretation of this rule to be stricter on "no genuine attempt to dispose of the ball when tackled with no prior opportunity."
This has seen a season average of 43 stoppages per game, but the flow of the game overall can be brought into question.
Earlier this season, ESPN wrote that "under the current interpretation, too often it's beginning to look as though players are being punished simply for being first to the contest, with players who take clean possession being immediately wrapped up and penalised before they have any realistic chance to dispose of it," and this sentiment persists across the league today.
While the result has meant fewer stoppages, instead of encouraging attack on the footy, the rule is inadvertently rewarding those who hang off the contest and wait for an opponent to make a mistake.
Players are hesitating, and it throws the "see-ball-get-ball" mentality of the sport into detriment.
So, while these numbers might look favourable, it is not without its other side.
Some may argue that fewer stoppages make the game more "watchable" but if you're sitting with fervent frustration at pedantic and inconsistent umpiring, the argument can be made that it becomes less enjoyable to spectate.
Further research shows teams are transitioning from defence to attack at a record 17.4 % of the time, up 10.1 %, and gaining more ground with the ball, averaging 2036 effective metres per match, numbers which do appear to reflect the growing fitness and agility of athletes out on the park.
The offensive boost has been felt across the competition. Eleven teams improved their scoring output from last season, and six clubs averaged over forty-five points per game - double the number that reached that mark in 2024. Fourteen sides also improved their effective metres gained, highlighting the broader lift in attacking play.
There is no question that season ten has brought with it, a sense of evolution, now with all sides having reached a finals series and young players storming the league with skill unmatched in previous years, however there is room for further improvement, and further rule tweaks may be one of them.