The full fixture was released on Friday 9 December 2016. Notable features of the draw include:
and featured in the league's first ever match, the match was initially scheduled to be held at Collingwood's home Olympic Park Oval, but was moved in January 2017 to the higher capacity Ikon Park due to higher than expected interest.
, Carlton, and the each had four home games, while all other clubs had three.
Adelaide, and Fremantle each hosted matches at grounds outside of their home metropolitan area with trips to Darwin, Canberra and Mandurah respectively. Fremantle played their home game against Carlton at Domain Stadium, the home ground of the men's team, as part of a double-header which also included an AFL pre-season match between the same two clubs.
The Western Bulldogs featured in the most free-to-air televised matches, Collingwood and had three each, Adelaide had two and all other clubs had only one.
Many games were played in the late morning and late afternoon to avoid the summer heat, especially in Brisbane and Western Australia.
All starting times are local.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Win/Loss table
Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin
This table can be sorted by margin, winners are represented in the first half of each column, and losers are represented in the second half of each column once sorted
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
GF
Ladder
1
2
X
4
X
5
X
7
X
8
X
3
X
6
Ladder
Ladder progression
Numbers highlighted in green indicates the team finished the round inside the top 2.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished in first place on the ladder in that round.
Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round.
In the absence of a finals series, the two teams who finished the highest on the ladder at the end of the home and away season played in the AFL Women's Grand Final. finished as the minor premiers and secured a spot in the grand final at the end of round six; 's round seven win over saw them secure the second spot in the grand final over due to a higher percentage. It was confirmed in February by AFL Chief Executive Officer, Gillon McLachlan, that the team finishing highest on the ladder at the end of the season would earn the right to host the grand final in their home state. The match was originally planned to be held at the Gabba, however due to its ground surface being in a dangerous state, the grand final was moved to Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast as a curtain raiser to the versus AFL match.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the player led the season's goal kicking tally at the end of that round.
Player
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Total
1
Darcy Vescio
44
26
17
18
311
314
014
14
2
Sarah Perkins
11
23
03
14
26
17
411
11
3
Kate McCarthy
11
01
23
25
27
18
18
9
3
Alyssa Mifsud
00
11
34
26
06
17
29
9
5
Erin Phillips
33
03
14
15
05
05
38
8
6
Moana Hope
00
11
01
12
13
25
27
7
6
Phoebe McWilliams
11
12
24
04
04
26
17
7
8
Jess Cameron
00
11
12
03
13
14
26
6
8
Ellie Blackburn
11
01
01
12
35
05
16
6
All-Australian team
The final All-Australian team was announced on 28 March. Grand finalists and had the most representatives with five each, and every team had at least one representative. captain Daisy Pearce was announced as the All-Australian captain and Adelaide co-captain Erin Phillips was announced as the vice-captain.
In mid-July the AFL announced a State of Origin representative match would be held for AFL Women's players during the AFL season pre-finals bye. A team of players born in Victoria would play a single exhibition match against a team of players from the rest of Australia at Etihad Stadium on the evening of Saturday 2 September. Initial squads for the match were announced on 25 July including that AFLW football operations manager Debbie Lee would coach Victoria, while premiership coach Bec Goddard, would coach the Allies.
