Gold Coast Suns Women

Australia

Founded

2019

Arena

People First Stadium · 22,500 cap

In September 2017, Gold Coast were granted a license by the AFL to compete in the AFL Women's league from the start of the 2020 season. The club plays most home games at Carrara Stadium, though has occasionally played at Fankhauser Reserve in nearby Southport, and the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay. The Suns women won only two of their sixteen matches across the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Inaugural coach David Lake left the club at the end of the 2021 season. Lake was replaced by former North Melbourne football manager Cameron Joyce in June 2021.

Western Bulldogs Bulldogs Women

Australia

Founded

2013

Arena

Mars Stadium

In June 2013, the Western Bulldogs fielded a women's football side against Melbourne in the first AFL-sanctioned women's exhibition match, held at the MCG. The two teams competed annually over the next three years for the Hampson-Hardeman Cup. In 2016, when the AFL announced plans for AFL Women's, an eight team national women's league competition, the Bulldogs were asked to submit an application for a license alongside other AFL clubs. The club was one of four Melbourne-based clubs to be granted a license that year. The club's first players were marquee signings Katie Brennan and Ellie Blackburn. They were joined in August by priority player Emma Kearney who had previously worked in an off-field role at the club. In October, the club completed its inaugural playing list by adding 22 other senior listed and two rookie players in the league's draft and signing period. Former Monash Blues (VAFA) coach Paul Groves was named as the team's first head coach and football manager in August 2016. The following month, the club signed three-year sponsorship agreements with Priceline, Bob Jane T-Marts and Pancake Parlour. The team's training base and administrative headquarters are located alongside the men's team at the Whitten Oval, and as part of the initial application, it plans to play home games at Whitten Oval, Eureka Stadium and Docklands Stadium. The club has also fielded a team in the second-tier VFL Women's league since 2016, the league's inaugural year.