2018 AFL Women's Under-18 Championships


The 2018 NAB AFL Women's Under-18 Championships was played between May and July 2018, with six teams competing in the main 'Series 2' round robin tournament and with a further four playing in a two-match on-on-one exhibition as the competition's initial 'Series 1'.

Format

The competition was opened with 'Series 1', a set of closed competitions between four pairs of teams representing the country's eight largest states and territories. In 'Series 2' teams representing Vic Country, Vic Metro, Queensland and Western Australia were joined by Central and Eastern Allies teams representing teams of the combined regions of Northern Territory and South Australia as well as New South Wales, ACT and Tasmania. Each team played a total of three matches in that series.
Vic Country finished the round-robin 'Series 2' as the only team undefeated in that series, making them the de facto tournament winners. The competition's best player award was jointly won by Vic Country's Nina Morrison and by the previous year's outright winner, Maddy Prespakis of Vic Metro.

All-Australian team

The 2018 Women's All-Australian team was decided following an all-star exhibition match between members of the 48-player squad. 13 of the players named were 'top-aged' and draft eligible that year, while the remaining nine were 'bottom-aged'.

Initial squad

NSW/ACT: Brianna McFarlane, Alexia Hamilton, Alyce ParkerNorthern Territory: Janet BairdQueensland: Lauren Bella, Belle Dawes, Kitara Farrar, Nat Grider, Tori Groves-Little, Charlotte Hammans, Dee Heslop, Lily Postlethwaite, Serene Watson, Jacqui YorstonSouth Australia: Nikki Gore, Montana McKinnon, Katelyn RosenzweigTasmania: Mia KingVictoria Country: Jordyn Allen, Rene Caris, Georgia Clarke, Lucinda Cripps, Tyla Hanks, Courtney Jones, Lucy McEvoy, Nina Morrison, Olivia Purcell, Denby Taylor, Sophie Van De Heuvel, Rebecca WebsterVictoria Metro: Daisy Bateman, Eleanor Brown, Mikala Cann, Isabella Grant, Katie Lynch, Hannah McLaren, Abbie McKay, Georgia MacPherson, Gabby Newton, Georgia Patrikios, Maddy Prespakis, Emerson WoodsWestern Australia: Kate Bartlett, Mikayla Bowen, McKenzie Dowrick, Sabreena Duffy, Rikki Ryan-Carling, Matilda Sergeant

Team MVPs

At the conclusion of the tournament each competing team named their best player for the tournament. The winner of these 'most valuable player' awards are as follows:
TeamPlayer
NSW/ACTAlyce Parker
Northern TerritoryTabitha May
QueenslandNat Grider
South AustraliaMontana McKinnon
TasmaniaMia King
Vic CountryNina Morrison
Vic MetroMaddy Prespakis
Western AustraliaSabreena Duffy
Central Allies Janet Baird
Eastern Allies Alyce Parker