AFL WOMEN’S Power Rankings: Round 3 2018

The AFL Women’s ladder became more interesting this week, with the three undefeated teams after Round 2 – Carlton, Melbourne, and the Western Bulldogs – all losing this week.

The Dogs lost to a resurgent Adelaide side that was bolstered by the return of Erin Phillips. Phillips re-iterated her status as the greatest player in the land by scoring four out of her team’s six goals in her first match back from injury. Carlton – who had a relatively easy fixture up to this point – were comfortably beaten at home by a good side in Brisbane. And Melbourne was upset by Fremantle, despite having ten more entries inside 50s than their opponents, as the Dockers kicked six goals and no behinds.

Where does this leave how I rate the teams then?

• Collingwood, who are the only winless team, look to be a step below everyone else. Count the Magpies out for this year.
• Fremantle and GWS – the two bottom sides from last year – seem to have made up some ground. Carlton is probably somewhere near those sides, having beaten GWS at home and Collingwood. All of these teams are still a chance to make the Grand Final, but would need to improve slightly.
• Four sides look to be pretty close at the top: the Western Bulldogs, the Brisbane Lions, Melbourne, and the Adelaide Crows. The Crows, missing Phillips in their first two games, are a win and a heap of percentage behind the others; however they are fortunate that the top sides haven’t got further away from them in the meantime. The Dogs, Lions, and Demons, all have two wins and similar percentages, and as things currently stand I think they all have similar chances of taking home the flag this year.