2018 VFL season

The 2018 Victorian Football League season was the 137th season of the Victorian Football Association/Victorian Football League Australian rules football competition. The competition ran between April 2018 and September 2018. The premiership was won by the Box Hill Football Club, after it defeated Casey in the Grand Final on 23 September 2018 by 10 points.

2018 VFL
Teams15
PremiersBox Hill
(3rd premiership)
Minor premiersRichmond reserves
(1st minor premiership)
Leading goalkickerNick Larkey (North Melbourne reserves
J. J. Liston TrophyMichael Gibbons (Williamstown)
Anthony Miles (Richmond reserves)

League membership

There were several changes to the league's membership and alignments between the 2017 and 2018 seasons, with North Melbourne reserves joining the competition, Frankston rejoining, and North Ballarat departing, resulting in a total membership of 15.

The Frankston Football Club returned to the competition after a one-year hiatus. AFL Victoria had terminated the club's licence at the end of the 2016 season due to its unviable financial position, which saw it in administration owing more than $1,500,000.[1][2][3] The club embarked on a campaign during 2017 to assure its long-term viability, which included signing up 1200 members and working to improve its relationship with the local leagues as a pathway for Mornington Peninsula footballers into state football. The club then applied for and was re-granted its VFL licence for the 2018 season.[4]

At the end of 2017, the ten-year reserves affiliation between the AFL's North Melbourne Football Club and the VFL's Werribee Football Club came to an end. North Melbourne entered its reserves team in the VFL seniors, the first time that team had competed in the competition. Werribee continued to field a stand-alone senior team in the VFL.[5] The teams continued to share a home ground, with all Werribee home games and most North Melbourne home games played at the newly upgraded Avalon Airport Oval in Werribee until North Melbourne's traditional home at Arden Street Oval was brought to VFL standard in mid-2019.[6]

After the 2017 home-and-away season had concluded, AFL Victoria suspended North Ballarat's playing licence. The club had endured two years of off-field instability since the termination of its partial reserves affiliation with AFL club North Melbourne. This had included: multiple changes of personnel at executive and board level; the compulsory acquisition of its home ground Eureka Stadium in early 2017; and difficulties in governance associated with the club's attentions being divided between its VFL team and the North Ballarat City team it operated in the Ballarat Football League. AFL Victoria determined that the club's governance had deteriorated to the point that it no longer met the minimum requirements for a VFL licence. The club's poor on-field performances – a combined win-loss record in 2016 and 2017 of 4–32 – was also a factor. The suspension brought to an end North Ballarat's 22-year association with the VFL, which included three premierships. AFL Victoria maintains an interest in maintaining an ongoing VFL presence in Ballarat, and as of February 2019 there were ongoing discussions between AFL Victoria and club's board on a model for re-entry of the club as a new or rebranded Ballarat team in the competition, but no agreement has been reached.[7]

Another significant change to the VFL's structure prior to 2018 was the abolition of the Development League competition, ending 90 years of VFA/VFL seconds/reserve grade football dating back to the 1920s. Under the new arrangement, VFL-listed players from all clubs will play for local affiliated suburban competitions when not playing senior football for their club – the structure which was already in place for the clubs with no Development League team. The decision was made for a number of reasons, including rising costs, difficulties with scheduling, shortages of manpower within the clubs, and to improve relationships with suburban football. The clubs fielding Development League teams generally opposed the change, concerned that the pathway between suburban or under-18s football and the VFL would be affected. In particular, the clubs involved in affiliations with AFL clubs, where most of the senior players on any given week are AFL-listed reserves players, were concerned that they would be reduced to having almost no players of their own, reducing their identity or utility as football clubs.[8]

Ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts Qualification
1 Richmond 18 14 4 0 1911 1198 159.5 56 Qualification to Finals series
2 Casey Demons 18 14 4 0 1593 1128 141.2 56
3 Geelong 18 13 5 0 1574 1074 146.6 52
4 Williamstown 18 13 5 0 1496 1171 127.8 52
5 Collingwood 18 12 6 0 1628 1220 133.4 48
6 Box Hill Hawks (P) 18 12 6 0 1634 1288 126.9 48
7 Port Melbourne 18 10 8 0 1536 1436 107.0 40
8 Essendon 18 9 9 0 1502 1237 121.4 36
9 Footscray 18 8 10 0 1378 1442 95.6 32
10 North Melbourne 18 8 10 0 1436 1696 84.7 32
11 Werribee 18 7 11 0 1488 1680 88.6 28
12 Northern Blues 18 6 12 0 1256 1643 76.4 24
13 Sandringham 18 5 12 1 1317 1593 82.7 22
14 Frankston 18 2 16 0 964 2068 46.6 8
15 Coburg 18 1 16 1 1116 1955 57.1 6
Updated to match(es) played on 23 August 2018. Source: SportsTG
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.

Finals

Qualifying and Elimination Finals
Qualifying Finals
Saturday 1 September (2:10 pm) Casey Demons 20.9 (129) def. Geelong 4.14 (38) Casey Fields [9]
Saturday 1 September (7:10 pm) Richmond 8.7 (55) def. by Williamstown 11.14 (80) Swinburne Centre [9]
Elimination Finals
Saturday 1 September (2:10 pm) Box Hill Hawks 13.18 (96) (a.e.t.) def. Port Melbourne 13.7 (85) Stannards Stadium [9]
Sunday 2 September (2:10 pm) Collingwood 11.14 (80) def. by Essendon 18.6 (114) Stannards Stadium [10]
  • The elimination final between Box Hill and Port Melbourne was decided in extra time. Box Hill 11.17 (83) was level with Port Melbourne 13.5 (83) after four quarters, and Box Hill kicked two goals during the extra time periods to win the game by eleven points.[9]

Semi Finals
Semi Finals
Saturday 8 September (2:10 pm) Richmond 9.10 (64) def. by Essendon 10.9 (69) Stannards Stadium [11]
Sunday 9 September (2:10 pm) Geelong 8.13 (61) def. by Box Hill Hawks 13.12 (90) Stannards Stadium [11]

Preliminary Finals
Preliminary Finals
Saturday 15 September (2:10 pm) Casey Demons 10.13 (73) def. Essendon 10.5 (65) Stannards Stadium
Sunday 16 September (2:10 pm) Williamstown 13.12 (90) def. by Box Hill Hawks 13.13 (91) Stannards Stadium

Grand Final
2018 VFL Grand Final
Sunday 23 September (3:20 pm) Casey Demons def. by Box Hill Hawks Marvel Stadium (crowd: 12,884) [12]
4.4 (28)
5.9 (39)
8.11 (59)
 8.14 (62)		 Q1
Q2
Q3
 Final		 1.1 (7)
3.4 (22)
7.8 (50)
 10.12 (72)		 Umpires: Howorth, Rebeschini & Talbot
Norm Goss Memorial Medal: David Mirra (Box Hill)
Television broadcast: Seven Network
Bugg, Kennedy Harris, Lefau, Lockhart, Machaya, Pedersen, Scott, Smith Goals D. Moore 3; Hanrahan, Jones, Lovell, A. Moore, O'Brien, O'Rourke, Ross
  • Box Hill won the premiership after finishing sixth on the ladder, the first occasion in VFA/VFL history that the eventual premier did not finish in one of the top four positions on the ladder.[12]

Awards

Notable events
  • During the season, a provisional license was granted to AFL Tasmania to allow for the return of a Tasmanian team to the VFL commencing in 2021. Tasmania had not been represented in the VFL since the departure of the Tasmanian Devils Football Club at the end of 2008.[15]
  • In Round 11, Sandringham 0.9 (9) lost to Williamstown 11.11 (77) in a game at Williamstown affected by torrential rain and sheets of stagnant water on the ground. It was the lowest score in Sandringham's history, and the first time a team had been held goalless in a VFA/VFL match since Northcote in 1919. Eight of Williamstown's eleven goals came in the final quarter.[16] Three rounds later, the North Melbourne reserves 0.7 (7) were also held goalless in rain-affected match, losing to Casey 5.14 (44), for the lowest score in its brief VFL history.[17]
  • In Round 14, Coburg 12.7 (79) drew Sandringham 11.13 (79), in a match that ended in unusual circumstances. Sandringham forward Doulton Langlands had been awarded a free kick from 45 metres out just as the siren sounded, and his initial kick failed to make the distance. However, umpire Andrew Mitchell awarded a 50-metre penalty as one of the Coburg trainers ran through the mark as Langlands was taking his kick. The resulting penalty meant that Langlands retook his shot from the goal square, from which he kicked the goal and denied Coburg its first win for the season.[18]
  • In three late season matches (Coburg vs Werribee in Round 18, Northern vs Coburg in Round 19, and Northern vs Sandringhamin Round 20), AFL Victoria trialled two rule changes it was considering for introduction nationally: the "6–6–6 rule", requiring six players from each team to be standing inside each 50m arc at a centre bound; and the extension of the goal square from 9m to 18m.[19][20] The 6–6–6 rule was adopted in 2019, while the extended goal square was not.
  • In the Qualifying Final between Richmond and Williamstown, the floodlights at Swinburne Centre went out due to overheating globes with around five minutes remaining in the third quarter. The match was delayed for twenty minutes, with three-quarter time taken immediately and the remaining five minutes added to the playing time in the final quarter.[21]
  • The Fothergill-Round Medal, awarded to the most promising player younger than 23, was renamed the Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal from this season onwards. The medal was originally named in honour of Williamstown's Des Fothergill and Barry Round, who had each won a J. J. Liston Trophy (or its predecessor) as well as the VFL/AFL's Brownlow Medal; so the name of Box Hill's Sam Mitchell, who had achieved the same feat in the years since the award was created, was added.[22]

VFL Women's

League membership

The VFL Women's competition, now in this third season since coming under the VFL brand, also underwent a significant change for the 2018 season, with a view towards aligning the competition more directly with the AFL Women's national competition, and with Victoria-based AFL clubs taking more direct roles in state level women's football development, either through fielding their own teams or by affiliating with existing clubs. This in turn meant a step away from the traditional Victorian Women's Football League clubs which had formed the core of the VFLW in its first two seasons.

New licenses were granted to four AFL clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond – who all fielded club-branded women's teams in the competition. A fifth AFL club, St Kilda, obtained a licence transferred to it from the Seaford Tigers, and the club formed a partnership with the VFL's Frankston to form a women's team called the Southern Saints. A sixth club, Hawthorn, obtained a licence from the Knox Falcons, transferred it to its senior VFL-affiliate Box Hill, then rebranded it to Hawthorn's brand.[23] The VU Western Spurs, who were already affiliated with the AFL's Western Bulldogs, remained a separate entity but began co-branding with their AFL affiliate, becoming known as the Western Bulldogs and wearing the same colours from 2018. Two VFL clubs newly obtained licences for VFLW teams: Williamstown, which was granted a new licence, and the Casey Demons, to whom the Cranbourne Eagles licence was transferred. A licence was granted to the Northern Territory Football Club, which plays senior men's football in the North East Australian Football League, creating an interstate presence in the competition.[24] Foundation clubs Diamond Creek, Eastern Devils and St Kilda Sharks all departed the revamped competition.[25][26]

Under the revamp, the thirteen clubs in the VFL Women's competition – and their affiliates – are:

  • Carlton – operated by the AFL club
  • Casey – operated by the VFL club, and affiliated with AFL club Melbourne
  • Collingwood – operated by the AFL club
  • Darebin – independent women's club, not affiliated with an AFL club
  • Essendon – operated by the AFL club
  • Geelong – operated by the AFL club
  • Hawthorn – operated by the AFL club
  • Melbourne University – independent women's club, affiliated with AFL club North Melbourne
  • Northern Territory – operated by the NEAFL club, not affiliated with an AFL club
  • Richmond – operated by the AFL club
  • Southern Saints – operated by AFL club St Kilda in partnership with VFL club Frankston
  • Western Bulldogs – independent women's club (formerly VU Western Spurs), affiliated and co-branded with AFL club Western Bulldogs
  • Williamstown – operated by the VFL club, not affiliated with an AFL club

Ladder
Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts Qualification
1 Collingwood 14 12 1 1 607 328 185.1 50 2018 finals
2 Hawthorn 14 12 2 0 596 332 179.5 48
3 NT Thunder 14 11 3 0 831 430 193.3 44
4 Geelong 14 10 3 1 599 367 163.2 42
5 Darebin Falcons 14 8 6 0 527 481 109.6 32
6 Western Bulldogs 14 7 7 0 494 589 83.9 28
7 Carlton 14 6 8 0 562 536 104.9 24
8 Southern Saints 14 5 9 0 439 475 92.4 20
9 Melbourne University 14 5 9 0 455 585 77.8 20
10 Casey Demons 14 5 9 0 414 594 69.7 20
11 Williamstown 14 4 10 0 473 676 70.0 16
12 Richmond 14 4 10 0 358 521 68.7 16
13 Essendon 14 1 13 0 292 733 39.8 4
Updated to match(es) played on 26 August 2018. Source: SportsTG
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
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See also

References
  1. Paul Amy (27 August 2016). "Frankston Dolphins VFL club forced into administration with debts of more than $500,000". Frankston Standard Leader. Frankston, VIC. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
  2. "AFL Victoria terminates Frankston Dolphins' VFL licence". Frankston Standard Leader. Frankston, VIC. 26 September 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  3. "Frankston FC decision". SportsTG. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  4. Kate Salemme (4 August 2017). "Frankston Dolphins to return to VFL competition in 2018 after AFL Victoria grants its licence". Herald Sun. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  5. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/north-melbourne/north-melbourne-to-field-standalone-vfl-team-in-2018-after-parting-ways-with-werribee/news-story/8cbc653bd3977b87931d68f21496b64f North Melbourne to field standalone VFL team in 2018 after parting ways with Werribee
  6. "2018 VFL fixture release". Victorian Football League. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  7. Melanie Whelan (13 February 2019). "Deadlock on VFL re-entry: North Ballarat will not pursue licence under terms on offer". The Courier. Ballarat, VIC. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  8. Paul Amy (20 July 2017). "VFL Reserves: AFL Victoria sounds final siren for development comp". Leader. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  9. "VFL RECAP: Finals Week 1 Saturday". Victorian Football League. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  10. "VFL RECAP: Finals Week 1 Sunday". Victorian Football League. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  11. "STATS CENTRAL: VFL Finals Week 2". Victorian Football League. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  12. "VFL grand final 2018: Box Hill Hawks come from behind to defeat Casey Demons in premiership decider". Herald Sun. Melbourne, VIC. 23 September 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  13. Toby Prime (11 September 2018). "JJ Liston Trophy 2018: Michael Gibbons and Anthony Miles share award". Leader. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  14. "Hooper tops Werribee goalkicking for 2018". Werribee Football Club. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  15. "Tasmania to rejoin under-18s TAC Cup competition and VFL, but no guarantees of an AFL side". Fox Sports. 3 July 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  16. Chris de Silva (17 June 2018). "Saints' VFL side slumps to unwanted record". MSN. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  17. "North Melbourne's VFL team held goalless for an entire match, kicking 0.7 against Casey Demons". FOX Sports. 7 July 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  18. Ben Guthrie (10 July 2018). "WATCH: Bizarre finish to Coburg-Sandringham draw". AFL. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  19. James Motterhead (4 August 2018). "What happened when the AFL trialled its new rules in the VFL". Herald Sun. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  20. Cody Atkinson; Sean Lawson; James Coventry (15 September 2018). "AFL rule changes: how the AFL got its numbers wrong in an attempt to justify proposed new laws". ABC. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  21. Peter Ryan (1 September 2018). "Lights failure interrupts VFL Qualifying Final". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  22. Paul Amy (30 August 2018). "VFL 2018: the VFL's Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal is a ticket to the AFL". Leader. Melbourne, VIC. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  23. "Hawthorn's first women's team". Hawthorn Football Club. 15 December 2017. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  24. "NT Thunder joins VFL Women's". Victorian Football League. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  25. "NEW CLUBS TO ENTER VFL WOMEN'S". Victorian Football League. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  26. "Three clubs depart in revamped VFLW comp". Australian Football League. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
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