It's been 313 days since the Crows dismantled the Blues in the 2019 AFLW Grand Final, in front of a record crowd at Adelaide Oval to boot. But mass changes have hit the women's league this offseason; we've seen four new clubs join the competition, a multitude of stars switch clubs and states, some devastating injuries, while the next batch of AFLW players were drafted back in October.
Here's What To Watch For this year.
The Returns
The fourth instalment of AFLW sees a number of big names return to the fold. Perennial All-Australian and one of the league's most recognisable faces Daisy Pearce returns to captain Melbourne after missing all of last season after welcoming twins Roy and Sylvie into the world. Expect Pearce to pick up where she left off and bring her trademark class back to the league.
2018 Rising Star and Collingwood's best and fairest winner Chloe Molloy will also make a much-anticipated comeback from a Lisfranc injury that saw her miss the entire 2019 season.
Molloy was named in the 2018 All-Australian side in the back pocket, but returned to her more natural position in the forward line in Collingwood's first practice match; look for her to be a force around the goals this season.
Special mention also to 2018 AFLPA MVP Courtney Gum who is coming out retirement to join the Crows.
ACL Injuries
The 2019 season ended with Crows superstar Erin Phillips holding the premiership cup aloft, with a braced knee after being carted off in the third quarter with a torn ACL. Phillips' injury was the last of what felt like a seemingly endless run of ACL injuries for AFLW athletes last season.
No. 1 draft pick Nina Morrison burst onto the scene in Round 1, kicking the winning behind in a best on ground performance for the Cats in their maiden AFLW match before she went down with an ACL injury at training the following week. Morrison was then joined on the sidelines by Adelaide's Chloe Scheer, Fremantle's Brianna Scheer and Melbourne's Shae Sloane.
The AFLW reported an 18 percent drop in ACL injuries year on year and 5.1 ACL injuries per 1000 player hours, which is in line with female ACL injury data worldwide.
While it's hoped this downward trend continues or at least stays at this level, Chelsea Randall, Shae Sloane, Elise Coventry and Katherine Smith have already been ruled out with preseason knee injuries.
New kids on the block
Richmond, Gold Coast, West Coast and St Kilda enter the competition, expanding the league to a 14-team league with eight rounds and a new finals system.
Richmond stormed onto the scene when they poached top end talent in Katie Brennan and Monique Conti from the Bulldogs and Sabrina Fredrick from Brisbane, but may struggle for depth in their debut season.
West Coast also joins the AFLW ranks, putting behind them some measurable disappointment to have been outbid by cross town rivals Fremantle to be the first West Australian club in AFLW, and will be keen to regain ground with local fans, having poached Docker favourite Dana Hooker and 11 other previously-listed Dockers.
In the north, Gold Coast welcomes its second football team with the Suns to be battling the Lions for both local fans and talent, with the newcomers nabbing eight former Lions to start the season as well as a gun recruit from the Bulldogs in Tiarna Ernst.
Ex-Lion Jamie Stanton will also pull on a Suns guernsey this season, making her the only player to be part of an inaugural season for three clubs after joining from the Kangaroos after her initial stint with the Lions.
The raid of the Lions' stocks continues in St. Kilda, with the Saints nabbing Nat Exon and Kate McCarthy for the 2020 season. Tilly Lucas-Rodd, an offseason pickup from Carlton, led the Saints impressively in their maiden VFLW season, securing their best and fairest award and will be one to watch this year.
An extra game? What about that conference system?
The introduction of the conference system last year was met with much frustration and wildly unbalanced conferences, coupled with the short season preventing clubs from all playing each other. It meant many players and the public questioned if the competition was truly fair and if the premiership meant much at all.
Last season, Geelong and Carlton competed for the opportunity to face eventual premiers Adelaide in the Grand Final despite the fact they finished behind four other clubs on points and/or percentage. Their saving grace was being in the weaker conference.
And while there were hopes that with new teams joining, the number of games would be expanded and the conference system would be abolished, the structure remains in place, for now at least.
The conferences have been "balanced" but with four new teams added and a plethora of player movement, it will remain to be seen whether the system works in 2020.
Injury cover and list shortages
What happens if a club can't field a full team?
Melbourne are already at breaking point, having only 24 fit players for selection, having had Katherine Smith and Shae Sloane already ruled out for the season. The Dees also face a nervous wait on when stars Lauren Pearce and Lily Mithen will be fit, while Ainslie Kemp, Kate Hore and Tegan Cunningham will all face a fitness tests to prove their readiness.
The Crows are also sweating, with Erin Phillips taking a cautious approach to returning to the field, missing Round 1 and losing a number of key players to injury including co-captain Chelsea Randall.
Seven clubs, including the Demons and Crows, have been afforded extra "train-on" players to replace long term injured players, similar to the AFL's supplementary selection program. So far nine players have been added through the program, including cult hero Sarah Perkins who joined the Demons.
Perkins and the other eight train-on players will not be allowed to play in a match until their team's available playing list falls below 22 fit players.
Umpiring upgrades
While the standard of footy is set to jump up another notch, it looks like the umpiring of the games will as well. The AFL announced that its best whistleblowers were supporting a push for AFL-listed umpires to take the field for the upcoming AFLW season, and has been successful.
Players have asked questions in previous season about standards of officiating and reiterated their concerns last year during some very tense CBA negotiations.
All AFL-listed umpires will have the opportunity to opt in or out of AFLW umpiring duty in a move that will hopefully continue to raise the standards of the league, with "Razor" Ray Chamberlain confirmed to be blowing the whistle for the season opener between Carlton and Richmond.
Old faces in new places
It feels like a lifetime ago, but the AFLW offseason was full of bombshell moves, with the expansion clubs raiding their opponents for star talent at every opportunity.
Bulldogs captain and leading club goal-kicker in 2019 Katie Brennan, defected to newcomers Richmond and was followed by 2018 Grand Final best on ground winner Monique Conti in a coup that stunned Bulldogs players and supporters alike.
All-Australian forward Sabrina Frederick then declared her interest in moving to Victoria and was quickly snapped up by the Tigers and should form an ominous forward partnership with Brennan who will rotate through the midfield.
Bri Davey then shocked the Blues, biting on an offer from arch-rivals Collingwood, leaving the Carlton hierarchy seething at losing their captain and two-time best and fairest winner unexpectedly.
Expect Davey to get a less than pleasant reception when the Pies visit Ikon Park in Round 2.
Old rivalries become new
While we may not see a South Australian Showdown in AFLW just yet, the addition of the four new teams will see a new twist on some centuries old rivalries, and some that are a little fresher.
Round 1 opens with traditional rivals Carlton and Richmond going head to head, much as their AFL counterparts do, and will be sure to have ironed-on supporters of each club hungry to get one-up on the opposition ahead of the men's game in March.
Round 2 gives us the first AFLW Western Derby where a number of familiar faces will clash when the Eagles host the Dockers at Optus Stadium in what has become one of footy's hottest rivalries.
It may be much fresher than some, but whether you call it the Q-Clash or the Pineapple Grapple, it's sure to have great appeal for Queensland footy fans, when the Lions and Suns meet for the first time in Round 3 at Metricon Stadium.
Calling these rivalries may seem pre-mature but we've seen how Carlton and Collingwood have embraced the bad blood in recent seasons, so when the ball bounces at Carlton's traditional home on Friday night, or when Dana Hooker is tearing through the Dockers in Perth, there will be no niceties shared.
A brand new crop
Every year the pool of talent in women's football gets deeper. So who will be this season's Maddy Prespakis?
Brisbane were thrilled to pick up Lily Posthelwaite with Pick 3, having been trained by coach Craig Starcevich in the Under-18 system and will be a welcome addition to a depleted Lions side. Posthelwaite has terrific ball skills and can break away from contests to hit targets accurately by foot.
Another draftee to watch is Ellie Gavalas of North Melbourne, a relative unknown going into the 2019 VFLW season, Gavalas propelled the Bulldogs into the Grand Final, earning herself the best and fairest award in her first season at the Bulldogs and a place in the VFLW team of the year.