Winless at halfway: Bombers and Saints chase first win as Demons go top
Halfway through the AFLW 2026 season, two clubs are still chasing their first win and two coaches are feeling the heat.
Essendon slumped to its sixth straight loss against Gold Coast by 41 points. Emily Gough kicked the Bombers' only goal in that game, according to ABC News.
St Kilda is the other winless side. The Saints sit with a percentage of 36.5, which measures points scored against points conceded. Low means heavy defeats.
For Essendon, the slide follows a 14th-place finish last season with four wins and eight losses. Inaugural head coach Natalie Wood has led the program since its first AFLW season.
For St Kilda, Nick Dal Santo is in his sixth season in charge. His only finals campaign ended with a 44-point elimination final loss to Adelaide. A final where the loser is knocked out.
The losses this year have been big. St Kilda went down to Geelong by 85 points in round two. It managed just one goal against Sydney in round three. Then came a 92-point loss to North Melbourne in round five.
Both Wood and Dal Santo are out of contract at the end of the season.
What makes this stand out is how other clubs have handled similar ruts. Collingwood stuck with its coach. Sam Wright took over ahead of the 2024 season and has now re-signed until the end of 2027.
Carlton went the other way. After six wins across two seasons, the Blues launched an independent review into their AFLW program in 2022, then signed Mathew Buck as coach.
At the top of the ladder, the story is speed and streaks. Hawthorn ended North Melbourne's 32-match winning run. That is the longest winning streak in AFL, VFL and AFLW history. North had not lost since 2023, a stretch of 1,020 days.
The upset had a warning sign. The week before Hawthorn won, Carlton pushed North hard and lost by only 10 points. Melbourne then beat Carlton to remain the only undefeated team and take top spot on the ladder.
Off the field, there are familiar faces in different shirts. Ray Chamberlain retired from the AFL at the end of 2024 after 389 games. He has returned to officiate and mentor umpires in the AFLW. Former AFL-listed umpires Jordan Bannister and Chris Donlon have also returned to the women's competition.
The 2026 NAB AFLW season kicked off on Sunday, 9 August, per the AFL. This year's fixture includes four games at AFL venues on the same day as men's matches.
For fans, this means two races to watch. Can the Bombers or Saints break through. And can Melbourne hold its perfect record to September.
