AFLW scoring hits record high as game speeds up in 2026

The AFLW has never scored like this. Teams averaged 45.6 points per game across the opening seven rounds of the 2026 season, 4.6 points clear of the previous all-time high of 41.1 set in 2025, according to ABC News.

The lift comes from supply. Inside 50s, entries into the attacking zone at each end, averaged a record 35.1 per game. Shots on goal averaged a record 15.4 per game. Goal assists averaged a record 4.2 per game.

The ball keeps moving. A change to holding-the-ball adjudication, which rewards the tackler and calls play on faster, cut average stoppages from 67 per game in 2024 to 44 per game in 2025. Stoppages are the ball-ups, throw-ins and restarts that halt flow. They fell by a further 2.9 per game in 2026.

Players are finding space. Uncontested possessions, where a player gathers or receives without an opponent in contact, averaged a record 142.4 per game in 2026. That is up 10.2 on the 2025 record. Disposal efficiency hit a record 63.6 per cent.

Teams are going forward faster. The rate of moving from the defensive half to an inside 50 rose to 20.6 per cent in 2026, up from 18.6 per cent in 2025. Fremantle averaged a positive uncontested possession differential for the first time in its 11-season history.

Not every club rode the wave. Brisbane averaged 9.8 fewer points per game than in 2025. North Melbourne averaged 5.2 fewer. St Kilda averaged 7.2 fewer. Port Adelaide averaged 18.5 fewer.

Crowds are following the scoring. The AFL reported averages of more than 10,300 during the 2026 AFLW season, according to AFL Media.

What makes this stand out is the shape of it. Fewer stoppages. Cleaner skills. More open ground to run into. For fans, this means longer passages of play and more shots before the defence can set up behind the ball.