HAPPY New Year AFLW fans.
With a new year comes a new AFLW season, and 2025 plans to be the biggest yet.
This year we celebrate the 10th edition of AFLW, and although the year has just begun, we already know a lot about what to expect.
Fans will witness the longest ever season, an earlier start, an exciting crop of next generation stars, a huge milestone, club favourites in new colours and some of the competition's best players returning from injury.
Let's take a look at what we know about the 10th season of AFLW.
Longest season yet
AFLW general manager Emma Moore announced in November that the 2025 season will comprise 12 home and away rounds in 12 weeks, followed by four weeks of finals.
As the competition continues to grow, the extra round will make it the longest season to date.
Following feedback from clubs, the compressed fixture has been scrapped, meaning the season will be played over 16 weeks.
"What I will confirm is that there'll be no compression," Moore said on AFL.com.au's Credit to the Girls podcast.
"That was a really worthwhile thing to investigate and understand what we could do and there were some good learnings out of that, but there were also some really clear learnings about a desire to not repeat that kind of approach again."
Earlier season start
In order to cater for the extra round and the removal of the compressed fixture, season 10 will begin two weeks earlier than in previous years.
Moore has confirmed that week one of this year's competition will begin on August 11, coinciding with round 23 of the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
The Grand Final will remain on the last Saturday of November, which this year falls on Saturday, November 29.
Clubs will begin their pre-seasons in the week beginning Monday, May 19, giving teams nearly three months to prepare for the first round.
Next Gen stars
It's impossible to not be excited about the next generation of players coming through the ranks.
Season 10 will most likely see a whole host of young stars make their debuts.
Given Collingwood's struggles last season, it wouldn't be surprising if we saw No.1 draft pick Ash Centra debut early on.
The same can be said about Gold Coast's 182cm midfield/ruck/forward and No.2 pick Havana Harris, who already looks comfortable in her new colours having been part of the Suns' Academy since 2022.
We could also see some sisters play alongside each other and against each other for the first time.
Carlton supporters will hope to witness the special moment when daughters of club legend Andrew McKay, Sophie and Abbie, run out for the first time together in the navy blue.
Meanwhile Poppy Scholz, sister of this year's NAB Rising Star Matilda, could come up against her older sister if Carlton meet Port Adelaide this season.
Other exciting draftees to look out for include Sydney's Zippy Fish, Adelaide's India Rasheed, and the Tigers' Sierra Grieves.
First to 100
We will very likely witness the first players to reach the incredible milestone of 100 games in 2025.
There are five players currently sitting in the 90s - Brisbane duo Ally Anderson (93) and Breanna Koenen (91), Adelaide's Ebony Marinoff (93), and North Melbourne's Libby Birch (91) and Tahlia Randall (90).
It will be great to witness one of these players make history when they become the first player to notch up 100 games.
Old faces in new colours
Twenty-six players found new homes in last year's sign and trade period, including some club favourites who will be wearing new colours in 2025.
After nine seasons at Melbourne, Demon favourite Lily Mithen moves north to Gold Coast adding experience to the young developing group.
Inaugural No.1 draft pick Nicola Barr will break Greater Western Sydney fans' hearts when she lines up in the black, red and white of St Kilda, after finding herself at RSEA Park following the trade period.
Former Gold Coast captain Tara Bohanna will don the navy blue for her first season at Carlton, while premiership Crow Najwa Allen will wear the brown and gold of Hawthorn for the first time.
Other key players to look out for in their new colours include Eilish Sheerin (North Melbourne), Mattea Breed (Collingwood) and Lou Stephenson (Western Bulldogs).
Stars return
The 2025 season will hopefully see the return of some of the game's biggest stars who missed all or large parts of last season.
Three-time All Australian Kiara Bowers is set to return to Fremantle following a year on the Dockers' inactive list after giving birth to her son Luca.
Former Carlton defender Mua Laloifi should make her long awaited debut for the Western Bulldogs having missed last season with an ACL injury.
Geelong sharp shooter Chloe Scheer will also return to the Cats' line-up having missed the entire 2024 season with a toe injury.
Other stars poised to make their returns include Sydney co-captain Chloe Molloy (ACL), dangerous Crows forward Eloise Jones (Achilles), Melbourne's Tayla Harris (shoulder), Port Adelaide skipper Janelle Cuthbertson (ACL) and Western Bulldogs veteran Ellie Blackburn (foot).