The AFLW Under 18 Championships are hurtling towards a thrilling conclusion, with four teams still mathematically in the hunt for the coveted national title. As we head into the final two rounds of action across July, the permutations are complex, the stakes are high, and every goal could prove crucial in the final standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Australia currently sits in the box seat as the only undefeated side, but with heavyweights Victoria Metro, the Allies, and a dangerous Queensland outfit all lurking, the championship race is far from decided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is the current state of play, the remaining fixtures, and exactly what each team needs to do to claim the 2026 AFLW U18 title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thursday, July 4:<\/strong> Friday, July 5:<\/strong> Thursday, July 11:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remaining Game: <\/strong>Queensland<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best Possible Finish:<\/strong> 1st<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Australia has been the dominant force of the championships so far and enters the final stretch firmly in control of their own destiny. Sitting two games clear of the chasing pack with a healthy percentage of 189.0, the Croweaters simply need to keep winning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How they win the title:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The equation is straightforward for South Australia: defeat Queensland on July 11, and they will be crowned the undefeated national champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if they slip up and lose to Queensland, South Australia can still claim the title on percentage. In that scenario, they would need their percentage to remain higher than Victoria Metro (assuming Metro beats Victoria Country) and whichever team emerges victorious from the Queensland versus Allies clash. Given their current percentage buffer, they are in a very strong position regardless of the final result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remaining Game: <\/strong>Victoria Country<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best Possible Finish: <\/strong>1st<\/p>\n\n\n\n Victoria Metro has played some brilliant football throughout the carnival, but their sole loss means they are relying on other results to fall their way. They boast a strong percentage of 138.5, which could prove to be their ultimate trump card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How they win the title:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n First and foremost, Victoria Metro must take care of business against their cross-state rivals, Victoria Country, in the final match of the championships. However, that alone is not enough. Metro desperately needs Queensland to cause a massive upset and defeat South Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Queensland knocks off the Croweaters, it will create a logjam at the top of the ladder with multiple teams sitting on three wins. From there, Victoria Metro would win the title if their percentage is higher than South Australia’s and the winner of the Queensland\/Allies matchup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remaining Games: <\/strong>Queensland, Western Australia<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best Possible Finish: <\/strong>1st<\/p>\n\n\n\n With two games left to play, the Allies are the wildcard of the tournament. They have the opportunity to quickly rack up wins and join the leaders at the top of the table, but they will need a helping hand to leapfrog South Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How they win the title:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Allies must win both of their remaining games against Queensland and Western Australia to finish with a 3-1 record. Crucially, they also need Queensland to defeat South Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the Allies do not play South Australia directly, a Queensland win over the Croweaters would force a percentage countback among the teams tied on three wins. To claim the championship, the Allies would need to boost their current percentage (112.0) past South Australia, and potentially Victoria Metro (if Metro defeats Victoria Country).<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remaining Games:<\/strong> Allies, South Australia<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best Possible Finish:<\/strong> 1st<\/p>\n\n\n\n Queensland faces the toughest run home, but they also have the opportunity to be the ultimate disruptors. Playing both the Allies and the undefeated South Australians gives Queensland the chance to shape the final standings directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How they win the title:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To pull off a miraculous championship victory, Queensland must win both of their remaining matches against the Allies and South Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If they manage this incredible feat, they will finish with a 3-1 record. If Victoria Metro happens to lose to Victoria Country, Queensland would win the title outright. However, if Victoria Metro wins as expected, Queensland would find themselves in a three-way tie with South Australia and Victoria Metro. Given Queensland’s current percentage is the lowest of the contenders (79.0), they would need two massive, percentage-boosting victories to overtake the frontrunners and snatch the crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remaining Games: <\/strong>Western Australia, Victoria Metro<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best Possible Finish: <\/strong>3rd<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the national title is mathematically out of reach for Victoria Country, there is still plenty of pride on the line. With South Australia already securing three wins, Country’s maximum possible tally of two wins means they are playing for draft stocks and state pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their upcoming clash against Western Australia presents a prime opportunity to get on the board, before they attempt to play spoiler against Victoria Metro in the tournament finale. A strong finish could see them climb into the middle of the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remaining Games:<\/strong> Victoria Country, Allies<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best Possible Finish:<\/strong> 4th<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has been a challenging carnival for Western Australia, who currently sit at the bottom of the ladder. Like Victoria Country, the title is out of reach, but finishing the tournament with momentum is the primary goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their best chance for a victory comes against the winless Victoria Country on July 4. A win there, followed by a competitive showing against the Allies, would be a positive conclusion to their campaign and could see them avoid the wooden spoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The AFLW Under 18 Championships are hurtling towards a thrilling conclusion, with four teams still mathematically in the hunt for the coveted national title. As we head into the final two rounds of action across July, the permutations are complex, the stakes are high, and every goal could prove crucial in the final standings. South […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":218073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5603,8,21155,137],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aflw-national-championships","category-news","category-state-of-play","category-womens"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218249"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":218294,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218249\/revisions\/218294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Position<\/strong><\/td> Team<\/strong><\/td> Played<\/strong><\/td> Won<\/strong><\/td> Lost<\/strong><\/td> Drawn<\/strong><\/td> For<\/strong><\/td> Against<\/strong><\/td> Percentage<\/strong><\/td> Points<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> 1<\/td> South Australia<\/td> 3<\/td> 3<\/td> 0<\/td> 0<\/td> 172<\/td> 91<\/td> 189.0%<\/td> 12<\/td><\/tr> 2<\/td> Victoria Metro<\/td> 3<\/td> 2<\/td> 1<\/td> 0<\/td> 151<\/td> 109<\/td> 138.5%<\/td> 8<\/td><\/tr> 3<\/td> Allies<\/td> 2<\/td> 1<\/td> 1<\/td> 0<\/td> 84<\/td> 75<\/td> 112.0%<\/td> 4<\/td><\/tr> 4<\/td> Queensland<\/td> 2<\/td> 1<\/td> 1<\/td> 0<\/td> 83<\/td> 105<\/td> 79.0%<\/td> 4<\/td><\/tr> 5<\/td> Victoria Country<\/td> 2<\/td> 0<\/td> 2<\/td> 0<\/td> 74<\/td> 106<\/td> 69.8%<\/td> 0<\/td><\/tr> 6<\/td> Western Australia<\/td> 2<\/td> 0<\/td> 2<\/td> 0<\/td> 45<\/td> 123<\/td> 36.6%<\/td> 0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Remaining Fixtures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Victoria Country vs. Western Australia (Kennedy Community Centre)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Queensland vs. Allies (Brighton Homes Arena)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Australia vs. Queensland (Shepley Oval)
Allies vs. Western Australia (Shepley Oval)
Victoria Country vs. Victoria Metro (Shepley Oval)<\/p>\n\n\n\nTeam-by-Team Breakdown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
South Australia (3-0)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Victoria Metro (2-1)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Allies (1-1)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Queensland (1-1)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Victoria Country (0-2)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Western Australia (0-2)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n