The league's 18 club skippers will gather in Melbourne on Monday for the launch of the new season, with 14 of them telling an AFL poll they expect the Demons to go all the way again.
In 2022's pre-season questionnaire, eight captains correctly predicted Melbourne would take out season seven.
The 2023 campaign signals something of a new era for the Demons, who have retained 28 players but will be without inaugural skipper Daisy Pearce as they bid for back-to-back titles.
Two-time All-Australian Kate Hore has enjoyed a promising start to her task of filling Pearce's boots, leading the side to two dominant wins in pre-season.
Adelaide, three times AFLW premiership winners, gathered two votes in the tip followed by North Melbourne and Geelong.
A first flag has remained elusive for the Kangaroos, who came close in 2020 when they finished second on the ladder only for the season to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Geelong have twice contested finals since joining the league in 2019, with the most recent coming in last year's season seven.
Five-time Richmond best-and-fairest winner Monique Conti was tipped to be this season's stand-out player, ahead of North Melbourne's leading goalkicker and All-Australian Jasmine Garner.
Garner's teammate, the Kangaroos' newest recruit Kate Shierlaw, is predicted to be the leading goal kicker, with the second-highest number of votes going to last year's winner and St Kilda newcomer Jess Wardlaw.
AFLW's eighth season begins on September 1 with a showdown between Melbourne and Collingwood at Ikon Park.
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