AFLW: Western Bulldogs captain Ellie Blackburn eager for every AFLW club to play each other in fixture overhaul

One of the leading players in the AFLW ranks has joined a chorus of support for an important change. But the AFLW boss has asked for patience.

Western Bulldogs skipper Ellie Blackburn has added her considerable voice to the chorus of support for a longer AFLW season.

The upcoming campaign will for the first time extend to 10 home and away rounds – up from nine this year – but it still means not all of the 14 clubs will play one another.

The AFL’s remaining four teams will join the competition for the 2022-23 season.

Head of women’s football Nicole Livingstone acknowledged at Thursday’s fixture launch that the players wanted more games, but asked for patience.

“We’ve got one more year left in our CBA between the AFL and the AFLPA, so any of those determinations, in terms of how long the season ends up in the next negotiations, is to be determined,” she said.

“I know what the players will answer to that – they want to play more footy and they want to play everybody.

“But what we’ve seen is we’ve gone from six games and eight teams to now in 2022 – just six years in – we’re at 14 teams and we’re playing 10 home and aways, and three weeks of finals.

“We are growing and progressing, so clearly that’s going to continue to happen.”

Blackburn, who joined Melbourne counterpart Daisy Pearce and Livingstone at the launch, said the wider playing group “absolutely” wanted a longer campaign.

Ellie Blackburn (right) wants to see a longer season. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

“We know that’s in the pipeline and that’s the long-term goal of the competition, but we understand the growth side of things and we’ve got to work our way to that,” Blackburn said.

“But, yes, from a player’s perspective, we’re pretty keen to play everyone once.”

The season will start in January again and go head to head with tennis and cricket, two sports where women can be full-time athletes.

That status remains a work in progress for AFLW footballers, with Livingstone saying it would “certainly” be a discussion item in the next CBA negotiations.

“We’ve got to negotiate, obviously, between the AFL and the AFLPA, but what I will say around that is that my language is different to full-time,” she said.

“My language is around year-round. So, at the moment, we have players who are contracted for six months of the year – and I know the players would like to be year-round to be able to be the best footballers they can.

“That doesn’t mean training 10 or 12 times a week at a football club.

“But the players, I’m sure, would like to be year-round to be able to get stronger in the off-season and to have conditioning done.”

Originally published as AFLW: Western Bulldogs captain Ellie Blackburn eager for every AFLW club to play each other in fixture overhaul