AFLW fixture 2025: All the news on the AFLW’s fixture announcements
The AFLW will aim for more double-headers during the six-week crossover with the men’s season, but the fixture won’t be revealed for another month - leaving clubs and players livid.
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More double-header fixtures are on the cards in season 10 of AFL Women’s, with the league keen to optimise the first six-week crossover period with the men’s season.
The women’s season — which will have its full fixture confirmed at the end of the month — will begin on August 14 with two weeks overlapping with the final two rounds of the men’s season proper before being played in tandem with the men’s finals series.
The league is conscious of maintaining clear air for the women’s game, including the season opener between Carlton and Collingwood at Ikon Park on the Thursday night of the men’s round 22, with all games to be played from Thursdays to Sundays with last year’s condensed fixture period officially shunned.
“While we’re working through the fixture, one of the things we’re focusing on is optimising what we can do in terms of the crossover of the women’s and men’s competition and clearly double-headers are part of that conversation and analysis we’re doing,” women’s football general manager Emma Moore said.
“I think one of the key things is the fixturing and how we schedule those games.
I think another really key part of it is looking at our one-club, two-team approach, and ideally driving our fans who are currently fans of the men’s competition, and driving them to the women’s competition. It’s pretty exciting to think we can really generate that passion out of our fanbase that we have today, and make sure that attention is on the women’s games as well.”
But the games remain unlikely to be destined for the competition’s major stadiums in a meaningful capacity, with Moore saying suburban grounds like Ikon Park remained a focus.
“I think one of the things we’ve seen about the AFLW, and some things we’ve seen with Gather Round, is that we’ve got great stadiums that bring in incredible experiences to our clubs and our fans,” she said.
“I think for the players as well, being able to play on pitches like this (Ikon Park) and other ones (like) Norwood, is really important. And being connected to our fans remains incredibly important for W.”
This masthead revealed on Tuesday that clubs and players were growing frustrated at the lack of fixture with preseason starting next Monday.
Moore defended the timeline, while Collingwood All-Australian player Ruby Schleicher said more clarity and sooner would always be welcomed by players, who are also supportive of more double-header matches with men’s games being staged.
‘OUTRAGEOUS’: PLAYERS, CLUBS LIVID AT LEAGUE
AFL Women’s players and clubs are frustrated as the competition remains without a fixture for the upcoming season less than a week before pre-season officially begins.
As the AFL is set to announce that Carlton and Collingwood will open the season on August 14, the remainder of the fixture remains yet to be released with player induction set to start at AFLW clubs next Monday, May 12.
But the fixture for the upcoming season – which will begin in a return to the clash that opened three of the first five seasons, including the inaugural AFL Women’s competition in 2017 – not expected until at least the end of the month.
Carlton will host the Magpies at Ikon Park in the Thursday night clash with the league opting against a Round 23 men’s match that night to allow the women’s game clear air.
The league is set to shun the condensed fixture model it used last year that saw teams play as many as three games within two weeks with teams playing off four and five day breaks in the middle part of the season.
This season – the competition’s 10th – will see 12 rounds played for the first time, over 12 weeks with four weeks of finals.
Round 24 of the men’s competition – Round 2 of the women’s – remains a floating fixture.
AFL Women’s general manager Emma Moore is set to face media on Tuesday afternoon, with the league understood to be planning to reveal the 2025 fixture after Rounds 16-23 of the men’s competition are confirmed next week with the women’s fixture slated to be released at the end of the month – several weeks after pre-season begins.
“It’s outrageous,” one senior AFLW player told this masthead on Monday.
“But are we surprised?”.
Players are largely supportive of playing double-headers, particularly if it means the prospect of playing at better stadiums.
Whether midweek games will be part of the fixture – particularly during the overlap period of the men’s finals series – remains to be confirmed by the league, with clubs conscious of planning, staffing and scheduling particularly throughout that period.
The best game that the competition has seen was played last season at GMHBA Stadium between Geelong and Hawthorn, with the sentiment being that scoring and skills are hampered by playing at “boutique” stadiums, many of which are exposed to the elements far more greatly.
Reigning league best and fairest winner Ebony Marinoff just days ago expressed her desire to see the season shifted, telling 3AW that she believed moving the season further forward in line with the men’s season was a better option, saying she believed people were “footied out” by spring.
Originally published as AFLW fixture 2025: All the news on the AFLW’s fixture announcements
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