Sydney Swans coach Scott Gowans on condensed fixture, double headers for AFLW 2025 season

Swans coach Scott Gowans has backed calls to scrap the AFLW’s condensed fixture, while also calling for an earlier star to the season and double headers with men’s games.

Swans coach Scott Gowans believes the AFLW should be starting earlier in the year as discussion continues over the success of this year’s condensed fixture.

Gowans’s comments echoed the sentiments of football boss Laura Kane on Monday who hinted the condensed fixture would be scrapped but mid-week matches would likely remain.

The expansion to a 12-game season in 2025 will likely mean the AFLW has to begin earlier in the season. Gowans claims that the competition should then look at ways to turn that into an advantage, like creating double-headers with men’s fixtures.

“For me, I would like to see the season come forward,” Gowans said.

Swans coach Scott Gowans wants the AFL to scrap the condensed fixture for the AFLW. Picture: Steve Bell/AFL Photos/via Getty Images.

“I’ve been a big advocate for Tier 1 venues and the season coming forward will allow us to do that.

“Whether it’s double-headers or just access to the better grounds, I think the product will be better. The spectacle will be better for the spectators and the crowd will come eventually.

“I’d love to see the traditions start to perform as well, if there’s a particular game, whether it’s us or GWS on a particular round, and just lock that in.”

The experienced coach was frank when he assessed the negatives that came with the introduction of a condensed fixture this year which saw teams play up to four games in 16 days.

His key takeaway was the lack of development the players felt from the matches and that regularly the team could not spend time coaching mistakes out of the game.

However, he did feel there is a place for mid-week matches as long as a suitable break is implemented between games.

“I’m fine with mid-week footy, but you need the proper break,” he said. “Whether you play a Wednesday night, then you might play the following Thursday night for instance and the following week you go back to weekends.

“It’s a staggered approach that would make sense to me. The big lesson is that it’s critical from a learning perspective to the time in between games and be able to train and make the product better.

“We didn’t get time to review properly and go out and train it. We found that we were making the same mistakes for three games in a row. And then that fourth game, when you come out of the condensed fixture, there’s a bit of fatigue there. It hampered us from a learning perspective and being able to improve.”