AFLW 2022 fixture: Latest news, updates on women’s footy season

AFLW players are ramping up pre-season training without knowing when or where they are playing this season. Here’s the latest on the 2022 fixture.

The start of the new AFLW season has been pushed back to January 6.

The AFL is expected to release the fixture for its coming AFLW season by the end of this month as it continues to grapple with COVID-19 border restrictions.

The league has set the competition start date for January 6, but is yet to lock in a match.

Western Australia continues to be the league’s greatest stumbling block.

WA premier Mark McGowan said last week he would begin easing border restrictions when the state hit a 90 per cent vaccination target — at this stage in late January.

McGowan’s timetable means Fremantle and West Coast might have to hub in eastern states for the opening rounds of the season.

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Round 1 was originally scheduled to start in December, but ongoing Covid restrictions forced the AFL to push the competition starting date into next year.

Border closures and lockdowns caused the AFL to make last-minute fixture changes throughout 2021.

The 2020 AFLW season was ended without a premier.

Fremantle CEO Simon Garlick said ongoing border closures had caused a sense of uncertainty for the club’s AFLW outfit heading into 2022.

“I was with our girls on Monday night and there was an element of uncertainty on that front, which is obviously exacerbated by the fact that most of them work full-time or are studying,” Garlick told 3AW last week.

“That’s one we’re trying to get as much certainty as soon as we can, but I’m resigned to the fact there’s going to be an element where we might have to travel or there will be an interrupted season of some sort for our AFLW team.”

Fremantle’s AFLW team including Ann McMahon are well into pre-season training. Picture: Will Russell/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Despite the uncertainty around the draw, the Dockers aren’t panicking yet, with Garlick ensuring all possibilities are planned for.

“There’s certainly caution. I wouldn’t say there’s concern as yet,” Garlick said.

“While we’re all pretty adept now at running through a bunch of scenarios, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t woken up on the odd night thinking what could be next year.

“We’re really hopeful and quite confident it will be a year of normality, but we’ve already shown this year, we were able to get teams in here with the quarantine component.”

Adelaide AFLW captain Chelsea Randall said on Monday players were focusing on pre-season training.

“I think we just focus so much on our training each day,” she said.

“It’s a bit of that horrible cliche of taking each day as it comes, but you legitimately are.

“The girls are training so hard ... we keep trying to make ourselves better each and every day.

“Looking forward to when the fixture is released and we will deal with it then.”