Melbourne to host final on MCG in AFLW first

It’s been a long time coming, but Melbourne will make history when it runs out onto the MCG next weekend in the first AFLW game to be played on the hallowed turf.

Daisy Pearce and the Dees will make AFLW history on the MCG. Picture: Getty Images

Melbourne will host an AFL Women’s preliminary final at the MCG next weekend in what will be the first AFLW match to be staged at the home of football.

The Demons will face either Brisbane or Collingwood — with the two sides to face off this Sunday at the Gabba in a qualifying final — on Saturday April 2 with the clash set to be the first home and away or finals AFLW match to be played at the historic ground.

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Adelaide will host Fremantle at the Adelaide Oval for their preliminary final meeting.

The first AFL women’s exhibition game was played at the MCG in 2013, but league women’s football boss Nicole Livingstone said scheduling the preliminary final at the ground was an historic occasion worthy of recognition.

Daisy Pearce and the Dees will make AFLW history on the MCG. Picture: Getty Images

“It has been a brilliant season ... we’ve witnessed plenty of fierce competition, outstanding individual performances and some incredible match ups,” she said

“We cannot wait for the history-making preliminary final match at the MCG – the first time AFLW players get to play at the venue, and equally, a special occasion for supporters who will witness an AFLW match at the ‘G’ for the first time in the competition’s six-year history.”

The MCG is vast, but is only marginally bigger than the ground at Casey Fields where the Demons play their home games.

Livingstone flagged this week that the MCG could play host to the AFLW grand final on April 9 should the Demons earn home game rights.

It will mark a blockbuster final few weeks for the AFLW after what has been been a turbulent season, with Covid wreaking havoc on the fixture and players stretched to their limits

Livingstone said the AFL “couldn’t be prouder” of their response in the face of adversity.

“We couldn’t be prouder of the commitment from everyone across the competition for the role they have played to achieve a ten-round home-and-away season despite the many interruptions we have faced,” she said.

“Despite some of those challenges continuing into the finals Series, we remain absolutely committed to overcoming them and look forward to awarding a 2022 premier.”

Pies may have to turn to AFLW novices for big game

Collingwood coach Steve Symonds concedes his best team will not be playing in Sunday’s rescheduled AFLW qualifying final, but he is determined not to let Covid inhibit the underdog’s chances.

The Magpies have been ravaged by the virus, forcing the game to be postponed as they could not field a team.

Symonds admitted they could yet be forced to select train-on players to face the Lions, with the full effects of the outbreak still unknown until players exit isolation and begin training.

The Magpies won’t be at full strength for the big match in Brisbane. Picture: Getty Images

“It’s a bit too early to say yet (how much we will be affected) – they’re all trickling out (of isolation) on different days at the moment,” he said.

“So we’ve just got to wait until they come out and get medically cleared.

“We’ve been monitoring them all pretty closely throughout this period.

“Once we get them on to the training track and just assess how they’re going as far as their breathing and all those other aspects … we’ll be able to see where they’re all at. It’s a little bit too early to gauge, but we’re hoping that most will be available.”

Several train-on players remain on standby, although Symonds said it could be a “daunting experience” to make a debut in an elimination final.

The latest saga – which has compounded an already “rollercoaster” season of fixture turbulence and serious injuries to key players – was “just another chapter”, Symonds said, but was one he said his team would embrace.

“Our mindset is that regardless of the players that we take up to Brisbane, we know Brisbane are the reigning premiers and are a really strong team,” he said.

“But we know that the players that we take up there will be giving it their all. They’ll play with heart and spirit. We have no doubt that they’ll be able to be competitive and fight it out against them.”

A photo from last year’s preliminary final against the Lions – which was decided by four points – has hung in the Magpies’ meeting room all season, thanks to a pre-season printout from Chloe Molloy.

“She said ‘you don’t have to talk about it, just put it up and I think everyone will know what it means’,” Symonds explained.

MCG could host rescheduled AFLW grand final

The MCG is in the running to host the AFLW grand final for the first time after the league was sensationally forced to push back the date of the decider.

The league announced on Monday that April 9 was the new date of the final to accommodate Collingwood, which had its entire playing list decimated due to Covid-19.

Adelaide, Fremantle and Melbourne are already through to preliminary finals – which will now be played on the weekend of April 2 and 3 – with the Demons to face the winner of the qualifying final between Brisbane and Collingwood, which was postponed to this Sunday at the Gabba.

And if the Dockers can topple the Crows and Melbourne advances, a Victorian grand final would be on the cards with the game’s most historic stadium in play to stage the clash.

“Any time we can play AFLW – and an AFLW grand final – on the big stage and on AFL venues, we’re going to do it,” AFL Women’s boss Nicole Livingstone said.

“Clearly the Crows may have something to say about it being at the MCG given that they finished higher on the home and away (ladder) and their preference is to be played at Adelaide Oval.

“But if Melbourne can have a great run going through to a grand final and Adelaide get knocked off, we could be looking at an MCG grand final.”

Alana Porter’s Magpies will face the Brisbane Lions in an AFLW qualifying final on Sunday. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Should Fremantle and Collingwood win through, the match would be played in Western Australia given the Dockers’ ladder position – potentially at Optus Stadium, which hosted a game just over a fortnight ago.

It has been tradition in AFLW to award a home grand final to the higher-ranked competing team, but Livingstone said stadium games would be part of “normalizing” the game.

“Sacred ground for the men’s game is at the MCG, and women also want to play at the MCG, but if you talk to the Crows, their sacred ground is Adelaide Oval,” she said.

“So we now have an 18-team competition as of season seven, so the excitement of that is we will also have some Victorian clubs that will also be looking to try and play at the MCG.

“Everything we do is about normalizing a woman’s role in Australian football, and yes we’ve got to get onto the MCG and once we’re there, let’s just normalize the fact that women play at these big venues and we play at the MCG or Adelaide Oval.”

Collingwood was ravaged by Covid in the lead-up to its qualifying final against Brisbane, which had to be postponed to this weekend due to the Magpies not having the required 16 players available to play.

Fans pack Adelaide Oval for the 2021 AFLW grand final. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Collingwood still has a number of players afflicted with heavier Covid symptoms than others, but Livingstone said the decision to delay the entire finals series was made with the competition’s integrity in mind and the intention to give Collingwood every opportunity to field its best team.

A number of teams have been hit hard by the virus throughout this season with games rescheduled and even cancelled as the Omicron strain took hold.

“As is the way you’re seeing it play out with Carlton (men’s team) at the moment, there are different days that people get infected, so the seven-day period is kind of staggered,” Livingstone said.

“For us to actually condense (the fixture) may not have given them the best of opportunities to field the best team. We feel by delaying until Sunday, it will actually give them an opportunity to play great footy and to field their best team.”

Adelaide will not have played for a fortnight by the time it takes on Fremantle, but All-Australian Crow Sarah Allan said the team would relish the chance to rest their bodies and then engage in some “hard training” before facing the Dockers.

Allan also said she hoped that the preliminary final would be staged at Adelaide Oval.