AFLW fixture reveal: Dees-Pies opener, Showdown headline start of AFLW season
The eighth season of the AFLW is locked in, but when will the players get their wish for a longer season? It seems the AFL will soon give in to their demands. Check out the full fixture.
A turbocharged opening weekend will launch the AFLW’s eighth season as the player union secured a guarantee the season length will grow past 10 games next year.
A 10-round fixture was finally revealed for the upcoming AFLW season on Monday, 46 days before the matches kick off on September 1 despite demands for 12 weeks or more.
Reigning premier Melbourne will host Collingwood at Ikon Park on Friday night to start the season.
Norwood Oval will host a Showdown between Adelaide and Port Adelaide on Saturday afternoon.
And Sunday will host two more rivalry match ups with a Sydney derby between the Swans and Giants at North Sydney Oval before western rivals Fremantle and West Coast meet.
Clubs had seen a planned fixture for weeks before it was released publicly on Monday but AFL Players Association boss Paul Marsh said just because a season schedule was now live, it didn’t mean negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement were coming to a close.
He told the Herald Sun on Monday the league had guaranteed a longer season next year, which is likely to be 12 games or more.
“It’s important we gave everyone some certainty. We have a guarantee of growth from next year. Real growth,” he said.
“We have some ambitions for it to grow at a quicker rate than the AFL does at the moment so there is a strong chance there will be some metric-based growth. But there will also be some actual growth. So next year will be a longer season and we have to work out what that might be,” he said.
“A lot of players would have played more games as juniors than they are playing right now. We have a view that more games will accelerate the development of players, therefore the competition. It’s a big part of the CBA conversations so far. And the AFL believe we need to be tempered in the pace of growth so it’s a good conversation.
But pleasingly from next year there will be more than ten games and we are still working through exactly what that number will be.”
Marsh said he was looking forward to the league aggressively promoting the upcoming season with a new advertising campaign given league concerns about flagging attendances and TV ratings.
Outgoing AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the league and the AFLPA agreed to “not delay the fixture any further” to allow for planning for the upcoming season.
The Herald Sun revealed last month the league was keen to free the fixture from ongoing pay negotiations so it could expand the season length under growth metrics agreed to by the league and players.
Negotiations continue on the pay deal for the men and women, with AFLW players wanting full-time contracts and a 17-game season in future years.
Under a rebranding of the AFLW the league is keen to incentivise scoring amid a worrying fall-off in attendances and TV ratings.
Ratings are down 70 per cent on the inaugural season and attendances are down 60 per cent after an expansion to 18 teams.
The grand final is set to be played on December 3 as the league was determined to finish the season in mid-December before cricket starts its Test series, to maximise the exposure for its athletes.
Other key take outs in the fixture include:
• A monster weekend of action will be built around the AFL grand final in round 5, with games to be played across four days.
Geelong will meet Melbourne for the first time on Thursday night, with four games on Friday.
Collingwood and Essendon will play at 11.05am on grand final day at the AIA Centre – presenting a potential early start to the afternoon for AFL premiership favourites the Magpies – before three games on Sunday.
• The AFLW will stage Indigenous Round across two weekends in rounds seven and eight, with Richmond and Essendon to meet for an AFLW Dreamtime game for the second time in round 7. Pride Round will be in round 10.
• Geelong and Essendon will again hit the road in round 6, to play a Country Game in Warrnambool.
• The Western Bulldogs will return home, with a backended home run that will include four of their last six games at Whitten Oval, kicking off with a Friday night game against St Kilda in round 5.
• With major stadiums preparing for cricket season, no games are scheduled to be played at the SCG, Gabba, Perth Stadium, Oval, Giants Stadium or at either the MCG or Marvel Stadium.
• The grand final will be played on Sunday, December 3 and will again be hosted by the competing team that finished higher on the ladder.
Should a Melbourne-based team earn that right, Ikon Park will host the decider.
Alberton Oval would host for Port Adelaide, Norwood Oval for the Crows and either Queensland side would play at Brighton Homes Arena at Springfield.
The Swans or Giants would host at Henson Park.
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