WITH a fixture for the 2024 NAB AFLW season now in place, eyes now turn to the intricacies of the scheduling.

Fairly fixturing eighteen teams playing 11 rounds of footy is already a tricky prospect, but adding the element of a 10-week season makes things even more complicated.

>> CHECK OUT THE FULL 2024 AFLW FIXTURE HERE

It has meant accepting some sacrifices, including it being the first season without a Hampson-Hardeman Cup between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, and most clubs working around a four-day break.

The three clubs who have avoided a four-day turnaround are Richmond, Geelong, and West Coast, although all three will contend with consecutive five-day breaks.

Meanwhile, Carlton, Collingwood, and the Western Bulldogs also have a 10-day break in the back half of the season.

There will be four Tuesday games, and five Wednesday games throughout the compressed scheduling. Thursday evening games will also be a feature from week three until week 10.

Across the season, 28 venues will be used with just one – C.ex Coffs International Stadium – a new addition. AFLW heads back to TIO Stadium in Darwin for the first Dreamtime match in the Top End. The Dogs will continue hosting a home game each season at Mars Stadium in Ballarat, and Hawthorn has extended its partnership with the Queensland Government, taking it to Cazalys Stadium in Cairns once again.

Richmond will return to Swinburne Centre for four of its home games, hosting the other two at Ikon Park.

Various Victorian sides will also play one-off home games at different venues, including St Kilda hosting GWS at Kinetic Stadium, Collingwood hosting Gold Coast at the Swinburne Centre, and Essendon hosting Sydney at Mission Whitten Oval.

There will be 10 first-time meetings of clubs, leaving just four matchups (Essendon v GWS, Melbourne v Port Adelaide, Hawthorn v North Melbourne, Melbourne v Sydney) yet to be fixtured.

First-time matchups

• Hawthorn v Carlton
• Collingwood v Hawthorn
• Adelaide v Hawthorn
• Port Adelaide v Collingwood
• Essendon v North Melbourne
• Western Bulldogs v Essendon
• Port Adelaide v Fremantle
• Hawthorn v Gold Coast
• Richmond v Port Adelaide
• Sydney v Richmond

The short season also means each club will fail to meet six other sides throughout the home and away season. After a 17th-placed finish last year, West Coast will avoid three of last year's top four finishers, but will play preliminary finalist Geelong.

Meanwhile North Melbourne will once again face all seven of its fellow 2023 finalists, after being the only team to play every finalist last year.

After reaching finals for the first time last year, both Essendon and Sydney will play all but two other finalists, increasing the difficulty of their schedules, while Port Adelaide avoids five 2023 finalists – the most of any club.

Who doesn't your team play?

None of the four new coaches – Daisy Pearce, Daniel Webster, Tamara Hyett, and Sam Wright – will face their former club in their first year at the helm, including Pearce avoiding Melbourne, the club she captained to a premiership.

But before it all, preseason officially kicks off on Monday June 3, allowing for a 13-week training block ahead of the season's launch on Friday August 30.