DOUBLE-HEADERS and a "one-club approach" are firmly on the cards for the upcoming NAB AFLW fixture.
It has been confirmed Carlton and Collingwood will kick off the season on Thursday, August 14 at Ikon Park, scheduled to reflect the first ever AFLW game, with 2025 marking the 10th AFLW season.
AFLW general manager Emma Moore said the full fixture is expected "in the coming weeks", with pre-season beginning on Monday May 12.
There will be a two-round crossover between the AFLW and conclusion of the AFL home-and-away season, with the men's finals to then continue through the women's season.
"While we're working through the fixture, one of the things we're focusing on is optimising what we can do in terms of the crossover of the women's and men's competition and clearly double-headers are part of that conversation and analysis we're doing," Moore told reporters on Tuesday.
"I think one of the key things is the fixturing and how we schedule those games.
"I think another really key part of it is looking at our one-club, two-team approach, and ideally driving our fans who are currently fans of the men's competition, and driving them to the women's competition. It's pretty exciting to think we can really generate that passion out of our fanbase that we have today, and make sure that attention is on the women's games as well."
It remains to be seen whether tier one stadiums (e.g. the MCG, Marvel Stadium, Optus Stadium, Adelaide Oval) are utilised for AFLW during the crossover period, with Moore not confirming when asked if they would be in play.
"I think one of the things we've seen about the AFLW, and some things we've seen with Gather Round, is that we've got great stadiums that bring in incredible experiences to our clubs and our fans," Moore said.
"I think for the players as well, being able to play on pitches like this (Ikon Park) and other ones (like) Norwood, is really important. And being connected to our fans remains incredibly important for W."
With pre-season starting next week, Moore defended the absence of a full fixture, saying the men's full draw (rounds 16-23) needed to be finalised first. It isn't unusual for the AFLW pre-season to begin without a fixture, and the men's fixture last year wasn't released until mid-November, a few weeks into their training block.
"I think one of the key things about the fixture announcement, is that this is the first of the fixture announcements. We intend to complete the fixture work by the end of the month and release that, so the players and clubs will know what's happening when.
"What is really important in the fixture planning is that we're optimising that crossover when the men's and women's competition (meet), and to do that, we need to see what's happening in the men's fixture, which will be released next week."
