ROUND one of the NAB AFLW season will begin in earnest on a Thursday night, with 2025 top-four sides Hawthorn and Melbourne to lock horns at Ikon Park.
As previously announced, St Kilda and Carlton will play the first official game of the season, held the preceding Sunday afternoon - August 9 - at Marvel Stadium as part of a double-header with the men's game.
The Blues and Saints will then have the following weekend off, as the remaining eight games of round one are played, starting with the Hawks v Demons on Thursday night.
With the full AFLW fixture to be announced later on Thursday, it can be revealed two of the most intriguing sides of 2026 – Adelaide and Sydney – will begin life under new coaches Ryan Davis and Colin O'Riordan against each other in a blockbuster Sunday afternoon clash at Thomas Farms Oval (Unley).
O'Riordan, a former Swan himself, will become the first Irish person to coach an AFL or AFLW side, having taken over from Scott Gowans in the off-season.
Reigning premier North Melbourne will get the chance to show off its sublime skills under the roof at Marvel Stadium against a Geelong side which has arguably caused it the most trouble of any AFLW team in recent years.
That match will be a double-header with the Roos v Cats men's game, but the exact timings of both games are yet to be locked in given the floating nature of the men's fixture for round 23.
Up to five double-headers are expected to be played across rounds one and two of the W season, but the order of those games - men's before women's, or women's before men's - is to be confirmed.
