THE NAB League Girls will feature 13 teams playing nine matches across 10 rounds in 2022 – an increase of two games on last year – after the official competition fixture was released on Tuesday morning.

The competition kicks off this Saturday, January 22, to bring it closer to the AFLW and VFLW fixtures, giving women’s football fans even more content as they take full control of the early months of the year.

Matches will be played at 19 venues across Victoria and Tasmania, with regional centres included being Ballarat, Bendigo, Churchill, Healesville, Wangaratta, Waurn Ponds and Yarrawonga, suburban grounds in use at Abbotsford, Bundoora, Craigieburn, Frankston, Kilsyth, Sandringham and Truganina, while the Devils have home games scheduled for Hobart, Launceston and Penguin.

The stars of tomorrow will get more football, with the two extra games being complimented by an increase in quarter lengths from 17 to 20 minutes and the teams who miss the semi-finals still in action on that first weekend in April in a repechage round, giving all clubs a minimum of 10 games for the season.

Reigning premiers Oakleigh Chargers will be on tour for the entire season, having been scheduled for eight away matches plus a double header at Victoria Park against the Gold Coast Academy, and will start their campaign against Northern Knights at Latrobe University on Sunday, while runners-up and country division winners Geelong Falcons host Dandenong Stingrays on the same day.

The other teams, except Western Jets (bye), kick off on Saturday, with games scheduled for Yarrawonga, Kilsyth, Launceston and a Latrobe University neutral clash between GWV Rebels and Gippsland Power.

>> CHECK OUT THE FULL NAB LEAGUE GIRLS FIXTURE

The Suns and Brisbane Lions academies plus Northern Territory will each travel to Melbourne for one game as guest teams, playing the Chargers, Jets and Tasmania Devils respectively, with the Suns and Lions replacing the Swans and Giants academies in the fixture.

Country teams Murray Bushrangers and Bendigo Pioneers are the only ones to play each other twice, locked in for games in Yarrawonga (round one) and Bendigo (round seven).

Wooden spooner Gippsland has been given six of its nine matches at Churchill, with the other three being at neutral Melbourne venues against the Rebels, Falcons and Bushrangers.

Calder Cannons will meet the Pioneers in round six as a curtain raiser to a Rebel VFLW match to be revealed when that fixture is released in the near future.

>> FULL STATEMENT: All the changes coming to the NAB League Girls competition

The ladder will again be broken into Metro and Country/Tasmania divisions, with the top two of each group to play off in semi-finals on April 2-3 and the winners of those games meeting in the Grand Final on April 9-10 – two weeks after the AFLW decider.

The opening clash of the NAB AFLW Under-18 National Championships between Vic Metro and Vic Country will be played in conjunction with round nine, but that is the only representative match to be played during the NAB League Girls season, with the rest of that competition to be played in April after the Grand Final.

The under-16 Futures clash between Metro and Country will be played alongside round five, with their championships to be played from May to July.

All matches will be played in a COVID safe environment, with protocols in place to protect players, officials, staff and the public at training and matches, and the AFL’s vaccination policy requiring players and officials to be vaccinated is also in place for the NAB League.

Spectators are allowed to attend matches in line with venue and government requirements, and all matches will be streamed live, with more details set to be announced.

Following is a breakdown of who each team will and won’t play in 2022.

BENDIGO PIONEERS

Fixture: Murray (A), GWV (H), Dandenong (N), Western (N), Gippsland (A), Calder (A), Murray (H), bye, Tasmania (A), Geelong (A)
Plays Twice: Murray
Doesn’t Play: Eastern, Northern, Oakleigh, Sandringham

CALDER CANNONS

Fixture: Eastern (A), Northern (H), bye, Gippsland (A), Murray (A), Bendigo (H), Tasmania (A), Western (H), Sandringham (H), Oakleigh (H)
Plays Twice: Nil
Doesn’t Play: Dandenong, Geelong, GWV

DANDENONG STINGRAYS

Fixture: Geelong (A), Gippsland (A), Bendigo (N), Murray (H), GWV (A), Eastern (H), Sandringham (A), Oakleigh (H), Northern (A), bye
Plays Twice: Nil
Doesn’t Play: Calder, Tasmania, Western

EASTERN RANGES

Fixture: Calder (H), bye, Sandringham (H), Northern (A), Oakleigh (H), Dandenong (A), Gippsland (A), Tasmania (H), Geelong (A), Western (H)
Plays Twice: Nil
Doesn’t Play: Bendigo, GWV, Murray

GEELONG FALCONS

Fixture: Dandenong (H), Murray (N), Gippsland (N), Oakleigh (H), Northern (H), Western (A), GWV (A), bye, Eastern (H), Bendigo (H)
Plays Twice: Nil
Doesn’t Play: Calder, Sandringham, Tasmania

GIPPSLAND POWER

Fixture: GWV (N), Dandenong (H), Geelong (N), Calder (H), Bendigo (H), Sandringham (H), Eastern (H), bye, Murray (N), Northern (H)
Plays Twice: Nil
Doesn’t Play: Oakleigh, Tasmania, Western

GWV REBELS

Fixture: Gippsland (N), Bendigo (A), Murray (N), Tasmania (H), Dandenong (H), Oakleigh (H), Geelong (H), bye, Western (H), Sandringham (TBC)
Plays Twice: Nil
Doesn’t Play: Calder, Eastern, Northern

MURRAY BUSHRANGERS

Fixture: Bendigo (H), Geelong (N), GWV (N), Dandenong (A), Calder (H), Northern (H), Bendigo (A), bye, Gippsland (N), Tasmania (N)
Plays Twice: Bendigo
Doesn’t Play: Eastern, Oakleigh, Sandringham, Western

NORTHERN KNIGHTS

Fixture: Oakleigh (H), Calder (A), Western (N), Eastern (H), Geelong (A), Murray (A), bye, Sandringham (H), Dandenong (H), Gippsland (A)
Plays Twice: Nil
Doesn’t Play: Bendigo, GWV, Tasmania

OAKLEIGH CHARGERS

Fixture: Northern (A), Sandringham (A), Tasmania (A), Geelong (A), Eastern (A), GWV (A), Lions Academy (N), Dandenong (A), bye, Calder (A)
Plays Twice: Nil
Doesn’t Play: Bendigo, Gippsland, Murray, Western

SANDRINGHAM DRAGONS

Fixture: Tasmania (A), Oakleigh (H), Eastern (A), bye, Western (H), Gippsland (A), Dandenong (H), Northern (A), Calder (A), GWV (TBC)
Plays Twice: Nil
Doesn’t Play: Bendigo, Geelong, Murray

TASMANIA DEVILS

Fixture: Sandringham (H), Western (H), Oakleigh (H), GWV (A), Northern Territory (N), bye, Calder (H), Eastern (A), Bendigo (H), Murray (N)
Plays Twice: Nil
Doesn’t Play: Dandenong, Geelong, Gippsland, Northern

WESTERN JETS

Fixture: bye, Tasmania (A), Northern (N), Bendigo (N), Sandringham (A), Geelong (H),
Suns Academy (N), Calder (A), GWV (A), Eastern (A)
Plays Twice: Nil
Doesn’t Play: Dandenong, Gippsland, Murray, Oakleigh