THE PROPOSED national women's league set to start next year could be played as a 16-a-side competition featuring the nine-point supergoal.

The AFL Commission will be briefed this month on plans for the women's league, which is likely to have eight teams aligned to AFL clubs. The AFL aims to announce the participating teams for the inaugural league by mid-year.

Simon Lethlean, the AFL's general manager of game and market development, said the briefing would cover all aspects of the league.

"It will outline the structure of the competition, including the format, fixture, lists, rules and some of the commercial models," Lethlean said.

"We just want to get their views so, hopefully, we can sign off on it and approach the 18 clubs for expressions of interest, which will probably take about a month."

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan and Lethlean provided updates on the proposed league at a 'Women in Football' charity breakfast in Melbourne on Friday morning.

Lethlean, who took part in a panel discussion with administrators, players, coaches and umpires, said the AFL was open-minded about its approach to the new league.

"There are things to look at, including whether we change some of the rules or not. We don't think we have to replicate the men's game identically," he said.

"(We'll look at) whether we have different numbers on the ground, or different scoring, different dimensions. We will canvas views to see what's best.

"We're not starting from scratch as far as women' footy, but we are in terms of a national competition. So we want to get things right and make it a sustainable competition.

"It might be exciting with some different rules (and) a point of difference that actually resonates with people. But we want to be respectful to those who have been playing for a long time and preserve the traditions."

Follow the 2016 women's exhibition games live

Melbourne v Western Bulldogs

Sunday March 6, 5.10pm AEST

• WATCH the match live at AFLcommunity.com.au

• LISTEN to the live call at afl.com.au/womens or via the headphones icon on the AFL Live app