LEADING women’s footy voices have called for the inaugural AFLW grand final to be staged as a stand alone match.

The AFL last Thursday confirmed the inaugural women’s grand final would take place at 1.45pm on Saturday March 25, coinciding with Round 1 of the men’s fixture.

The scheduling of the AFLW grand final has caused the AFL headaches, as it seeks to strike a balance between promoting its new league and ensuring it doesn’t get lost among the opening round of the men’s fixture.

Ordinarily, the Saturday afternoon timeslot would be reserved for a men’s clash, but the AFL has decided to use the spot for the AFLW grand final. Two twilight AFL matches have been scheduled instead.

Finals Week 1

The women’s grand final shapes as a curtain raiser, but it may only be a curtain raiser for TV audiences, with the match unlikely to be played at a major venue such as the MCG.

If the match is billed as a double-header, the most likely outcome would be back-to-back matches at Etihad Stadium, with St Kilda and Melbourne playing in the twilight spot at the stadium. Hawthorn and Essendon play at the MCG at 7.45pm, meaning the gap between the two matches could be awkward if the women’s grand final was held there.

Daisy Pearce favours a stand alone grand final. Picture: Eugene Hyland Source: News Corp Australia

Melbourne marquee player Daisy Pearce indicated a stand alone match would be preferable.

“From my experience of playing in curtain raisers, while it’s amazing the buzz you get playing before the men, it comes at a cost,” Pearce told foxfooty.com.au.

“You have to make sacrifices with timelines leading into the game because it’s so tightly regulated. At a separate venue, the day and the experience would be all about the women’s grand final.

“It would probably work best if you had it at a nearby venue at a time where it works for TV purposes, as well as for people coming to the game. If fans can get to our game before heading to a twilight game, I think that could work best.”

There are concerns the atmosphere for the women’s grand final would be lacklustre if it was staged at the MCG. But Pearce disagreed, saying the competition would be well established by the big dance.

“It’s an amazing stadium and you could make an atmosphere there regardless of how many people turn up, but I don’t think it’s essential we do play at the MCG,” Pearce said.

“Hopefully by the end of the fixtures season it will have legs of its own and we can create our own atmosphere. In saying that, I don’t see a problem with it not being at the MCG.”

Player manager Alex Saundry concurred with Pearce. While she said it would be romantic to stage the inaugural women’s grand final at the MCG, she told foxfooty.com.au entertainment should be the AFL’s first priority.

Staging the women’s exhibition match at Whitten Oval was a success. Picture: Michael Dodge/Getty Images Source: Herald Sun

“Why not play again at Whitten Oval, which worked really bloody well? Or Punt Road where no team has a home advantage? If it was at Punt Road it would still be in the hub of footy,” Saundry said.

“We shouldn’t bite off more than we can chew.”



AFL General Manager Clubs and AFL Operations Travis Auld told 3AW last Thursday the AFL was still working towards finding the right balance.

While he didn’t rule out a women’s grand final at the MCG, he indicated the match would more than likely take place at another venue.

Auld said the women’s fixture was still being determined in order to ensure the majority of matches aligned with NAB Challenge games, either as curtain raisers or curtain closers.

“It’s taken a little bit longer but we want to make sure, where the facilities allow, that we do double headers throughout that period.,” he said.

“That’s why we haven’t released the preseason fixture and why we haven’t released the women’s fixture just yet.”