The 2022 NAB AFL Women’s Competition will kick off under lights on Friday, January 7 when St Kilda host Richmond in the first ever NAB AFLW game to be played at SkyBus Stadium in Victoria’s Bayside region.
In a bumper opening round, the Gold Coast SUNS will kick off their campaign at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, while the Premiership reigning Brisbane Lions head to Perth to take on the West Coast Eagles.
The fixture for Round One – Round Nine of the 2022 NAB AFL Women’s Competition can be found here.
The 2022 NAB AFL Women’s Competition will for the first time see a 10-round home-and-away season (up from nine rounds in 2021) with the top six teams to participate in a three-week finals series. A single ladder will be in place for 2022 with the regulation of matchups seeing the competition divided into two bands of the top seven and bottom seven, based on last year’s ladder positions, to ensure maximum competition integrity.
AFL General Manager Women’s Football Nicole Livingstone said the fixture for the 2022 NAB AFL Women’s Competition features many highlights, including a bumper opening round and the second league-wide Pride Round and Indigenous Round to take place in Rounds Three and Eight, respectively.
“The season starts in just over a month and like many in the Australian community, we cannot wait for AFLW footy to return,” Ms. Livingstone said.
“We acknowledge the ongoing pandemic has been a challenging period for so many in our game and the wider community and we thank all players, clubs and supporters for their patience as we worked towards finalising the fixture for the 2022 NAB AFL Women’s Competition. It shapes up to be the best season yet with so much to look forward to from that opening round right through to the NAB AFLW Grand Final.
“We look forward to watching the young stars who are set to immediately impact the competition and, equally, the veterans who continue to lead the way.
“We are honoured to again celebrate a Pride Round across the competition in Round Three and we recognise the leadership of the Carlton and Western Bulldogs Football Clubs who paved the way with the first ever AFLW Pride Game in 2018.
“Indigenous Round, a truly significant round that provides further opportunity to continue to celebrate and learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players and staff in our game and amplify Indigenous women’s voices and stories, will be held across Round Eight.
“As we work towards an 18-team competition for 2023, the AFL acknowledges the role of every women’s football pioneer – player, coach, administrator and supporter – who worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for women to play Australian Football and whose commitment and passion has been a major factor in the growth of the AFLW competition since it commenced in 2017.
“We also thank the role of AFLW supporters who make every AFLW venue a truly safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment. We want as many fans and families to return to football and so we have frozen ticket prices at $10 for Adults and free for kids under 18 – to ensure it is affordable for every single fan.”
Rounds nine and 10 of the NAB AFLW fixture will be floating rounds, with timeslots for those rounds to be confirmed closer to the time to help optimise scheduling outcomes heading into the AFLW finals.
The AFL will release the fixture for Round 10 of the 2022 NAB AFL Women’s Competition in the coming days as part of a further announcement.
NAB Representative Rachel Slade, Group Executive, Personal Banking said:
‘NAB is proud to have supported the AFLW since its inaugural season in 2017 and during this time we’ve enjoyed watching the game grow, creating more opportunities for women in sport and inspiring the next generation of young Australians.
As anticipation builds around season six of the AFLW competition, NAB is excited to back the AFL’s bold vision and support AFLW players, clubs and fans return to footy and help make the 2022 NAB AFLW season the best season yet.’
All matches in the next season will be fully ticketed with the AFL proud to announce that tickets to home-and-away matches for the 2022 NAB AFLW season will be frozen at $10 for Adults / Concession with free entry for children under 18.
All 2022 NAB AFL Women’s Competition matches will be broadcast live on the Seven Network, FOX FOOTY, Kayo, and streamed live via the Official AFL app and womens.afl and the Official AFLW App thanks to Telstra.
The AFL would like to acknowledge the naming rights partner for the AFLW Competition, the National Australia Bank (NAB), for providing outstanding support for all levels of women’s football.
“The Toyota Good For Footy Round will be held during Round Six and is aimed at supporting local communities and growing the game at the grassroots level across the country.
NAB has supported the footy community since 2002, providing boys and girls with a clear pathway from NAB AFL Auskick through to the NAB AFL Rising Stars Program all the way to the big time. In the fifth year as principal partner of the AFLW, NAB is proud to once again be supporting the competition in 2022, providing many women the opportunity of playing at the elite level and many girls across the country with something to aspire to.
