Dogs star backs earlier season start time, AFLW ‘vision’ as league doesn’t rule out condensed fixture in 2025

Five-time Bulldogs best and fairest winner Ellie Blackburn believes the AFLW season should start earlier in the year amid the AFL not yet ruling out another condensed fixture in 2025.

Amid frustration from AFLW players, clubs and fans, new general manager of AFLW Emma Moore and AFL Executive General manager Laura Kane on Sunday spoke to Eliza Reilly of CODE Sports, addressing the controversial fixture, the standard of games, injury tolls and crowd attendances.

The duo said they were aware of – and receptive to – the external criticism, but claimed they were satisfied with the overall health of the competition in 2024.

Fox Footy broadcaster Kelli Underwood was left somewhat frustrated by the responses and lack of direction from the AFL.

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“It (the interview responses) just felt like it was a lot of gobbledygook and ‘we’re still in a holding pattern and we still don’t know where we stand and we don’t know what it’s going to look like next year, let alone in 10 years’ time. It felt like you were listening to a half-time spray from a coach when there’s lots of words and lots of shouting, but they’re not actually saying anything,” Underwood told Fox Footy’s AFLW on Fox.

Arguably the hottest talking point in the AFLW this season has been the condensed fixture across a four-week block, which saw teams playing off short breaks. It has allowed each club to eventually play one extra game (11) in the same 10-week timeframe as previous seasons, but also taken a toll across the industry.

Speaking on AFLW on Fox, Dogs premiership captain Blackburn suggested starting the AFLW season would benefit the AFLW in many ways.

“Personally I think it (should) start a little bit earlier,” Blackburn told Fox Footy. “A lot of it gets lost in the men’s finals naturally, so I think if there’s a way we can leverage it off the men’s finals and work both competitions together.

“But it still allows free air for finals and the back-end of the season when we play when there’s no other football being played.”

Kane and Moore both said a lot of the pressing AFLW issues would be addressed at the end of the season, but wouldn’t rule out another condensed fixture next year.

“We know there are some good opportunities in certain timeslots which we wouldn’t know if not for compression. And there are things we can think about like a floating fixture in the men’s finals to increase a one-club mentality or double headers,” Moore told CODE Sports.

“We also want to see the optimal version of teams. One thing clubs did like travelling once for multiple games.”

While Blackburn didn’t feature for the Dogs during the condensed block – her season ended after Round 3 due to a serious foot injury – she said many players had conveyed their concerns and experiences to her.

“I know for so many players they were fatigued throughout that period and wondering what the effects might be in these last couple of rounds because there were so many games,” she said.

“You had to be on, not just physically in terms of playing, but mentally switched on throughout the course of that period.

“It doesn’t surprise me that there’s not a black line through the middle of a condensed fixture moving forward. But it’s something that will be highly discussed at the end of the season.”

Blackburn, a triple All-Australian, said she was “not opposed” to the possibility of a floating AFLW fixture in September to allow for the possibility of double-header matches with men’s finals.

She also welcomed the AFL’s commitment to releasing a three-year vision for the future of the AFLW.

“We would love to see a plan in place and what the vision is moving forward for the competition,” Blackburn said.

“Where do they see the timing of the season? Is it going to be sooner or later? How many games will we eventually get to in the long-term and what does that look like for the players moving forward?

“I’m an advocate for a vision, I’d love to see that in place ideally sooner rather than later.”