THE 2025 NAB AFLW season will kick off with a Thursday night blockbuster between Carlton and Collingwood.
The clash will be held at Ikon Park on August 14, with the AFL expected to make an announcement on Tuesday.
The upcoming season will be the 10th edition of the AFLW (with two seasons being played in 2022), and the round one season-opener will mirror the first AFLW game in 2017, also played between the two clubs.
t’s understood there won’t be Thursday night footy in round 23 of the men’s competition, allowing for some clear air for the women’s season-opener.
Collingwood finished 18th last year, landing dynamic Gippsland Power midfielder Ash Centra with the first selection in the draft.
Carlton finished 14th, taking tall defender/winger Poppy Scholz (younger sister of Port Adelaide’s Telstra Rising Star winner Matilda) with pick No.6, and landing father-daughter Sophie McKay with pick No.17.
The game will also be the first chance to see Collingwood recruit Mattea Breed in her new colours, while ex-Gold Coast captain Tara Bohanna is set to line up for the Blues.
Cameron Joyce and Tara Bohanna celebrate after the match between West Coast and Gold Coast at VU Whitten Oval on January 16, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos
AFLW pre-season starts on May 12, with clubs expecting the full fixture in a few weeks.
The AFLW season will overlap with two weeks of the men’s home-and-away season for the first time, with 12 rounds of footy set to be played.
Carlton and Collingwood have played each other in the AFLW in every season (not every team plays each other once), with the Magpies leading the head-to-head five to four. Breann Harrington (née Moody) is the only player to have featured in all nine matches.
The Blues won last year’s edition by just four points on the back of a late goal from Dayna Finn.
