AFLW confirms night grand final for 2024 and end to condensed draw in future seasons

This year’s AFLW grand final will be a night match for the first time and there will be no condensed fixture next season.

AFL football boss Laura Kane and AFLW general manager Emma Moore confirmed the changes on Wednesday morning at the launch of the women’s final series in Melbourne.

This year’s grand final on November 30 will start at 7.45pm (AEDT).

Other than the twilight grand finals during COVID-19, this will be the first time an AFL or AFLW grand final has been played outside the traditional afternoon time-slot.

It adds to the annual debate about whether the men’s grand final should become a night game, as the NRL have done for several years.

While there has been no official announcement about next year’s AFLW fixture, Moore also indicated it will be one game per week for each team.

The league’s experiment with a condensed fixture this season, with some mid-week games, attracted plenty of controversy around player workloads and the quality of football.

“Next season we will be expanding to 12 games over 12 weeks, with 108 games,” Moore said.

This year’s was the largest AFLW season so far, with 99 home-and-away games.