Fremantle’s Season 7 pathway has been laid out, with the AFL confirming the NAB AFL Women’s fixtures for the upcoming season, which will commence at the end of next month.
The season begins for Fremantle in the north-east corner of the country against Season 5 premiers Brisbane, before a return to the home crowd at Fremantle Oval in round two to take on Geelong.
A trip to Victoria to face the Western Bulldogs in Friday night primetime is on the cards for round three, followed by the hosting of Carlton on a Saturday afternoon at Fremantle Oval in round four.
Round five shapes as the highlight of the season, with a Thursday night primetime RAC Derby clash with West Coast at Optus Stadium.
Held under lights on Thursday night, the fifth iteration of the AFLW RAC Derby will be played just two days prior to the AFL Grand Final held on Saturday of that weekend.
Round six and eight will see Fremantle host last year’s finalists Melbourne and Collingwood at Fremantle Oval, with a round seven trip to South Australia in between to take on reigning premiers Adelaide.
Fremantle will close out the season with back-to-back games against expansion sides Sydney and Hawthorn, who both enter the competition for the first time in Season 7.
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Among Fremantle’s opponents in Season 7 are last season’s finalists in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Collingwood.
It will be just the second time Fremantle’s AFLW side have played in the states of Queensland and New South Wales, and the first time that they have played at the The Gabba, Henson Park and Wigan Oval.
All 18 clubs will host an Indigenous Round clash, with celebrations spread across rounds three and four, while Pride Round will be held in round eight.
Fremantle’s Senior Coach Trent Cooper said the fixture was an exciting prospect for both his playing group and football fans alike.
“We’re really excited to get the fixtures, it’s a challenging fixture in that we play all the top four sides from last year - but they are the types of games we need to play to have us prepared to play finals level football,” Cooper said.
“That Thursday night RAC Derby will be fantastic, it’s leading into the AFL Grand Final weekend and that week will be an exciting time for footy.
“The fact we play in five different states this year is great, we get to tick off a lot of new firsts, including taking on two expansion sides as well.”
NAB AFL WOMEN’S SEASON 7 FIXTURE
*all times local
Round 1 v BRISBANE
Sunday 28 August | 2.10pm | The Gabba
Round 2 v GEELONG
Saturday 3 September | Time TBC | Fremantle Oval
Round 3 v WESTERN BULLDOGS
Friday 9 September | 5.10pm | IKON Park
Round 4 v CARLTON
Saturday 17 September | Time TBC | Fremantle Oval
Round 5 v WEST COAST
Thursday 22 September | 7.00pm | Optus Stadium
Round 6 v MELBOURNE
Sunday 2 October | 12.10pm | Fremantle Oval
Round 7 v ADELAIDE
Saturday 8 October | 2.40pm | Wigan Oval
Round 8 v COLLINGWOOD
Sunday 16 October | 2.10pm | Fremantle Oval
Round 9 v SYDNEY
Saturday 22 October | 3.10pm | Henson Park
Round 10 v HAWTHORN
Floating: Friday 28 October – Sunday 30 October | Time TBC | Fremantle Oval
