Carlton and St Kilda will launch the 2026 AFLW season with a double-header at Marvel Stadium featuring both the women’s and men’s teams for the annual “Spud’s Game” on August 9.
The bold play to start the 11th AFLW season with a bang was confirmed by the league’s executive general manager of football Laura Kane on Monday.
The event is the first of five double-headers set to take place while the AFLW and AFL seasons overlap. The women’s game between St Kilda and Carlton will start at 4.35pm, before their round 22 men’s match at 7.20pm.
Double-headers have their lovers and their haters; with prominent figures in the footy industry arguing they give the women’s game greater spotlight in front of a larger and different audience and a chance to play in bigger venues with better conditions.
However, critics argue only the most diehard footy fans are willing to sit in a stadium for six hours, meaning there will be a risk of low crowd numbers for the curtain-raiser.
When asked how success of the fixtures would be measured, Kane said attendance would be the priority.
“Success looks like lots of people coming, lots of people watching, the players integrating, and fans of these two clubs seeing both of their teams at Marvel Stadium back to back,” she said.
Kane said the decision to introduce the double-headers was driven by what fans and players wanted.
“I was asked a few things by the players, our captains in particular … and they wanted to play rep footy, they wanted to play double-headers with the boys, and they wanted to play in stadiums like this one [Marvel], so they have to come up with a few more things for us to get our skates on with the next year,” she said.
St Kilda’s Molly McDonald said the double-headers were an exciting step forward for AFLW and praised the opportunity to showcase the women’s game on a bigger stage.
Carlton’s Lilly Goss said both teams would embrace the opportunity, noting AFLW was constantly evolving.
The fixture announcement comes in a big week for AFLW, with coaching changes locked in at Hawthorn and Richmond and the league confirming there will be an AFLW v Ireland representative footy clash on August 1.
With 46 Irish players across the AFLW competition, the game will marks the first AFLW representative fixture since the Victoria played the Allies in 2017.
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Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email.
