A night grand final will be held for the first time in AFLW history in a ruling by the league commission that could also push the men’s decider under lights next year. AFLW boss Emma Moore said the move to stage the match at 7.45pm eastern daylight time on Saturday, November 30 would “expose more people to our great game”.
Ikon Park (North Melbourne and Hawthorn), Springfield (Brisbane) and Norwood Oval (Adelaide) were the most likely venues to hold the clash, with the host to again be the top-ranked preliminary finals winner. AFL football boss Laura Kane ruled out the prospect of Marvel Stadium being used if a Victorian side hosted the Grand Final. Kane said the AFLW had the chance to “do things differently” to the AFL when it came to its grand final time, but when asked whether the men’s competition could follow suit, she said: “I don’t expect that question to slow”.
“We obviously experimented with twilight (grand finals) during Covid – this is different ...
this takes into account really clear growth, metrics and inputs,” Kane said on Wednesday. “This decision was made by (the AFL Commission), which we welcomed. The decision for the men’s will continue to be made by the commission.
“But I think here we have an opportunity to do things differently. We don’t have the same history, we have a different proposition, a different product, and we think we can do things to mix it up a little bit.” Moore, who is in her first season as AFLW general m.
