MELBOURNE’S upcoming AFL Women’s campaign is a step closer, with the announcement of the 2024 NAB AFLW fixture on Friday afternoon.
For the first time, teams will play an 11-game home-and-away season, with an additional match to be held as ‘Mid-Week Footy’ throughout the middle of the draw.
Week 1 will see the Demons hit the highway, set for a clash with Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday 31 August. It will be the first time the two teams meet since the Cats ended the Dees’ finals’ hopes in November.
Melbourne will then host back-to-back home matches against last year’s grand finalists in Brisbane Lions and North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos at Casey Fields, before heading interstate to meet Fremantle in Week 4.
It will mark the first of three travel trips for the red and blue, with Adelaide at Norwood Oval (Week 7) and Hawthorn at Cazalys Stadium (Week 9) also on the agenda.
Week 7 will form part of the Dees’ ‘Mid-Week Footy’ fixture, taking on the Crows on Wednesday 9 October before returning to Victoria for a battle with St Kilda at RSEA Park that Sunday.
Week 7 will also be the league’s annual Pride celebration, while Indigenous Round will be held across Week 9 and 10 of the season.
In addition to three games at Casey, Melbourne will host two home matches at IKON Park. The Demons will welcome GWS Giants to the inner-city oval in Week 6, before concluding the home-and-away season with a Collingwood clash in Week 10.
“This is an exciting fixture for all of our Dees fans,” Melbourne CEO Gary Pert said.
“We requested a split of home matches across Casey Fields and IKON Park, to provide great opportunity for our fans to come along and support us. To be able to host a total of five matches across the two venues is a great outcome.
“We are also pleased to have secured some family friendly timeslots for our members. As a Club with a strong family focus, it will be great for Dees families to have the opportunity to enjoy some footy together and as a club we will be working hard to ensure our home games have a range of activations to keep the whole family entertained.
“This fixture has delivered a strong schedule of games and we’re excited by the challenge that awaits.”
For fans unable to make it to see the Dees up close, four matches will be available on free-to-air television. Week 10 will remain a floating fixture for the time being, with details to be confirmed later on in the year.
Dees supporters excited to get amongst the action in 2024 can sign up for a number of membership packages here.
