North Melbourne won the 2025 AFLW premiership in front of a sold-out crowd at Princes Park. (Getty Images: Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos)
The 2026 men's AFL season is still being contested and we already know when next year's grand final is set to be.
Compare that to the AFLW, where this season's decider was announced just before the start of round three, 13 weeks before the date.
Key dates for the men's season are announced well in advance, with possible season start dates, Gather Round weekend and the grand final for next year already known to fans.
This gives clubs and players heading on their off-season breaks clarity when planning for personnel to return to the club. One benefit of this is being able to time pre-season training in order to be in peak condition when the season begins in March.
Former AFLW player and senior coach Lauren Arnell says more certainty would allow clubs to plan their pre-season to get the best performance out of the playing group.
"It's challenging when you don't have absolute security on that because one week more or less in your preseason has a significant impact on all planning, not just high performance, but on what you can educate as a footy program as well," Arnell told ABC Sport.
More certainty around the fixture would allow teams to optimise their pre-season training. (Getty Images: Albert Perez)
The AFLW grand final will be played on November 27, after a 12-round home and away season.
The AFLW grand-final announcement came at half time of the men's Wildcard final between Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs, which the league said was a deliberate decision to get more coverage of the announcement.
Despite this, the broadcast on Foxtel/Kayo did not mention the announcement in the half-time break.
Men's players have 196 days from the key dates announcement to March 17, the earliest proposed date for the 2027 season to begin, and 395 days until next year's season decider. At the time of writing there are still 23 days until the 2026 grand final.
In a statement from the AFL accompanying the release, CEO Andrew Dillon highlighted the need for fans and clubs to be informed ahead of time.
"We're really pleased to be able to provide fans and clubs with this clarity well ahead of the 2027 season," Dillon said.
The AFL announced the women's fixture on May 21 of this year, giving clubs 80 days' notice, less than half the time their male counterparts have to prepare for the season.
