AFLW makes shock move with its LGBTQ pride round as it goes where no Aussie sport has gone before
This year's AFLW season will feature not one but two weeks dedicated to LGBTQI pride in a first for Australian sport.
The release of the schedule on Friday revealed that this year's Pride round will stretch from round nine to round 10, beginning with the Bulldogs vs Bombers match on October 10 and running through to the Suns vs Dogs game on October 19.
According to the AFLW, the additional Pride matches will ensure every team can wear their Pride strip at a home game.
Daisy Pearce's West Coast will host Gold Coast on the opening night of the AFLW season, while North Melbourne launch their premiership defence away to Geelong.
The Eagles-Suns clash, confirmed in Friday's fixture release, immediately follows the previously announced season opener between traditional foes Carlton and Collingwood on Thursday, August 14.
It is the first time the AFLW season will start during the AFL home-and-away campaign, coinciding with the final two rounds of the men's competition.
The AFLW says the extension for Pride will allow every team to wear their special kit on their home ground (pictured, St Kilda's Tyanna Smith marks during the 2024 Pride Round)
Also in round one, old rivals Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs will do battle for the Hampson-Hardeman Cup and GWS host Essendon in the first-ever meeting between the sides.
Brisbane will take on North Melbourne in round five, in their first encounter since the Kangaroos ' breakthrough grand-final triumph under Darren Crocker last year.
AFLW fixtures boss Josh Bowler said the league was looking to celebrate iconic moments, grow rivalries and create traditions with this season's fixture.
"It is important to recognise the moments and match-ups in the game that have helped shape the league so far, while also nurturing the emerging rivalries and making it easy and accessible for fans to attend," Bowler said.
Geelong's GMHBA Stadium is the only major AFL venue where AFLW matches will be played in 2025. None have been scheduled at premier venues in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide.
Unpopular mid-week fixtures have been dropped in 2025, except for Thursday night features in rounds one, seven and eight, with the latter two falling either side of the AFL grand final.
The fixture has been partially based on last season's ladder, divided into three groups of six, and is weighted towards ensuring more match-ups within each group.
AFLW's two major themed rounds will both be played over two weeks; Indigenous Round in rounds three and four and Pride Round across rounds nine and 10.
Intrastate rivalries are littered throughout the fixture, starting in round five when Fremantle host West Coast at the port.
Sydney and GWS clash in round six, Gold Coast take on Brisbane in round eight and Adelaide do battle with Port Adelaide in round 11.
The schedule for the final round of the home-and-away season has been left floating, to be confirmed closer to the date.
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