Daisy Pearce’s first AFLW derby as coach of West Coast will be held at Perth Stadium as the Eagles look to finally defeat Fremantle.
AFLW action will return to the 60,000-capacity stadium for the upcoming season after the league’s fixture was revealed on Friday.
There will be added interest at struggling West Coast after Pearce, an inaugural marquee signing with Melbourne, moved from Victoria to lead the Eagles.
The Western Derby will take place on October 19 in a standalone match at the stadium.
The clubs and the league will be hoping to push the crowd figure of 41,975 set at the same ground when Fremantle hosted Collingwood in 2018.
The AFLW is open to hosting other marquee games at big stadiums and will continue to work with clubs to make it happen.
Another notable part of the fixture is the introduction of mid-week games, starting in round five in the lead-up to the AFL men’s grand final.
Richmond will host Port Adelaide at Princes Park on a Tuesday night (September 24), with games also scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday evening.
There will be mid-week matches in rounds six and seven as the AFLW attempts to capitalise on school holidays.
“The NAB AFLW is starting to see the establishment of traditional marquee games and club rivalries being cemented,” AFL scheduling boss Josh Bowler said.
“The mid-week matches will fall during the school holidays and provide great opportunities for fans to attend and watch at home on evenings that traditionally don’t have footy.
“We felt it was important for our fans to maintain the weekend time slot structure we have seen in previous seasons, whilst also adding an additional game mid-week across the middle of the competition.”
Reigning premiers Brisbane will get their title defence underway with a grand-final rematch against North Melbourne at Springfield Central Stadium on September 1.
The opening night of the season will consist of two matches — Sydney hosting Collingwood at North Sydney Oval, and West Coast up against Richmond.
This year’s grand final has been locked in for November 30 after a four-week finals series.
Announced earlier in the week the women’s Dreamtime match between Essendon and Richmond will be held in Darwin for the first time on October 26.
Hawthorn will also take their Indigenous Round match north again when they host Melbourne in Cairns.
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AAP