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Carlton and Collingwood on Friday night will open an AFLW season for the fourth time — and season seven will be the biggest yet.
Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and the Sydney Swans will all have teams this season to make it an 18-club competition. AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan, when announcing expansion plans 12 months ago, declared the competition was “now whole”.
The Blues and Magpies kicked off the 2017, 2018 and 2021 seasons. The two teams have played five times, with Collingwood holding a 3-2 advantage over Carlton.
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Collingwood has been one of the best AFLW teams in recent years, making finals in each of their past three seasons.
After making the 2019 grand final then winning a semi-final in 2020 before the season was shut down due to Covid, the Blues have finished seventh and eighth in their past two seasons to miss out on finals.
The Magpies will unveil their new-look midfield, with All-Australian duo Chloe Molloy and Ruby Schleicher being shifted from the forward line and backline respectively.
This match gets underway at 7.10pm AEST from Ikon Park.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504) from 6.30pm AEST.
QUARTER-BY-QUARTER MATCH REPORT
It was a tight and tense tussle to start the game, headlined by a strong contested grab from Magpies star Ruby Schleicher amid strong defensive pressure from Carlton’s Darcy Vescio.
The Blues struck first on the scoreboard, with 18-year-old Mia Austin kicking her first AFLW goal from her first kick.
But the Magpies responded with two quick goals as Jordan Membrey and Eloise Chaston converted set-shot opportunities to give the Pies the lead.
Vescio, playing their 50th AFLW game, then won a free kick and kicked their 52nd career goal to level up the scores.
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