AFLW state of origin game scrapped

The AFLW state of origin game has been scrapped after just one year, with the AFL citing state league finals and extended breaks taken by some of the game’s stars as reasons for the match’s absence from this year’s schedule.

A crowd of more than 9000 attended Etihad Stadium last year when Victoria annihilated the Allies by 97 points on the Saturday night of the bye weekend between round 23 and the finals of the men’s season.

Action in last year's AFLW state of origin game.

Action in last year’s AFLW state of origin game.

The match was broadcast live by Channel Seven.

However with stars like Daisy Pearce taking a sabbatical from the game this winter, and others preparing for VFLW finals, the AFL decided not to play the game this year. An under-18 exhibition match involving the country’s best young female talent will instead be played before the EJ Whitten Legend’s game in Adelaide next Friday night. The girls' game will not be televised.

“While the AFLW state of origin was an important part of last year’s development for senior players, we have this year prioritised the Under-18 exhibition match for the development of our talent pathways. Many of our AFLW players have been playing in state leagues, which have finals coinciding, while some have taken an extended break in preparation for season three," AFLW chief Nicole Livingstone told The Age.

Seven will fill the Saturday night of the bye weekend by screening a VFL qualifying final.

In 2016, an exhibition women's All-Stars match on the corresponding Saturday night drew a crowd of more than 6000 and an average television audience in Melbourne of  387,000.

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