The AFLW draw has been released for the 2019 season, with the controversial conference structure confirmed after the league was expanded to include the North Melbourne Kangaroos and Geelong Cats.
The now ten-team competition will feature seven rounds, as seen in previous seasons, with two conferences of five teams.
Instead of byes, there will be crossover matches each round. With only four opponents in each group, each team will play three extra games against teams in the other group to make up the seven-round season.
The conferences, simply titled “A” and “B”, appear to be somewhat geographically split, with three Victorian teams in each.
Conference A sees the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne Demons and Kangaroos joined by the Adelaide Crows and Fremantle Dockers, while Conference B has the Collingwood Magpies, Carlton Blues and Geelong Cats joined by the Brisbane Lions and Greater Western Sydney Giants.
In a departure from the past two seasons, Carlton have been bumped from the season opener, with Geelong set to host Collingwood at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday, February 2. The Adelaide Crows will also host the Western Bulldogs on the first day of the season.
The first Sunday fixtures will see a triple-header, with the Kangaroos hosting Carlton in Hobart, Melbourne hosting Fremantle and Brisbane taking on the Giants.
The semi-finals of the competition will be played on the weekend of March 22 and 23, while the final will be played on either March 30 or March 31, depending on scheduling around AFL games, for which the fixture is still yet to be released.
Rounds 2, 3 and 7 will see Friday night fixtures, with every other match across the duration of the season being played on Saturday or Sunday.
The competition has seen much criticism in recent weeks for its conferencing system, with teams playing the same number of games as last year despite two teams being added.
| Date | Conference | Home | Away | Venue | Time |
| Sat Feb 2 | B | Geelong Cats | Collingwood Magpies | GMHBA Stadium | 6:40 PM |
| Sat Feb 2 | A | Adelaide Crows | Western Bulldogs | Norwood Oval | 8:40 PM |
| Sun Feb 3 | Crossover | North Melbourne Kangaroos | Carlton Blues | North Hobart Oval | 1:05 PM |
| Sun Feb 3 | A | Melbourne Demons | Fremantle Dockers | Casey Fields | 3:05 PM |
| Sun Feb 3 | B | Brisbane Lions | GWS Giants | Moreton Bay Sports Complex | 5:05 PM |
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