{"id":44615,"date":"2025-08-05T05:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T05:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/44615\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T05:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T05:56:08","slug":"afl-urged-to-lock-in-womens-grand-final-at-its-own-53000-capacity-marvel-stadium-aflw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/44615\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL urged to lock in women\u2019s grand final at its own 53,000 capacity Marvel Stadium | AFLW"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leading figures in the AFLW<\/a> have urged officials to think big around the venue for November\u2019s grand final, and prioritise women\u2019s football over concerts and supercross at the AFL-owned Marvel Stadium.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s premiership was decided at a sold out, 12,000-capacity Ikon Park in Carlton where North Melbourne overcame Brisbane to win the club\u2019s first flag in 25 years.<\/p>\n

Jasmine Garner, who takes over the Kangaroos captaincy from Emma Kearney this season, said locking in the grand final at Marvel Stadium each year ensures the AFLW showpiece is given its best chance of success.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to worry about what the weather\u2019s going to do on the day because, you just never know with the suburban grounds, the weather can play a huge part in it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Bre Koenen, the Lions skipper, said it was important for the AFLW to establish traditions and build supporter habits even if it meant interstate teams would forego hosting rights and had to travel to compete in the grand final.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love it to be at the same place, same time, just predictable to people,\u201d she said. \u201cIt makes sense to me at Marvel, in the heart of footy [in Victoria],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come to Melbourne for [men\u2019s] grand final weekend, even if their team\u2019s not in it. If you\u2019re a footy lover, it\u2019s where you want to be, so I feel like we need to create that for \u2018W fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Players face the cameras during the 2025 AFLW Captains Day at Marvel Stadium. Photograph: James Wiltshire\/AFL Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The AFL has been criticised in recent years for sticking with Ikon Park despite selling out the ground quickly.<\/p>\n

Marvel Stadium is owned by the AFL but is used largely for concerts and non-football events after the men\u2019s season finishes in September, creating tension between the need to support women\u2019s football with the economic appeal of international tours. \u201cWe got kicked off there last year for what? Like BMX and concerts and all this sort of stuff,\u201d Koenen said.<\/p>\n

This year, the AUSX Open Supercross event is scheduled for the weekend before the AFLW grand final, before Lady Gaga plays two shows the weekend following the decider.<\/p>\n

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Rebecca Beeson, the GWS Giants captain, said she wasn\u2019t opposed to the game being held at Marvel Stadium, but wherever it was the game needed to be at a \u201cshowpiece\u201d venue such as the Adelaide Oval. The 2019 grand final was played at the South Australian venue and attracted 53,034 fans, then a record for a standalone women\u2019s sporting event.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to generate a bit of hype and crowd, the ground that it\u2019s going to be played at has to have the capacity to do so,\u201d Beeson said. \u201cIf it\u2019s played at a community oval with no proper grandstand, then you\u2019re going to limit the number of people who are going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cats captain Meghan McDonald said she was in attendance for the 2019 grand final, and described the atmosphere as \u201cunreal\u201d. The defender agreed that the decider needed to be held in a \u201cstadium\u201d, but she was open to which venue \u2013 including even GMHBA Stadium in Geelong if her team earned the right.<\/p>\n

Western Bulldogs\u2019 skipper Deanna Berry said Marvel Stadium made the most sense \u201cYoung girls then get to sit in a venue like this and watch their idols play,\u201d she said. \u201cSometimes you can go to the smaller ovals and you\u2019re not really seeing the full atmosphere because you might be stuck standing up behind a few people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leading figures in the AFLW have urged officials to think big around the venue for November\u2019s grand final,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-44615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}