last weekend\u2019s historic AFLW Australia-Ireland international match<\/a>, which attracted Kayo SPORTS and Foxtel\u2019s biggest AFLW audience on record.<\/p>\n\u201cAfter the huge success of the Australia v Ireland international, the AFLW has never been in a stronger position,\u201d Fox Footy general manager Mick Neill said. \u201cEvery season the standard rises again, and the quality of footy continues to reach new levels as the pathways mature and more elite athletes come into the competition.<\/p>\n
New Fox Footy commentator Lauren Arnell. Picture: James Wiltshire\/AFL PhotosSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to welcome Lauren Arnell, Chelsea Randall and Emma Kearney to Fox Footy. They are champions of the game who have helped shape AFLW from day one, and their experience and insight will add another dimension to our coverage.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur coverage is built around the best people in the game. We\u2019re proud to have assembled one of the strongest and most experienced teams in Australian sports broadcasting.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Sydney Swans recruit Taylor Smith \u2014 a dual premiership Lion and the 2024 AFLW leading goalkicker \u2014 was on the North Sydney Oval boundary for the broadcast of last weekend\u2019s AFLW international\ufeff\ufeff.<\/p>\n
Smith is one of several current AFLW stars who\u2019ll play a key role in Fox Footy\u2019s coverage of the 2026 season, alongside dual All-Australian and Collingwood captain Ruby Schleicher, Bulldogs premiership skipper and six-time club champion Ellie Blackburn, premiership Bulldog turned Essendon captain Bonnie Toogood and Collingwood best and fairest winner Jordyn Allen.<\/p>\n
Swans star Taylor Smith joins the Fox Footy commentary team. Picture: James Wiltshire\/AFL PhotosSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Dual All-Australian and former Geelong skipper Meg McDonald returns to provide special comments, as does Australian Hall of Fame member Debbie Lee, five-time WAWFL premiership player Nikki Harwood, former Carlton AFLW coach Daniel Harford, premiership Eagle Will Schofield and football pioneer Chyloe Kurdas, who\u2019s been part of Fox Footy\u2019s coverage since the inaugural AFLW season in 2017.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s play-by-play callers will be Kelli Underwood OAM, Jess Webster, Ben Waterworth, Adam Papalia and Joel Peterson.<\/p>\n
The 2026 season also marks another milestone for Kayo SPORTS\u2019 commitment to women\u2019s sport and women in sports broadcasting. This year, at least 25 women will feature across Fox Footy\u2019s AFL and AFLW coverage in presenting, commentary, boundary riding and special comments roles.<\/p>\n
Across the Foxtel Group\u2019s coverage of AFL, AFLW, NRL, NRLW, international cricket, the BBL, WBBL and Super Netball, almost 90 women will take on on-air roles throughout the year \u2013 an unmatched commitment by any Australian broadcaster.<\/p>\n
‘The great wall of Ireland!’ | 00:24<\/p>\n
Fans can watch every AFLW match throughout the 2026 season live on Fox Footy, including every final and the Grand Final, with expert analysis, comprehensive pre and post-game coverage and every big moment from the season.<\/p>\n
FOX FOOTY AFLW COMMENTATORS 2026 <\/p>\n
Play-by-play callers<\/p>\n
Kelli Underwood, Jess Webster, Ben Waterworth, Joel Peterson, Adam Papalia<\/p>\n
Expert commentators<\/p>\n
Lauren Arnell, Chelsea Randall, Emma Kearney, Ruby Schleicher, Ellie Blackburn, Meg McDonald, Jordyn Allen, Bonnie Toogood, Taylor Smith, Chyloe Kurdas, Debbie Lee, Nikki Harwood, Daniel Harford, Will Schofield<\/p>\n
Boundary reporters<\/p>\n
Lauren Wood, Megan Waters, Sarah Burt, Steph Clarkson, Alexia Pesce, Monique Van Der Heyden, Jess Stewart, Keirra Trompf, Bonnie Raynor, Sarah Karaoglu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two of the best and most decorated players in AFLW history, as well as one of the game\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":843851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-843850","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\/843850","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=843850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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