At lunchtime today, AFL Northern Territory (AFLNT) received advice from the AFLW operations team that the maximum number of games allowed to be played before Saturday night’s Round 4 NAB AFLW game between Adelaide and Fremantle is two.
This has a direct impact on the four games that had been previously scheduled, and as a result of the advice, the AFLNT football operations team has made changes to Saturday’s TIO NTFL fixture, keeping disruptions to a minimum.
The first two games that were previously scheduled on TIO Stadium, being the Under 15 Girls Elimination Final between Southern Districts and Waratah at 10:30am, and the Women’s Premier League Qualifying Final between Waratah and Palmerston at 12:00pm will be moved to TIO Oval 2. The times of the game remain unchanged.
As a result of that move, the 10:30am Under 18 Boys Elimination Final between Darwin Buffaloes and Southern Districts and the Men’s Division 1 Qualifying Final between Nightcliff and Waratah have been switched to the Marrara Cricket Ground.
AFLNT Manager of Community Football Rosanna De Santis said it wasn’t an ideal situation, but the clubs had shown great understanding.
“We never like making late changes to the fixture, and we’ve made it known to the AFL that we’re unhappy with the lateness of their decision, but we believe what we’ve come up with causes the least amount of disruption to proceedings and still allows for a full day of celebrating women’s footy at the venue.
"The clubs impacted have all been contacted and have been very supportive of the way we've reworked the fixture for this Saturday. We’d also like to thank NT Cricket for being so accommodating of allowing us access to Marrara Cricket Ground.
“To try and minimise any impact to fans we will not be charging them twice if they choose to visit both TIO Stadium and Marrara Cricket Ground on Saturday, instead they will get one ticket that covers both grounds.
“While everyone wants to play on TIO Stadium we fully understand that having showcase AFLW and AFL games are important for our future aspirations, our talent pathways and to the community. We have a directive to protect the oval, and so we will do that this weekend and every weekend, culminating in the Men’s Premier League Grand Final,” De Santis said.
Please see here for an updated Round 19/ Finals Week One TIO NTFL fixture.
