While this disparity will level out after Monday night’s match, when Brisbane host Melbourne at Metricon Stadium, this means Brisbane will have played four matches in 15 days including two on the road. However, beyond the systemic differences facing each club, the many challenges thrown up by Covid in 2022 have served to highlight and exacerbate the differences in outcome and various inequities across the competition, and will continue to shape how the season plays out.Īt the end of this past weekend, both ladder leaders and premiership favourites, Adelaide and Fremantle – and third-placed North – have played one more match than their immediate challengers in fourth and fifth place, Melbourne and Brisbane. The two exceptions - GWS and Carlton – have unique challenges which could fill another article entirely at the very least. Compare this to the bottom six – from last: St Kilda, West Coast, Geelong, GWS, Carlton and Richmond – which are almost all expansion teams.

The top six teams – from first position down: Adelaide, Fremantle, North Melbourne, Melbourne, Brisbane and Collingwood – share much in common, including the notable fact they are all foundation teams with five and a half seasons of AFLW experience behind them.

On the face of it, the division between who can, who might, and who cannot is clear enough. But given the complexity of this season’s fixturing, care of Covid-19, and the varied and inequitable experiences of, and impact on, different clubs, a true measure of team performances would be loaded with qualifications, caveats and asterisks. A s we near the end of round seven of the AFLW’s 10-round home-and-away season, we would ordinarily be in a good position to assess overall team performance and identify genuine contenders for the premiership cup.

One True Thing by Nicole Hayes