AFLW Pies To Play At Victoria Park

Collingwood News - Meagan Lechucki

Katie Lynch and Jordyn Allen were Collingwood's first two selections in the 2018 AFL Women's Draft.

Photo: collingwoodfc.com.au

Collingwood’s AFLW team will play two games at the club’s spiritual home, Victoria Park, in 2019.
In a season of firsts, the AFLW Magpies will also be competing in a conference, the fixture for which was unveiled today at Victoria Park.
Collingwood has been placed in conference B together with the Brisbane Lions, Greater Western Sydney, Carlton and Geelong.
Over the seven-week season, the Pies are set to play all four teams in Conference B as well as three cross-conference matches against Conference A, which includes the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne, Adelaide Crows, Fremantle and North Melbourne.
Victoria Park will play host to two of the club’s AFLW matches in 2019; the first in round two against Melbourne and the second in the final round against Brisbane Lions

Holly Whitford, Jordyn Allen and Katie Lynch wear their Collingwood jumpers 

in the Ryder Stand at Victoria Park.
Photo: collingwoodfc.com.au

While the AFLW Magpies have not before played at Victoria Park, the venue has welcomed women from its inception with an exclusive stand for women, a Ladies Pavilion, built in time for the first match played at the ground in May 1892. A timber grandstand installed a month later became the first in Melbourne to provide reserved seats for women.
The ground was the official home of the Collingwood Football Club from 1892 to 1999 where the Pies played a total of 863 matches, including 643 wins, 215 losses and five draws. In 2010 Collingwood’s VFL team returned to Victoria Park with the Pies’ VFLW team joining them in 2018.
In welcoming the AFLW team to the ground, the State Government recently announced a commitment of $2 million to fund a major upgrade of facilities in the Sherrin Stand as part of the Change our Game initiative designed to support the development of women’s sport at Victoria Park.
Collingwood Chief Executive Officer Mark Anderson said it was a welcome homecoming to Victoria Park for the club’s AFLW team.
“It’s wonderful to continue our rich and storied history at our spiritual home, opening a new chapter with our AFLW team at Victoria Park,” Anderson said.
“The ground means so much to so many of the Collingwood faithful, and it’s very exciting for a new generation of Collingwood players and supporters to be able to share in and experience what is so unique to our club.”

The team will play two other home matches, one at Morwell Recreation Reserve and another, a double header at Marvel Stadium.
Collingwood’s return to the Latrobe Valley will come in round four against GWS Giants.
The club’s AFL, AFLW and netball teams have each spent time competing and training in the region as part of a three-year partnership with the State Government for the Latrobe Valley Sports and Community Project.
“We are very pleased to be able to bring the excitement of AFLW to the Latrobe Valley region again in 2019,” Anderson said.
“We have been fortunate enough to host all of the sports housed under the Holden Centre roof in the region and it is always sure to create a wonderful spectacle for the community.”
The Pies will again open the AFLW season in 2019, albeit with a new opponent in Geelong Cats at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday 2 February.

Learning about the significant role played by women in the continuing story of Victoria Park.
Photo: collingwoodfc.com.au

“The opening round of the AFLW season is a highlight of the sporting calendar and it is a great honour to be able to open the season again in 2019 and welcome Geelong into the league.”
Following a busy travel schedule in 2018, Collingwood will take flight only once in 2019, to take on Fremantle at Fremantle Oval in round three. The light travel schedule will also mean that the Pies have no five-day turnarounds in their schedule.
“While in 2018 we saw our first win on the road in Alice Springs, I’m sure the team will appreciate the extra time for recovery with no five-day breaks.”
Under the new conference system, teams will earn points for every match played and will only be ranked against the teams in their own conference, with two ladders running throughout the 2019 season.
At the conclusion of the season, the two top teams in each conference will qualify for preliminary finals with the top team in Conference A hosting the second team in Conference B and the top team in Conference B hosting the second team in Conference A.
The team with the most points and/or greater percentage will then host the Grand Final.

Holly Whitford, Katie Lynch and Jordyn Allen will take to the field at Victoria Park in 2019.
 Photo: collingwoodfc.com.au