ON A historic occasion, an AFL and AFLW representative from all 18 teams gathered together at the home of football to celebrate the AFLW league now being complete.

Matt Kennedy and Brea Moody were present on behalf of the Carlton Football Club, and both were excited to be a part of history and keen to see what the future holds for the competition. 

“It’s such a special day – to be one of the inaugural eight teams to play in the competition to now having a full league of 18 teams is pretty special and representation from both men's and women's here: it’s a very exciting day to be a part of,” Moody said.  

“[Having 18 teams] is going to even out the competition. There have been some powerhouse competitions like Adelaide and Brisbane who have been somewhat unaffected by expansion and I think now with 18 teams, the talent has really been spread across."

With the AFLW season being moved to August, there has been more crossover than ever with the men's program, as the two run concurrently at the same location. 

Kennedy noted that having the girls around more often is a big energy booster for the boys, and that they can’t wait to see the girls get stuck into it in just under a month. 

“It’s good to see the women start to show their faces around the Club: it’s exciting for them to come to the back end of their pre-season and start to play some games in two weeks,” Kennedy said. 

“I think the environment around the Club at the minute, especially with the new facilities, it’s good to start to see the girls in the gym a bit more and sort of bounce off each other energy-wise.

“I think a lot of boys are really excited to see how the girls go this year."

For Kennedy, he personally has seen how far the women’s football movement has come, noting his hometown of Collingullie in rural NSW now has a women’s side that his sister is a part of.

Kennedy gave the nod to the AFLW program and its huge influence on community programs all across Australia, with clubs like Carlton leading the way.

“I think what it does for communities, I’ve seen it first-hand back home in my local town of Collingullie what it can do: my sister played for the first time this year so I got to see her play and it was awesome,” he said. 

“That’s off the back of these girls leading the way, so it’s great to see what it’s doing for local communities, which is something I enjoy about it.” 

With both programs able to share a state-of-the-art gym and training facility, both Carlton teams are raring to go, as one side looks to surge towards the end of the year while their counterparts have a point to prove in AFLW season seven. 

“With the new facilities, it makes it a lot easier for us to be connected as a whole Club,” Kennedy said. 

“We see each other around the Club and have been able to get to a few games and cheer them on – I think as that continues, it’s only going to hold the Club in better stead,” Moody said.