How the AFLW's short season creates a 'pressure cooker to get things right straight away'

When the AFLW started, the season was seven rounds long. It's since grown to 10 but is still half the length of the men's.

Some would say that's a good thing for players who are part-time and juggling other careers.

But it's a challenge in more ways than one.

There are teething periods, injuries that put players out for most of the season, team connections to build and getting game plans right.

For Nicola Stevens, Carlton AFLW player and AFL Players Association representative, the shorter seasons mean sides aren't getting to their potential before the competition ends.

«Only being able to play 10 rounds and three finals makes it really hard to build that momentum throughout the season,» she said.

«I think it's really hard for teams to be able to find that groove and I don't think we are seeing players and teams perform at their best.

»If we're seeing the best parts of them, [it's] at the back end of the season."

This is something she knows well, as her side was touted as a flag favourite going into the 2021 season but had a slow start, banking 3 losses to 2 wins in the opening 5 rounds.

The Blues then began to find their rhythm in the back half of the year, but by then it was too late.

They finished seventh on the ladder, one spot out of finals.

«You can't really afford to lose any matches as it compromises that chance of finals really early on,» she said.

«I think it's a little bit different now that we're able to play a few extra games than in 2017.

»If you've lost the first three in a row, then it makes it really, really difficult to play finals and to know that very early on in the season is really hard."

Western Bulldogs assistant coach and former Geelong captain Melissa Hickey says preseason is extremely important for team