New AFLW teams 'ready to go' if season start moves to August this year

The AFLW's four newest clubs have backed the suggested August start date for the competition's next season.

With the finals series to get underway this weekend for the current AFLW season, round one of the next campaign could be less than five months away.

Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Sydney will be included in the next edition, meaning all 18 AFL clubs will be represented in the women's competition.

There were concerns about whether the new teams would be prepared to play as early as August, having initially believed their inaugural campaigns would begin in December or next January.

But AFL football operations manager Andrew Dillon said the league was confident the four teams would cope if the competition began in August.

«We've spoken with each of those clubs and they're ready to go and they're keen to get going as soon as they can,» he said.

«We've got a conditional approval to look at an August start date but we've got a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks.

»What we're hoping for with an August start date is it will give the AFLW the best chance to shine in a time frame that's good for playing football.

«We've gone through the competition committee where the theory of moving to August got 100 per cent [approval], we've gone to the AFL commission and now's the chance to go through the AFLPA (players' association).»

The plan to start the seventh season of the women's competition earlier has been met with mixed reactions from players and coaches.

Collingwood star Chloe Molloy commented on social media about the possible change in timeslots, saying «please push this to 2023».

Kangaroos coach Darren Crocker raised the issue of players who suffered serious knee injuries this year potentially facing two entire