An AFLW fixture could be on the way to Newcastle by 2022.
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That's the thought of AFL NSW-ACT northern regional manager Simon Smyth following the proposed upgrades to No.1 Sportsground.
The multimillion-dollar project is scheduled to start in September and finish 12 months later, paving the way for top-level games the following season.
"My push to the AFL would be to have an elite fixture in 2022," Smyth told the Newcastle Herald.
"There's certainly an appetite from the AFL nationally to have games in Newcastle."
Smyth said he was "confident" about AFLW, which includes former Black Diamond Cup women's pair Sarah Halvorsen and Lisa Steane at the Giants, being brought to a new-look No.1 Sportsground.
He also said "Swans pre-season" outings would be an option.
The specification which makes this possible is extending the current playing surface to measure 157 metres. Width wasn't a pressing issue.
"Extending the ground was the big thing for us," Smyth said.
The proposed first stage of upgrades also features better lighting, resurfacing and drainage but doesn't include work on the existing grandstand and dressing sheds.
Smyth said he felt these omissions wouldn't be an obstacle for AFLW to eventually be held at No.1 Sportsground.
Originally, prior to the global coronavirus pandemic, the venue in 2020 was set to be home again for AFL Hunter Central Coast (HCC) club Newcastle City before the project begun while grand finals had been locked in for Central Coast Regional Sporting and Recreation Complex. The Blues would likely relocate in 2021.
No dates have been announced for an abbreviated season this year, but AFL HCC last week gave clubs the green light to resume training under COVID-19 guidelines and pending local council approval.
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