2026 Marsh AFL National Development Championships – U16 Girls

Western Australia will feature in the opening game of the 2026 Marsh AFL National Development Championships – U16 Girls when they play reigning champions South Australia in Adelaide next Tuesday, April 7.

WA enters the Championships having won one of their two matches in 2025 and will again be coached by former AFLW player and WAFLW premiership player Kate Orme.

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The Championships will feature 10 teams, with matches to be placed in three states from Tuesday, April 7 to Thursday, April 16.

Joining WA and South Australia will be  the Brisbane Lions Academy, Gold Coast Suns Academy, GWS Giants Academy, Northern Territory, Sydney Swans Academy, Tasmania, Victoria Country and Victoria Metro.

Four matches will then be played on Thursday, April 9, commencing with a clash between the two Victorian teams at Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval.

Blacktown International Sports Park will host a triple-header the same day featuring the four academy teams, along with Tasmania and Northern Territory.

The Swans and Giants will then host Tasmania and Northern Territory respectively at Blacktown International Sports Park on Sunday 12 April.

The Championships will conclude with a triple-header at Dandenong’s Shepley Oval on Thursday 16 April.

Fixtures for the last day of the Championships are floating and will be determined next week.

Western Australian, the Brisbane Lions Academy, Gold Coast Suns Academy, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria Country and Victoria Metro will feature across the three matches.

At the conclusion of the Championships each team will select their MVP, with an overall best and fairest and All Australian team to also be selected by a panel comprising AFL Talent Pathways staff and AFLW club recruiters.

SCHEDULE

* Triple header featuring Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast Suns, South Australia, Victoria Country, Victoria Metro and Western Australia

STREAMING
All matches will be live streamed on the AFL Play YouTube channel. Please click here to access.

SQUADS
Squad lists for the Marsh AFL National Development Championships are available on the competition hub page here.

2026 MARSH AFL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS DETAILS
The Marsh AFL National Championships and Marsh AFL National Development Championships are the highest standard of representative state and territory football for aspiring talented footballers.

The competitions will feature the most talented under 18 and under 16 footballers from across Australia who are the next generation of stars in the game.

Final schedules for the all other under 18 and under 16 Championships will be confirmed shortly.

The 2026 Marsh AFL National Development Championships – U16 Boys will feature 10 teams playing in two pools and will commence with a double-header in Victoria on Monday, June 8. The first round of fixtures will see matches played across four states and territories. All matches in the final two rounds will be played on the Gold Coast from July 13 to 17.

The 2026 Marsh AFL National Championships – U18 Girls will be played from Saturday, June 13 to Saturday, July 11. The Marsh AFL National Championships – U18 Girls will again feature six teams, who will each play four matches.

The 2026 Marsh AFL National Championships – U18 Boys will be played from Saturday, June 13 to Sunday, July 19. The five-team round-robin series will see each team play each other once.