The AFLW’s emerging powers meet this weekend in a finals clash that serves as a symbol for the league’s maturity, and is amplified by a heated all-in shoving match last week that is still being investigated by the AFL.
Hawthorn host Port Adelaide on Saturday night in an elimination semi-final at Ikon Park, as two of the league’s newcomers chase glory in their first finals appearances. Both teams joined the competition in its final phase of expansion in 2022 and neither had made the eight until this season.