WELCOME to November.  

IKON Park will be central to the fortunes of the remaining eight teams in the AFLW competition, as Carlton prepares for its first AFLW qualifying final this Saturday. 

The finals series is massive in itself, let alone when you consider the amount of other stories waiting to be written in the pursuit of premiership success.  

Here’s just a few things to keep an eye on when it comes to Carlton’s 2026 AFLW finals series.  

Our Home, Our Team 

One point. That was the decisive factor for the Blues to secure a top-four spot, in turn ensuring that at least their first two finals will be held at IKON Park. Saturday’s qualifying final - despite being North Melbourne’s ‘home’ game - will take place on Royal Parade. A Carlton win would mean a home preliminary final, while a loss would mean a semi final hosting the winner of Gold Coast versus Hawthorn.  

Magic milestones 

As if the finals series itself wasn’t big enough. To go with Carlton’s first qualifying final is a significant milestone for the captain, with Abbie McKay to play her 75th AFLW game against North Melbourne - becoming just the fourth player to do so in Navy Blue. It just gets bigger from there. Carlton’s second final will also play host to a truly landmark occasion in the Blues’ history, with Darcy Vescio scheduled to become the first Carlton player to reach a century of games.  

Who will be out there? 

The Blues will benefit from swift returns to action for Jess Good and Maddy Hendrie, who were managed for the Round 12 trip to Brisbane. Carlton will unfortunately be without gun midfielder Claudia Whitfort for at least the first final following a hamstring strain against Brisbane. The deeper the Blues go, the more chance it provides for Whitfort to return.  

The final that never was 

A final between the Blues and Roos at IKON Park? Saturday’s qualifying final will be the first time the two sides meet in an AFLW final… but of course, it wasn’t meant to be that way. When Carlton triumphed over Brisbane in the 2020 semi final, they did so expecting a massive preliminary final with North Melbourne the next week… only for the AFLW season to be cancelled prematurely due to the pandemic. The Blues are still searching for their first AFLW win over the dual reigning premiers. 

Breaking new ground 

The Carlton Football Club’s last qualifying final in the top flight of any kind came in 2000. While it’s not the AFLW Blues’ first ever top-four finish (remember the days of the Conferences?), their finals series in 2019 and 2020 saw them straight into a preliminary and semi final respectively. Finishing fifth in 2025 meant they had to go the long way round via an elimination final, which was familiar territory for Carlton fans - each of the AFL side’s last eight finals series have started with either an elimination or (as of this year) a wildcard final.  

Unknown territory 

What could the finals series have in store? One of the quirks of the AFLW fixture is that it’s impossible to play every team in the competition throughout the 12-week fixture. There’s a number of scenarios which could see Carlton end up facing either Geelong or Gold Coast for the first time in 2026 in a final, having avoided each other over the course of the season.  

Who steps up? 

The perennial question on the eve of a finals series. Last year, the Blues embarked on their first finals campaign since 2020. The likes of Poppy Scholz and Sophie McKay relished the big stage, producing some of the best individual showings of their respective first seasons as the Blues surged to a preliminary final. Who will rise to the occasion in 2026?