THE AFL IS steeling itself to deliver the 2022 NAB AFLW season in a "lumpy and bumpy" environment, as the competition starts to live alongside COVID-19.

In a Captains Day hastily moved online the night prior for all Victorian clubs, GWS and Adelaide, AFL general manager of women's football Nicole Livingstone said the scenario planning had been the theme of the past few months.

"I feel like coming into season six, not only are we experienced, but we have great people working on delivering it, in an environment that is going to be lumpy and bumpy," Livingstone said.

"We are starting to see the COVID side of things become a little more like business as usual, this will be the third year we're dealing with it."

The AFLW players have an extra layer of difficulty in protecting themselves from infection in comparison to the AFL players due to their work outside of football.

"A lot of the AFLW players have taken it upon themselves to be very cautious, like the rest of us. It's no different to the community, I think we all probably feel the same way in terms of the caution we have with this particular variant," Livingstone said.

"Once we get into it, the medical support that's wrapped around the players, we believe it will enable them to play to the best of their ability.

"But it must become a little more like having a cold or a flu or having a soft tissue (injury), there will be players who come in and out who are available or not. We need to plan for that."

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West Australian sides Fremantle and West Coast will hit the road in round two for an extended period of time due to the hard state border.

Livingstone confirmed the relocation policy – used last year by GWS – will be in play, to help support players who cannot work remotely.

The AFL recently announced its rules around top-up players and COVID, with games to be postponed or – at a last resort – cancelled if a club involved drops below 16 available primary-listed players (and five top-ups).

Melbourne skipper Daisy Pearce was asked if there will be a point in the season where it'll be "unfair" for a team to keep playing due to lack of player availability compared to their opposition.

"Yep, I do," Pearce said with a laugh.

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"I just don't think you can worry about getting caught up in that pattern of thinking. If you sat down and analysed it, there will be weeks where it's more unfair on one team than another due to which players are missing and that kind of thing, but it doesn't serve you well to approach the season in that way.

"Our mentality is that it's going to require our entire squad, and in any given game in any given week, whether you're a first-year player who thought they were the third ruck on the list and would have time to develop, you're going to be called on."

Livingstone also announced women's football pioneer Lisa Hardeman will be the 2022 AFLW premiership cup ambassador.

Hardeman was one of the co-creators of the first national women's championships in the 1990s, captained and coached Victoria, and her name is part of the Hampson-Hardeman Cup, played between inaugural sides Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs.

"One of the memorable times for me was knocking on the door of AFL Victoria and asking for assistance, and being told that we were never going to be big enough," Hardeman said.

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"Now, we not only have VFLW, but we have AFLW.

"It's something I never thought I'd see in my life, so to now be the cup ambassador, it's an amazing experience."