TOPIC:

anchorman wrote: Just read an article on Fox sports, that the AFL GAVE away the rights to the AFLW. GAVE the rights away to Seven and Fox for , zip, zilch, zero
I wonder what will happen when the AFL ask for money for the rights!!!!!

AM, that's why the AFL is reacting like they are now and sending out memo's on the run, Right now its not a very attractive brand to watch, and I agree with you mate, there is a better standard at most local ovals each weekend watching local under 15's footy sides.

The AFL has thrown millions into this venture and they wont stop it next year, however they need to reconsider things if the standard doesn't improve rapidly, because channel 7 and Foxtel wont pay a lot for the TV rights to show these games next year if the crowds continue to drop, and the standard doesn't improve,

I think they (AFL) need to decide quickly, do they want a true competition, where sides are happy winning with kicking only a few goals, or do they want a spectacle that could be good to watch where goals are kicked because we have to line the girls up like Auskick and get them to play in zones. Playing games with no wings was supposed to open the game up, how has this worked????? Right now I think the AFL is having 2 bob either way, and I think whatever they do the crowds will continue to drop.

The biggest challenge for the AFLW comp is most of these girls have only played for a couple of years, and it will take time for the pathways to produce girls of a standard that will be competitive and enjoyable to watch.....

IMO, because the AFL only cares about their brand, they wot back down now they have gone down this path, they wont pump much needed funds into state leagues, they will continue to pump money into the AFLW until it works?

anchorman wrote: Mike, I have said before, I don't begrudge the girls playing in an elite competition.But the AFL are treating it like a love child, some thing that will save the world.
It was an idea thrown out there with out a great deal of thought.It was money that would have been better used to prop up or assist, the second tier competitions.
The excitement of the competition will soon disappear when the charges become $10 per game. Free for all and sundry or close to it will attract the sticky beaks I guess.
If they get 50,000 at the new stadium on Saturday, it is a record that will never be broken.As has been said here the majority will go just to have a look at the new stadium.Others will go for the novelty of seeing it as the first AFL!!!!! game.
Good luck to the girls who make it.But please AFL , sponsors etc, stop ramming it down our throats and calling it as something that it isn't. It isn't elite sport at the level it is being played at.
It certainly is now an avenue to get young girls interested in the game for sure.And good luck to them. It is better they do that than be roaming the streets.

I watch it because it reminds me of how poor Fremantle were last season. There is some very good play & some very poor play. Just like Freo.

The facts of the matter are that this IS the elite level of women's football in Australia. The problem currently is it's poor quality and hence it is a poor spectacle that only attracts the numbers it does because of the massive media coverage and the fact that most games are free to attend or just a couple of bucks. If tomorrows game was at Subi/leederville/freo oval, I wouldn't be going, I'm taking an opportunity to see the new stadium in full flight, see how it works with a near capacity crowd, the fact that a game of AFLW is being played is very much a side issue. Can you imagine how much better supported the WAFL/SANFL/VFL/TFL would be patronised if the same dollars and media coverage frenzy was put their way?

The AFL have done it wrong again, I support the idea of a top level womans comp but the whole thing needed to grow and evolve at a steady pace, first concentrating on the juniors and creating structures and coaching that will see those girls develop those skills and the all important natural feel for the game that comes from playing footy from an early age. Also, put some money into the local womans state league teams via the existing WAFL/SANFL/VFL clubs who have their own womans teams established in a viable competition, then continue with the couple of "Womans allstars" games each season for the next 5 -6 years that preceeded the current AFLW. I think then that we would see a much better level of acceptance than what is occuring now.
And lets at least be grateful that the AFL didn't force us to give up the WAFL name of our historic comp, they must have been sorely tempted as Womens Australian Football League sounds better than the AFLW. lets be thankful for very small mercies.

I was watching something on Channel 9 in Melbourne a few weeks ago SS and they had a banner by-line on screen with WAFL instead of AFLW...my initial reaction was that we had been shafted up the coight by the AFL again but thankfully it appeared to be a typo.

I reckon they should play their games at 3am. I’m suffering insomnia in my old age and I’m sure watching it would help me sleep.

Interesting that Marc Webb's wife is making her debut for the Dockers this weekend after picking the game up only a year ago...unless she's naturally gifted with phenomenal powers of athletic assimilation one can only guess what her skill level will be like and I guess it's representative of where the women's comp is at.

BC wrote: Interesting that Marc Webb's wife is making her debut for the Dockers this weekend after picking the game up only a year ago...unless she's naturally gifted with phenomenal powers of athletic assimilation one can only guess what her skill level will be like and I guess it's representative of where the women's comp is at.

She could be a female Mark Blicavs who was a steeplechaser & now handy footballer

I was wrong.
3 goals to 1.
It deserves AFL status.
And keep pumping those millions in too.
While 15-17 year old future talent dropping like flies.
Junior clubs folding.
Country clubs folding.
State leagues get nothing.
Have to fund their own TV deals.
Media give this AFLW crap front & back page status.

Niceties before Priorities ??
The code will be dead in 30 years.
The state leagues gone in 10 years.

Senior Seagull wrote: The facts of the matter are that this IS the elite level of women's football in Australia. The problem currently is it's poor quality and hence it is a poor spectacle that only attracts the numbers it does because of the massive media coverage and the fact that most games are free to attend or just a couple of bucks. If tomorrows game was at Subi/leederville/freo oval, I wouldn't be going, I'm taking an opportunity to see the new stadium in full flight, see how it works with a near capacity crowd, the fact that a game of AFLW is being played is very much a side issue. Can you imagine how much better supported the WAFL/SANFL/VFL/TFL would be patronised if the same dollars and media coverage frenzy was put their way?

The AFL have done it wrong again, I support the idea of a top level womans comp but the whole thing needed to grow and evolve at a steady pace, first concentrating on the juniors and creating structures and coaching that will see those girls develop those skills and the all important natural feel for the game that comes from playing footy from an early age. Also, put some money into the local womans state league teams via the existing WAFL/SANFL/VFL clubs who have their own womans teams established in a viable competition, then continue with the couple of "Womans allstars" games each season for the next 5 -6 years that preceeded the current AFLW. I think then that we would see a much better level of acceptance than what is occuring now.
And lets at least be grateful that the AFL didn't force us to give up the WAFL name of our historic comp, they must have been sorely tempted as Womens Australian Football League sounds better than the AFLW. lets be thankful for very small mercies.

Interesting you say that they should be developing the game from the ground up. At our (Swans) AGM the senior women's coach made some comments about what would be happening in 2019. Some of the points were:

there would be 6 WAFL clubs with women's teams in 2019 under the WAFC/WAFL banner. Currently I believe there are 9 teams in the women's competition. The clubs selected will be announced in May.

the games will be played in the current time slot of the the reserves' matches. No comment as to when or where the ressies would play their gaes.

swan42 wrote:

Senior Seagull wrote: the games will be played in the current time slot of the the reserves' matches. No comment as to when or where the ressies would play their gaes.

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FARRRKIN KIDDING!!! THAT CANT BE REAL SURELY?

The wafl is a pathetic joke, will never go to another game, EVER. It is officially screwed thanks to PC takeover and the general morons at wafl clubs who just let this shite happen. Weak as p1ss. I hope all the reserves players say stuff this and the comp just saves us all time and dies a quick death. Enjoy your girls footy, that will be thriving.

Ron Boucher, Basil Campbell, Mal Brown, Jimmy Krakouer, Billy Duckworth, Cindy Smith, Emily Jones, enjoy the next phase you idiots.