AFLW season

[Ruthless_Richmond]

Those complaining about the standard of play are missing the bigger picture, quality will sort itself out over time (and you don't have to watch).
It's the flow on to the numbers playing the game at grass roots because of the TV exposure that's the thing.

I've been involved in building a footy club from scratch just south of Sydney for 20 years.
We now have a solid club and have had one player drafted, but the problem has always been to build community around the club in a place where footy has little history.

In only two years 2 youth girls and a women's league have started.
Not only is women's footy great for women who participate, but it helps with volunteer numbers and keeps the boys hanging around the club.
Also mums usually decide which sport their kids will play and once the girls see how great the game and culture around it is compared to Rugby League there is no going back!

Yes the games are scrappy, but I can see a huge increase in grass roots Aussie Rules up here.

 

[DavidSSS]

My main issue is no team, bring on the AFLW Tigers.

I think what we're seeing is an imbalance in the development of the players. They are great at tackling and behind on gathering the ball, breaking tackles and disposing of the ball while being tackled. I saw quite a few instances where, if they had gathered the ball cleanly they would have beaten the tackle and been able to run off and had time to pass to a team mate. This will fix itself, especially when women play footy all the way through their teen years.

I reckon its great, give it time and ditch AFLX and give them a decent length season.

DS

 

[zippadeee]

The umpires pay 1 free kick but miss the 10 before it. (Must be a order from the top not to over officiate)
Hopefully the quality improves as it gets more established and more professional.

 

[easy_tiger]

Those complaining about the standard of play are missing the bigger picture, quality will sort itself out over time (and you don't have to watch).
It's the flow on to the numbers playing the game at grass roots because of the TV exposure that's the thing.

I've been involved in building a footy club from scratch just south of Sydney for 20 years.
We now have a solid club and have had one player drafted, but the problem has always been to build community around the club in a place where footy has little history.

In only two years 2 youth girls and a women's league have started.
Not only is women's footy great for women who participate, but it helps with volunteer numbers and keeps the boys hanging around the club.
Also mums usually decide which sport their kids will play and once the girls see how great the game and culture around it is compared to Rugby League there is no going back!

Yes the games are scrappy, but I can see a huge increase in grass roots Aussie Rules up here.

Good post ruthless.

Ive seen whole families discover the joy we know, through their daughter.

And I love seeing packs of girls kick to kicking at half time in local games.

Dunno if i mentioned last year, but the only girl i ever coached (she played with the boys and made them better), played for tigers vflw which gave our community (after her folks, most of all me) a real thrill

I wouldnt be against a smaller field for the women. It seems they kick about 70% as far as men, so id go a 30% reduction end to end and have a 40m arc

 

[MD Jazz]

You know you can simply change the channel rather than cancel a subscription if you don't like a particular program.

I really don't get the negativity towards the AFLW, reckon it is great.

Yeh, seems an odd reason to cancel a subscription.

I don't watch it and have little interest but the beauty of low scoring is the game is always close.

 

[yandb]

One of the reasons you have pushback from the football public re the AFLW is pushy way the AFL have introduced the womens game.

The standard of womens football is not worthy of the payments the women are receiving.

You can't deny the commitment from the women but the game as a spectacle is not worthy of national television coverage.

If the AFL have let the game develop naturally with support from the AFL with a 5 or 10 year plan it wouldn't have the pushback from the regular fans.

I have umpired over 100 schoolgirls football games over the years and only one girl would have fit the mould of a genuine AFLW player.

This girl could torp the ball 50 mt every time, she owned the ball in packs and her hip and shoulder had genuine hurt factor (she had two girls stretchered off one day, all legal)

I asked her if her brothers played footy and she replied no that they were rugby players.

I believe that she could have played football in the u17 comp against the boys and held her own.

The plug and play from other sports is going to take years to bear fruit.

My own daughter who was a national ranked runner and jumper as a junior, could play against men in hockey and beat them was a gumby when it came to playing schoolgirls football.

Let the game develop naturally.

 

[MD Jazz]

Good post ruthless.

Ive seen whole families discover the joy we know, through their daughter.

And I love seeing packs of girls kick to kicking at half time in local games.

Dunno if i mentioned last year, but the only girl i ever coached (she played with the boys and made them better), played for tigers vflw which gave our community (after her folks, most of all me) a real thrill

I wouldnt be against a smaller field for the women. It seems they kick about 70% as far as men, so id go a 30% reduction end to end and have a 40m arc

Yeh, ditto, Ruthless made a lot of sense.

And, although I have only seen glimpses but a tonne of the girls are gorgeous (if it is still ok to admire female sportswomen in this way)

 

[cmarkidis]

Yeah. Whats next? Women being allowed into maternity wards? Its the power gone to the PC police gone mad

I must apologise for having an opinion. Today we must be like obedient sheep allowing our brains to be washed by those who know best. Btw, I voted No!

 

[easy_tiger]

Today we must be like obedient sheep allowing our brains to be washed by those who know best.

Wish i had those kind of sheep. Getting mine through a dip is like herding trans-sexuals

 

[DavidSSS]

I wouldnt be against a smaller field for the women. It seems they kick about 70% as far as men, so id go a 30% reduction end to end and have a 40m arc

Given the variable size of footy grounds I'm not sure about the smaller ground, maybe a little smaller. But a 40m arc makes a lot of sense. I still wonder about the smaller ball and whether it doesn't travel as far.

The women's big bash has seen a big improvement in skill levels over a few years and they can hit the ball a long way now, hopefully the women's footy will develop over the next few years.

Yandb, I agree they should have taken a few years to develop the game before going prime time, the trouble was that the AFL missed the boat a few years ago and are now playing catch-up. They should have started developing this around maybe 2010 and they it would have been ready for prime time by 2016-2017 or thereabouts. They were forced to set up AFLW before they were ready, but they should have been ready as you could see this coming. I'm sure there were plenty screaming into their deaf ears about this back years ago but they don't take notice of anyone outside their own reality distortion field (AFLX anyone?).

DS

 

[easy_tiger]

Given the variable size of footy grounds I'm not sure about the smaller ground, maybe a little smaller. But a 40m arc makes a lot of sense. I still wonder about the smaller ball and whether it doesn't travel as far.


DS

Smaller ball def goes further DS.

I can still get 50 with a size 3 and a 20knot tail wind

 

[DavidSSS]

Smaller ball def goes further DS.

I can still get 50 with a size 3 and a 20knot tail wind

Thanks, wasn't sure how that would go.

Still, we could criticise the men for not being able to slot goals from 70m like they used to be able to.

DS

 

[Panthera Tigris]

And I love seeing packs of girls kick to kicking at half time in local games.

Well it would be refreshing to see ANY kids playing kick to kick. When I was a kid in the 1980s/90s, that's all we ever did (along with scratch matches) for 6 months of the year at recess and lunch time at school. And indeed, spent all afternoon on weekends and school holidays, from Apr to Sep doing the same thing in the street, or on a spare block in our neighbourhood. And this was EXTREMELY common - not like we were outliers.

I see *smile* all kids doing it now. Wait 10-15 years when the current generation of kids mature and the adverse affects of this phenomonon will filter through to the senior levels.

Formal training, "elite development pathways", "high performance pathways", "talent screening", "Aspirational best practice training models" *smile*....*smile*....*smile*....*smile*........will only get you so far. People underrate how instinctive people's skills and feel for the game, along with strength and base fitness becomes from simply spending hours and hours enjoying kick to kick and scratch matches with one's mates in formative years, away from formal, structured training and match play (usually in conjunction with a small amount of formalised junior and underage footy).

Want to know why Brazil is so good at Association Football (AKA "soccer")? This exact phenomenon. It is said Brazil are so good at football (soccer) in spite of the governing body, not because of it.

 

[TigerPort]

The AFL has to continue with the women's game primarily from a long term perspective to ensure the health of Aussies Rules as a whole.

Women's cricket and Soccer are well entrenched and League and Union are making their own women's comp. If the AFL does nothing or allows the current set up to fade then there are serious long term implications for the AFL.

They are buying market share and future market share along similar lines to the Suns and GWS. Get as many women as possible playing and then they become bigger supporters of the men's game and in time their children will be most likely to play and support AFL.

Again just like the Suns and GWS the target market is not the current generation it is the generation after the next one.

 

[easy_tiger]

Well it would be refreshing to see ANY kids playing kick to kick. When I was a kid in the 1980s/90s, that's all we ever did (along with scratch matches) for 6 months of the year at recess and lunch time at school. And indeed, spent all afternoon on weekends and school holidays, from Apr to Sep doing the same thing in the street, or on a spare block in our neighbourhood. And this was EXTREMELY common - not like we were outliers.

I see *smile* all kids doing it now. Wait 10-15 years when the current generation of kids mature and the adverse affects of this phenomonon will filter through to the senior levels.

Formal training, "elite development pathways", "high performance pathways", "talent screening", "Aspirational best practice training models" *smile*....*smile*....*smile*....*smile*........will only get you so far. People underrate how instinctive people's skills and feel for the game, along with strength and base fitness becomes from simply spending hours and hours enjoying kick to kick and scratch matches with one's mates in formative years, away from formal, structured training and match play (usually in conjunction with a small amount of formalised junior and underage footy).

Want to know why Brazil is so good at Association Football (AKA "soccer")? This exact phenomenon. It is said Brazil are so good at football (soccer) in spite of the governing body, not because of it.

Yep. Talent development blokes and even sr. Coaches (stew dew) have noted a decline in skill level and have attributed it to less time kids kicking and marking just as you outline above PT

 

[LeeToRainesToRoach]

The AFL has to continue with the women's game primarily from a long term perspective to ensure the health of Aussies Rules as a whole.

Women's cricket and Soccer are well entrenched and League and Union are making their own women's comp. If the AFL does nothing or allows the current set up to fade then there are serious long term implications for the AFL.

They are buying market share and future market share along similar lines to the Suns and GWS. Get as many women as possible playing and then they become bigger supporters of the men's game and in time their children will be most likely to play and support AFL.

Again just like the Suns and GWS the target market is not the current generation it is the generation after the next one.

AFLW is functioning like yet another expansion club whereby the League (i.e. the clubs) absorbs the costs until the hoped-for time somewhere in the future when it will be self-sufficient.

Fortunately for the AFL there are no rival competitions like the IPL or the BPL to drain players should AFL player payments happen to stall, a la Big Bash.

We'll get a gauge on progress when the public is asked to fork out money.

 

[yandb]

By what criteria?

By the criteria that our local 18 boys teams could easily beat any of the womens teams and their skill level is far higher and they are not being paid to play.

 

[tigerlove]

The AFL has to continue with the women's game primarily from a long term perspective to ensure the health of Aussies Rules as a whole.
Women's cricket and Soccer are well entrenched and League and Union are making their own women's comp. If the AFL does nothing or allows the current set up to fade then there are serious long term implications for the AFL.

I don't quite get this argument. Aussie Rules is very healthy. It is driven by the AFLs mens competition, with no disrespect, the women's games are not a spectacle anywhere near the class of the mens. Womens cricket is well entrenched but cricket is arguably at its lowest point ever. I am not sure on this basis how you can argue artificially building up the womens game secures the future health of the AFL. Womens footy is not new. VFLW competition commenced in 1981 and has kept growing. This is great news. There is now a masters competition for women. The progression to an AFL competition is also great but it seems to me the AFL is pushing too hard with too many teams for an elite competition. Realistically the skill level is quite poor despite there being a competition since 1981 and this doesn't bode well for sustaining public interest. 14 teams next year is way too many and will further reduce the skill level of the games next year.

 

[tigerlove]

By the criteria that our local 18 boys teams could easily beat any of the womens teams and their skill level is far higher and they are not being paid to play.

I've wondered whether some of the better Masters Over 35s teams would trounce any of these womens teams. I've certainly seen better skill played at that level, I guess the question would come down to fitness.

 

[Tails]

By the criteria that our local 18 boys teams could easily beat any of the womens teams and their skill level is far higher and they are not being paid to play.

: : : : :