AFLW season | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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AFLW season

graystar1

Tiger Legend
Apr 28, 2004
6,879
1,801
Women golfers and women tennis players have been playing those sports since they were 3/4/5 years of age. No wonder they are highly skilled. It will take the current 3/4/5 girls to fully learn the skills that are required in Aussie Rules.

It wasn't long ago women cricketers generally couldn't hit the ball to the boundary line. Now most can. Skill level has improved drastically.

Most sports now have a female pathway and the AFL had to have one aswell or lose ground.

Should have included the soccer girls as well. They are also quite skilled and good to watch if you like soccer that is.
 

blx

Tiger Champion
Feb 11, 2004
4,511
989
Melbourne
Mon Con started a bit shaky but after 1/4 time she really showed why she is our best ball player.

Monahan is a beauty. Tough and quick.

Chuot is good but I feel she could learn how to cradle the ball in instead of going for it with 'hard' hands.

KB was a good leader and I love Wakefield and Jacques.

I am confident we can build on this performance because we have a decent back half.

Our forward forays are way too slow.

Can we please spend at least half of every training just doing handball drills!

I love watching the Tiges play but a bit non plussed if its anyone else.

Having said that I just watched some of the NM v M game and my first thought was how ol skool the North Melbournes coach is. His banter and pepp talk with the girls is just stupid. failure not an option, we will kick the first goal [of the last quarter]... rah rah
 
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TigerMasochist

Walks softly carries a big stick.
Jul 13, 2003
25,566
11,443
First of all I would like to say, good on all the women who want to play footy.

Watched until almost half time last night and then turned it off, went to bed and read a good book by David Baldacci.

Much more interesting than the poor spectator sport dished out last night.

The lack of skill was evident for all to see. It was nothing better than a scramble on the ground with pack after pack.

The women seem unable to pick up the ball cleanly on the ground and apart from a few marks, mainly by the Blues, nothing.

Compared to the ladies golf, tennis and cricket, where they are highly skilled, this was not a sport worth watching, for me anyway.

Good luck to all the lady footballers and hope they enjoy what they are doing.
Amen.
 

Tigerfan

Roar Power
Apr 28, 2004
26,631
2,039
Gold Coast (SE - QLD).
I was considering going along to support the women in first-time game tonight but just saw a bit of CH.9 daytime news earlier who were reporting the game was a sell-out! So how can that be true if 'Richmond AFLW home games are not ticketed events' (from our website game-day hub).
Just more crap media coverage?
I’ll definitely be at Metricon on Saturday in yellow and black!!
 

Tigerfan

Roar Power
Apr 28, 2004
26,631
2,039
Gold Coast (SE - QLD).
First of all I would like to say, good on all the women who want to play footy.

Watched until almost half time last night and then turned it off, went to bed and read a good book by David Baldacci.

Much more interesting than the poor spectator sport dished out last night.

The lack of skill was evident for all to see. It was nothing better than a scramble on the ground with pack after pack.

The women seem unable to pick up the ball cleanly on the ground and apart from a few marks, mainly by the Blues, nothing.

Compared to the ladies golf, tennis and cricket, where they are highly skilled, this was not a sport worth watching, for me anyway.

Good luck to all the lady footballers and hope they enjoy what they are doing.

Well Damien hardwick’s team has a tough time in their first couple of seasons and you know what?


I’ll back the women to keep improving and end up playing a pretty tidy brand.
 
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DavidSSS

Tiger Legend
Dec 11, 2017
10,521
17,873
Melbourne
It will take time, but I saw some glimpses of what AFLW can be in Carlton's ball movement at times in the third quarter.

It will not be the same as men's footy. A fair few of the women playing AFLW would go fine in mixed leagues at lower levels, but at the top level you are dealing with the best of the best and that is where the biological differences do come into play. For most of us biological sex is not going to be the determining factor of who is a better player, but at the top, where the skill levels are similar and advantages are small, it makes a difference.

They need to get up to speed on skills, which is happening, and then create their own style of game.

DS
 

22nd Man

Tiger Legend
Aug 29, 2011
9,184
3,591
Essex Heights
It will take time, but I saw some glimpses of what AFLW can be in Carlton's ball movement at times in the third quarter.

It will not be the same as men's footy. A fair few of the women playing AFLW would go fine in mixed leagues at lower levels, but at the top level you are dealing with the best of the best and that is where the biological differences do come into play. For most of us biological sex is not going to be the determining factor of who is a better player, but at the top, where the skill levels are similar and advantages are small, it makes a difference.

They need to get up to speed on skills, which is happening, and then create their own style of game.

DS
Your last sentence resonates with me. Women's basketball doesn't have the features of men's game ...dunks, alley oops,... but it is a highly entertaining high quality sport with a higher emphasis on team play than the one on one style of men's game.

The notion that competitors can cross over from one sport and become elite players in another overnight is ludicrous. In fact the more they are praised as "athletes" the longer it will take for standards to rise. We all know the difference between a footballer and an athlete.
 
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ToraToraTora

Two outta three ain't bad.
Mar 21, 2005
12,659
5,393
QLD
Nothing needs to be fixed cos there is nothing "wrong" with it. If you don't like....you know the rest.
 

zippadeee

Tiger Legend
Oct 8, 2004
39,639
15,415
Nothing needs to be fixed cos there is nothing "wrong" with it. If you don't like....you know the rest.

The problem is if there isn't a vast improvement people will drop off.
The kids are the ones who will improve the competition.
Carltons kids were more advanced in skill then the 28 year olds on the ground..
 

wayne

Tiger Legend
May 7, 2007
6,525
1,570
Traralgon
Well Damien hardwick’s team has a tough time in their first couple of seasons and you know what?


I’ll back the women to keep improving and end up playing a pretty tidy brand.
We did, and we were roasted for it, worst since Fitzroy, Tambling over Buddy, Richmondy, Ninthmond etc.

You can't criticise AFLW at all without being called a hater.

Boring AFL games are called forgettable, ugly and games you wouldn't put in a time capsule.

Boring AFLW games are called great contests.
 

Baloo

Delisted Free Agent
Nov 8, 2005
44,113
18,923
Trying to compare AFLW to AFL is just stupid really.
 
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Scoop

Tiger Legend
Dec 8, 2004
24,931
13,970
Trying to compare AFLW to AFL is just stupid really.

So this. All for AFLW. Absolutely deserves its place in the footballing landscape. Will grow quickly.

Doesn’t mean I have to watch it but I wholeheartedly support its right to be and not denigrate it.
 
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Rfc4Ever

Tiger Legend
Oct 5, 2007
14,595
4,362
IMO the AFL has gone too hard and too early with the AFLW. Overly significant money/time/resources has been put into it and will continue to be the case for years due to low crowds/average skills/ticket sales and low memberships.

Can't see it being close to financially viable anytime soon.
 
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Jul 26, 2004
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www.redbubble.com
IMO the AFL has gone too hard and too early with the AFLW. Overly significant money/time/resources has been put into it and will continue to be the case for years due to low crowds/average skills/ticket sales and low memberships.

Can't see it being close to financially viable anytime soon.

I have said for some time it's an amateur sport presented as a professional one as it stands.
The poor skills on display did little to change my mind on that.

However rightly the AFL sees it as a long term plan.
Currently lots of young girls are taking up the sport because it has a 'professional' profile.
It's the biggest growth area of the game at the grassroots.

Will the up front investment now pay off in time? I think it will.
 
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Streak

Tiger Legend
Aug 31, 2007
37,211
6,215
Western Australia
I have an 8 year old daughter. She loves her Tigers, and now she wants to do Auskick because she wants to play for Richmond.

Enough said really. Our game needs to grow to survive, and there is a massive market out there to be tapped right in front of the AFL’s noses.

Go girls.
 
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graystar1

Tiger Legend
Apr 28, 2004
6,879
1,801
So this. All for AFLW. Absolutely deserves its place in the footballing landscape. Will grow quickly.

Doesn’t mean I have to watch it but I wholeheartedly support its right to be and not denigrate it.

I agree it should not be denigrated, but should be open to discussion and criticism where necessary.

There are a lot of women's sports these days, some of which I mentioned earlier. There are others I did not mention like swimming, water polo, basketball, softball and netball.

All these games show a high degree of skill and just hope the women's afl football reaches those heights in due course.

At the moment the game as presented leaves a lot to be desired.
 

Scoop

Tiger Legend
Dec 8, 2004
24,931
13,970
I agree it should not be denigrated, but should be open to discussion and criticism where necessary.

There are a lot of women's sports these days, some of which I mentioned earlier. There are others I did not mention like swimming, water polo, basketball, softball and netball.

All these games show a high degree of skill and just hope the women's afl football reaches those heights in due course.

At the moment the game as presented leaves a lot to be desired.

It's the biggest growth channel for the AFL supporter base. The AFL know good and well that the standard is irrelevant to it being judged a success. They are in it for the long haul. Backing out or defunding would be a PR disaster.

The entire premise of AFLW in my humble view has been to gain more women viewers of the AFL to replace the disgruntled fan who has been watching for a long term and starting to drop. One thing the AFL is not is some kind of altruistic caring sharing community based organisation. There is a strategic long term economic benefit of AFLW to AFLM. We, the public just don't see that document.
 

tigerlove

Tiger Legend
Aug 9, 2014
16,601
7,003
It's the biggest growth channel for the AFL supporter base. The AFL know good and well that the standard is irrelevant to it being judged a success. They are in it for the long haul. Backing out or defunding would be a PR disaster.

The entire premise of AFLW in my humble view has been to gain more women viewers of the AFL to replace the disgruntled fan who has been watching for a long term and starting to drop. One thing the AFL is not is some kind of altruistic caring sharing community based organisation. There is a strategic long term economic benefit of AFLW to AFLM. We, the public just don't see that document.

Nah I can't see it. I can't see women's footy growing to the large attendances needed to really make a difference to the AFLs supporter base. Over time it will probably compare to VFL level in attendances. I don't see a shortage of girls at AFL footy games either. Compare it to other codes. I don't see it as a growth channel at all. But there is no doubt AFLW has increased participation. The number of local level women's teams have grown immensely. This will undoubtedly flow through to the women's competition over time. There's nothing wrong with girls playing AFL footy, it's great actually. Even the Victorian Masters comp is growing by another 4 teams this year but there will always be a much higher percentage who just don't find watching women's footy interesting. And that includes many women.