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Last Saturday history was made at Blacktown International Sports Park when, at 12:05pm, the ball was bounced in the first ever AFLW game in Sydney, between the GWS Giants and the Fremantle Dockers.
I was in attendance with another 5000 Sydneysiders and there was certainly a sense of occasion. Men, women and children were all there to celebrate the opportunity that AFLW has given women to play another sport at the top level.
It was also the first chance that many Giants fans had to watch their women’s team in person and I know I was really excited about seeing Ellie Brush, Jacinda Barclay, Amanda Farrugia and Jess Dal Pos in action.
There was one problem though.
When Fremantle and GWS took the field, I couldn’t spot Jess, Jacinda or Ellie, because the Giants and the Dockers looked to be wearing very similar guernseys. It certainly created confusion on the field too, with players passing and kicking to the opposition (clearly in error).
The person in charge of packing the kits for Fremantle needs to lift their game because following the game it was confirmed that Fremantle had worn the wrong kit and were subsequently penalised $10,000 by the AFL.
Instead of wearing a predominantly purple combination (which would have been much easier to distinguish from the Giants), the Dockers wore their other kit, which is predominantly white.
Lucky that home base for the Giants isn’t too far away from Blacktown International Sports Park, because someone ended up having to head back to Homebush to collect charcoal-coloured shorts for the team to change into.
This score ended at 43-all, which is spooky considering that this was the same score as the first ever VFL draw back in 1987. Who knows what impact the similar guerneys had on points scored in the first half.
Hopefully, this weekend will see less clothing-related errors so that we can get on with enjoying the footy.
My tip – tune into the games between the Brisbane Lions and GWS Giants, and the Adelaide Crows and Fremantle Dockers. Both Brisbane and Adelaide are leading the competition with three wins apiece and are playing some seriously good footy.
Football
The W-League may be over, but there is still plenty happening in football.
This week, Matildas coach Alen Stajcic named his 21-woman squad for the Algarve Cup, which begins in Portugal on March 1. This tournament is the Matildas’ first hit-out since their heartbreaking elimination at the Rio Olympics.
Teigen Allen, Emma Checker, Emily Gielnik, Hayley Raso and Gema Simon have all been recalled to the squad, while Laura Alleway, Tameka Butt and Larissa Crummer all missed selection. Michelle Heyman also missed out due to an ankle injury, which saw her sidelined for the latter part of the W-League season.
Australia will play Sweden on March 1, the Netherlands on March 3 and China on March 6, with the finals to begin on March 8.
The other big news in football this week was that Professional Footballers Australia has decided that it wants to make the W-League the biggest women’s football competition in the world.
With plans to introduce a minimum legal salary of $11,500 for professional players, for Australia’s top 60 female players to earn $60,000 per year and the introduction of another team to create an even number of teams in the W-League, this could be revolutionary for women’s football in this country.
The end goal is creating a team which is capable of winning a women’s World Cup in 2019 and an Olympic gold medal in 2020. The path begins this week in Portugal and I can’t wait to see the Matildas in action.
It’s no wonder women’s football in Australia is lagging behind the rest of the world. Combined with a short season (14 games) and salaries which, according to the PFA’S 2016 W-League Workplace Conditions Report, sees 85 per cent of players earn less than $5000 for the entire season, 25 per cent earning less than $500 for the entire season and countless women holding part-time jobs on the side so that they can play football, playing football professionally is not a viable option yet.
I am hoping the FFA and the A-League/W-League clubs rally together to make this proposal a reality because I want a to see Michelle Heyman holding a gold medal in Tokyo in 2020.
Netball
It was a super start to the Suncorp Super Netball competition last week, with Giants Netball defeating the Sydney Swifts 58-53 (in what was a much closer game than most predicted) and the Melbourne Vixens starring in a stunning upset over the Collingwood Magpies, 58-55. But, by far the biggest upset of the weekend saw the Adelaide Thunderbirds come from seven goals behind in the third quarter to defeat the West Coast Fever 56-51.
Channel Nine’s Saturday night television coverage had national reach of 858,000 viewers, with the game between the Magpies and the Vixens reaching a peak national audience of 305,000 and a national average of 175,000.
Game of the round this weekend sees the Queensland Fire take on the Collingwood Magpies at 7:45pm in Brisbane. The Magpies were everyone’s team to beat this season and will be looking to bounce back following their shock Round 1 loss.
I know how much Sharni Layton hates to lose – so I’m expecting her to be fierce on Saturday night.