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Has anyone seen the advertisement on Fox Footy, where Jason Dunstall drops a bag of cement off a multi-story building down on to Alastair Lynch in order to re-enact the impact of a Jonathan Brown tackle?
The guys exhibited Brown’s tackle in this way to demonstrate the physical force and intense power that backs up most of the contact throughout game-play.
Now, this is where women’s footy comes in. It is this physical athleticism that splits males and females apart and opens up a plethora of debate.
‘Women are too weak for AFL’ and ‘women don’t know footy’ are statements said on regular occasions in social conversations with friends and families. And this is where the problem arises.
Australian society does not appreciate female presence in AFL.
In light of today’s deadline for the first AFL women’s draft nominations, there is a dire need to shine the light on the social stigma of women in a ‘men’s game’.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I also believe there may be a significant portion of bias on my behalf considering I am a female.
But there seems to be a divide in understanding and compassion for the existence of sport and an increasing inequality that sets Australia apart from the gender equality in sport within sporting codes in other countries.
This issue has nothing to do with the literal physical capabilities of females – rather the opportunistic standards in Australian sport, particularly AFL.
Women can think for themselves, and if any woman feels they have the capacity to perform at the elite level of AFL, give them the chance.
Women are human beings – just like men, believe it or not – and they have the power to think as individuals.
If they are certain they are fit enough to take on the game at an elite level, it is at their prerogative.
Only the individual can whole-heartedly assess their personal abilities and once they come to their own conclusion it is also their responsibility for the collateral they endure as a part of participating. This includes the physical injuries sustained within game-play.
In the same way as the male AFL draft, men are selected based on the standard of their fitness performance and how skillfully they can carry out the fundamentals involved in a real-time match. Women would be based on the exact same merits.
It is the mere opportunity for women to play at the elite level of AFL that breaks the deadlock of sexism in the AFL, irrelevant of whether they are able to compete to the desired standard.
Giving women the chance to apply for elite level matches cultivates a more balanced gender scene in AFL, along with the acceptance of women to engage in a draft this will cause a growth of possibilities for women in sport.
It will encourage an increased participation of women in all areas – administration, coaching, umpiring etc – and even possibly more fans.
It really is that simple.
The inadequate physicality of women in comparison to men at the elite level in sport substantiates a valid argument on the strengths and weaknesses within AFL competition.
However, this has nothing to do with the reflection of AFL in society.
In round 14 of this year on Saturday 29 June, the first official women’s AFL game will be played between the Melbourne Football Club and Western Bulldogs Football Club.
This match is a giant leap forward in the acceptance of women in to what is socially known as a ‘gentlemen’s club’ of Australian sport.
The exclusive nature of all sectors within AFL represents a supremacy. This exclusive gender membership of AFL involvement is male dominated and has been for the past 150 years.
The AFL’s plan to support the co-existence of female and male leagues in 2020 will include the female league being nationally televised alongside the current male league.
These plans and strategies to incorporate an increasing female presence in AFL are immensely hopeful in encouraging female affiliation in all sectors of the sport.
Unfortunately for those stuck in the 1950s, women are determined to break into the once male-dominated social club that makes up AFL and are more than ready to take some speckys over the entire competition.
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