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It’s hard to believe as we swelter through this scorching heat, kept awake at night by blazing temperatures and nightly T20 cricket. But footy is just two weeks away.
The first piece of the jigsaw that is footy 2017 is the AFL Womens league. This is uncharted territory, and no-one really knows how it will work.
It’s a league forged in humble beginnings. Just eight teams, only seven rounds.
» Women’s AFL league on The Roar
» All the teams and squad lists for the women’s AFL
» Complete 2017 women’s AFL fixtures
Player payments are modest. The original contracts had a base of just $5,000. Subsequently revised to $8,500. But still very low.
These players aren’t full-time. They work regular jobs during the day before training at night. As AFL players once did.
Without the lure of full-time professionalism, some players were signed before the draft; while players who registered for the draft had the option to refuse an interstate transfer.
And it’ll be all over by the end of March. The grand final of the AFLW comp will be on the opening weekend of the AFL season. Unlike cricket, where the Womens Big Bash is longer than the BBL, the AFLW has been given a very short season.
With such an early start, heat will be a factor. There are day games when the mercury may well soar. Even with quarters reduced to 15 minutes plus time-on; there’ll be fans, ice vests and increased rotations.
There’s a midday game at Blacktown in Round 3; in mid-February. It’s likely to be warm.
Another feature of the AFLW comp is a slightly smaller ball. This will be a challenge for the players, who will be used to the regulation-sized ball. But the smaller ball will increase the distance of kicks.
I had the opportunity recently to have a kick-to-kick with an AFLW ball. And got a decent roost when kicking it.
This may increase the scoring rate and the ability to move the ball from end to end. Many women’s games in local comps have tended to be very low-scoring; so the smaller ball may mean more scores.
In recent years we’ve had womens’ exhibition games. One such game, between the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne during the bye weekend before the finals, produced better TV ratings for Channel Seven than any AFL home-and-away game in that timeslot; albeit that the women’s game wasn’t also on Fox.
Moving to a national league was the logical next step for womens’ footy.
Will it work? Will it succeed? We’ll be interested to find out.
Although at this stage, no-one really knows what a successful AFLW league will look like. Or what the criteria used to determine whether it is successful or otherwise will be.
Crowds and TV ratings will be a key test. Admission for most games will be free. I doubt the crowds will be counted. But, with every game televised, we’ll have some idea how many people are there.
Who will the crowds be? Will we be mainly hearing female voices from the grandstands, or will male supporters embrace the women’s games? Will the meat pies be consumed and the beer flow as freely in women’s games?
Every game will be televised on Fox Footy, with one game per round on Channel Seven. These ratings will be followed with interest.
By February, the Big Bash, home cricket season and the Australian Open will be over. It’s relatively quiet; but the AFLW will still find itself up against NRL trials and the early rounds of the NRL season, the NBL, the A-League and international cricket from India; as well as JLT Challenge trials which are also televised on Fox.
How many will watch the AFLW games on TV? We’ll be keen to find out.
Sponsorship money will be important, and the early signs are positive. There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of sponsors willing to put their name to the AFLW comp and the competing teams.
The standard of football will also be held up to the microscope. Of course it won’t be anything like the AFL players.
Traditionally an amateur level, women are only being paid for the first time in this comp. They’ll be training at night, not having the full-time availability for training, recovery and analysis that male players enjoy.
But they’ll have access to the coaches and facilities that the male players use. The women’s teams will have their own coaches; but those coaches will have the resources of the club that the male coaches take for granted. Rehab management, top-notch training facilities. The tools are in place for a rapid improvement in the quality of women’s footy.
It’s a humble beginning. But a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, GWS Giants, Fremantle, Melbourne and Western Bulldogs will start the league off. The remaining ten AFL teams and their supporters will be looking to the day they can become a part of the league.
At the moment, there aren’t enough elite women’s players for 18 teams. In time, we all hope there should be.
The AFLW league is over at the end of March. For the rest of the year, the players will return to the traditional women’s clubs and leagues from which they were recruited.
The AFL will be hoping that an influx of new players will be wanting to join them; and have a go at playing our game. Knowing that there is more interest in female players, and a genuine pathway to professional footy.
Should that happen, the AFLW will be a success.
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