Women's sport weekly wrap: An historic week for women's sport

I’m calling it. This coming weekend is going to be one of the biggest weekends for women in sport in 2017.

There is a smorgasbord of sport happening and something for every single sports fan in the country.

Are you a fan of AFL? You’re in business. Tonight, history will be made when Carlton take on Collingwood at Ikon Park in the opening fixture of the inaugural AFL Women’s competition followed by another three games over the weekend.

Love rugby league? This weekend, rugby league returns with the Auckland Nines. Having attended the tournament last year, I can tell you that the most anticipated clashes of the weekend feature the Australian Jillaroos and the Kiwi Ferns who will play each other three times.

I’m hopeful that this year we will finally see the Jillaroos get the edge over the Ferns who managed to win two out of three clashes in 2015 and 2016.

Don’t like either of those sports? That doesn’t matter. What about football? It’s the business end of the W-League season and this weekend will see the Perth Glory play Sydney FC in semi-final one and then Canberra United play Melbourne City in semi-final two – with the winner to progress to the grand final next weekend.

If you’re in Sydney though, undoubtedly the biggest event of the weekend will be the Sydney Sevens featuring the Australian men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams.

The tournament starts today and Friday is all about the Aussie Pearls who will today play each of their games at Allianz Stadium. It’s a great chance for Aussie fans to see the Pearls in action, fresh off the back of a break-out year in 2016 which saw them become the first Australian team to win the World Series and also win the first Olympic gold medal in rugby sevens at Rio.

If, due to work or family commitments you can’t make the tournament today, then don’t worry, the Pearls will also be in action tomorrow. But if you want to see their first game, my recommendation is to get there early.

Despite the ARU placing the Pearls front and centre when it came to advertising the tournament (literally, Charlotte Caslick was front and centre of the poster used to market the tournament), the scheduling on Saturday, for me, can only be described as embarrassing.

Because the men’s competition also begins on the Saturday, scheduling conflicts mean that should the Pearls make the quarter-finals, they will be playing that game on a training oval across the road from Allianz Stadium which only holds 1,000 people.

The Aussie Pearls are a world-champion team and have changed the fabric of women’s rugby in this country. This was recognised last week on Australia Day when they were awarded an OAM.

It’s disappointing that the scheduling challenges of having both the men’s and women’s tournament on the same weekend in the same stadium were not better thought through so that we could have avoided a situation where the best team in the world will be playing their first knock-out match on a training field.

Regardless of where they play though, I know the Pearls will be magnificent to watch over the weekend. There have been a couple of changes to the team you watched during the Olympics.

Gemma Etheridge and Amy Turner have retired. Nicole Beck has left the squad to have a baby and we have some new faces with Emma Sykes, Shanice Parker and Hannah Southwell being added to the squad. I know we are going to be treated to some very exciting rugby over the three days from both the men’s and women’s team.

The ARU was not the only governing body that was criticised this week because of scheduling.

Despite winning the minor premiership last weekend (for the second time in three years), giving them the right to host this W-League week’s semi-final, Canberra United has had its home semi-final moved from their home ground McKellar Park to Canberra Stadium, where the game will be played before an A-League game between the Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United.

It’s fair to say that this A-League game will not draw a crowd. These teams are visiting teams and are the two lowest-ranked teams on the A-League ladder.

This move absolutely changes the dynamic of the game. Canberra United are being forced to play in a larger, unfamiliar stadium which may feel empty versus a packed McKellar Park in front of their dedicated fans. According to the FFA, this is a decision which has been made to get a bigger audience both live and through the broadcast.

I’m hopeful that even though tickets will be more expensive and that the feel of the stadium is very different from McKellar Park, that plenty of fans turn up for this game (even if they decide not to stay for the A-League after).

AFL
Unless you have been living under a rock, you’ll know that the AFL Women’s competition begins tonight. There has been plenty of coverage about it this week, but I think my favourite story so far has been the announcement that unlike the men, who after a win sing their team song in the change room, the women will sing the team song on the field.

I’m really looking forward to belting out the Giants theme song with my new favourite players Jacinda Barclay, Ellie Brush and Nicola Barr. The Giants have one of the best songs in the competition… not that I’m biased at all.

And finally, despite the WBBL being over, the Southern Stars are preparing for a series of matches against New Zealand in February and in March. After a break out season in the WBBL this year which saw her awarded the WBBL Young Gun Award, congratulations to Ashleigh Gardner from the Sydney Sixers who has been named in the Southern Stars squad.

This was extremely well deserved and I am looking forward to seeing her in green and gold.