All but two AFL clubs are chasing an AFLW licence, with the league facing a tough decision after the success of the inaugural season.
A minimum of two new clubs will be introduced to the eight-team women’s competition in 2019.
Port Adelaide and Sydney are the only teams who have opted not to submit bids at this time.
The Power are focused on their expansion into China after playing against Gold Coast for premiership points in Shanghai last month, while Sydney will set their sights on the 2020 AFLW season after setting up a girls’ academy.
Geelong, North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda and West Coast, who were granted provisional licenses for the inaugural season but were unsuccessful, will be given priority weighting in the selection process.
Essendon, Gold Coast and Hawthorn are also pushing for their own team, with the Hawks promising to play games in Tasmania and regional Victoria if selected.
The Bombers are promising to take the game to the Northern Territory, including hosting a game in a remote indigenous community.
“Everyone from the players to the board is right behind the submission and we think we have a unique and exciting proposition that will be hard for the AFL to ignore,” Bombers captain Dyson Heppell said on Friday.
“AFLW is our next frontier and it’s an honour to be a part of it.”
The AFL is expected to make a decision on AFLW expansion in late July.
Martin
Guest
Last year I saw Fremantle play Brisbane, Collingwood and Carlton and actually thought the standard was quite high. But nevertheless, I tend to agree with you about keeping eight teams. When the new TV broadcasting contract commences in 2019 it would seem to me that the eight existing clubs are deserving of some financial reward for being the pioneers of the competition. So if the TV/gate money were to be split eight ways for the first year of the new contract then that all seems fair enough to me. Thereafter, in 2020, expansion could take place with additional revenue from more matches being televised.
I ate pies
Guest
Only an idiot would construe my comment as expecting the standard of play to be the same as the mens. I expect a reasonable standard of play for a semi-professional sport that is on television. That is not unreasonable at all; and to suggest I hate women because of that is intellectually lazy and very immature.
Shane
Guest
Nah, your standards are arbitrary. Expand and give more women a pathway to afl footy, I say - I quite enjoyed the footy this year.
Cat
Roar Guru
Only an idiot would expect to see a standard of play equal to the Men's game. The women haven't had the opportunities the men have had for decades. Do people still watch and enjoy VFL, WAFL, SANFL and other second tier state competitions? Yes they do, yet the stand is clearly lower. Do people watch other, even lower tier competitions like GDFL, TAC Cup, VFA etc? Yep, stand is lower again but people still enjoy it. No one other than haters looking for excuses to hate, such as yourself, has ever expected the standard to be exceedingly high. Those that enjoy it do so because they have both eyes and their minds open. The AFLW standard improved as the season went on. Does it have room to improve more? Absolutely. The only people worried about the standard of play are the misogynistic excuse seekers.
Steve
Guest
The bombers being trusted with an AFLW team would be nauseating, and Gold Coast would just split the supporter base in QLD, so those teams should be out of the equation. I reckon West Coast is an obvious choice, and give Hawthorn and Geelong teams too.
Cat
Roar Guru
If some people enjoy it, and obviously they do, that also obviously means it is quite watchable. You come off as nothing more than a misogynist.
I ate pies
Guest
Yes, yes they are. The elephant in the room is the standard of play, and pretending that it's not doesn't help the competition at all. I understand that the method of social engineers is to pretend that reality is how they want this to be rather that what it actually is, but that doesn't help in this case, because it's in plain site for everyone to see.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
No. No, they arent.
I ate pies
Guest
My commentary on the standard of the game has nothing to do with being "butthurt", and I'm staggered that the moderators let your comment through. I understand that I know far more about footy than you, but it's no reason to throw insults. Regardless of if some people enjoy it, my comments are valid.
Cat
Roar Guru
Then don't watch it. Stop sooking and being butt hurt about it already. Some people obviously do enjoy it.
I ate pies
Guest
This is absolute madness. They should wait until the standard resembles being semi-professional at least before even considering bringing one or two more teams into the comp. Right now it's unwatchable, with players who can't run out half a game and have no skill.