Daisy Pearce hits out at AFL over treatment of women's competition

Opinion isn't truth, it's nice you view yourself as an omnipotent truth bringer(burning bush might be a more suitable moniker for you). If you're really on the ball you'd realise that the target demographic they are chasing are teen and below mainly to sure up the supporter and playing base of the future ie young girls much like my daughters. Your here and now argument ultimately is as water tight as a paper bag. Long game my friend it's about the long game.

They will need to resolve this before next season. one of the issues with the AFLW is that the games are being played in much warmer conditions than the men's game, as the games are played Feb-March, and often during the day. I don't think that sends a great message, making the women slug it out in 30+ degree heat while the men's teams cower in winter. More games during the week, on weeknights, would allow time for the 10 teams to all play each other once - ikon park is going to be the main venue for AFLW in melbourne, it's on a tram line so surely some mid-week games starting off around 6:30 would be eminently doable, and would mean they could have a full fixture. This isn't a competition that's required to pay for itself or has to maximise attendance at all costs. Comments about standards etc are all irrelevant, as it's all relative - no-one cares or should care that the women's game is not as fast as the men's comp, it's all about how it stacks up against other women's team sports. If anyone hasn't read this piece by Devereaux Peters that dropped in the last few days I strongly recommend it, it's brilliantly cutting and searing about the sort of criticisms women athletes cop from emasculated blokes and how it's a giant waste of time listening to them https://www.twincities.com/2018/08/02/former-lynx-player-devereaux-peters-men-wont-stop-challenging-me-to-play-one-on-one/

I tell the truth, and that hurts sometimes. If the AFL are going to only target women as spectators just because the players are women (sounds quite sexist to me) then the league is doomed to failure, because they’ve already wiped out half of their potential market. Actually, women watch men’s footy so what’s your reasoning behind men not watch women’s footy? Their gender?

By very nature women/girls are the immediate target demographic not a old fusspot or snotty brat of the male gender, over the last two years I have come quite used to seeing your criticism ad nauseum on anything to grow the game, from aflw to gws/gcs to supporting the implausible idea Tasmania could support a team so your churlish reply is no surprise.

Introducing more teams is the absolute worst thing they could have done right now. It’s yet another poor decision from Gil.

So by extension, only men between 18 and 35 have the right to have an opinion on AFL football? By the way, I’m not middle aged.

We're aren't the demographic to really be the voice of this, I look at my daughter's who love the aflw and are bitterly disappointed when it's over, that's whose opinion holds weight not a group of middle aged men

Maybe, but having to compete against other sports in the first few weeks could be really detrimental - especially when you are diluting the already shallow talent pool by introducing more teams.

They aren't reducing the games - they just aren't increasing them.

Agreed - the standards in AFLW are poor, the better junior boys teams have more skill. I find it unwatchable so just wait for the real competition to start. It's a marketing gimmick they brought in to try and stop the female big bash teams (which are genuinely of international standard) from stealing all the limelight in my opinion.

“Birko”, jeez, haven’t heard that for a while. Thank you your Holiness.

Last weekend I was speaking to two AFL obsessed females. We got talking about the AFLW and both said they don't watch it and have absolulety no interest in it. They said if they are going to watch football they wanted to watch the top level. I was a bit surprised to be honest. Especially because they are both socially conscious types. Seems the AFL's decision with the competition is a step back for it but at the same time it seems there is a limited interest in it. AFLX isn't helping but maybe people can only handle so much football.

Hugely dissapointing attitude from head office- this is an opportunity to build a long term legacy as the pre-eminent professional sport for both men and women in Australia. A massive backdown that in my thinking benefits none of the sports stakeholders in the long-term. Conferences are similarly an insult, should never be considered- simply fractures interest in the whole competition. The women who have given up other opportunities to come to the AFLW should rightfully be furious. Won’t attract more to the game with such a disdainful approach to what had been the most genuine good-news move of Gill’s tenure. This plays right into the hands of football’s rivals when historically, the Australian game owes more to its female supporters than the other codes.

This is a classic example of: 'be careful of what you wish for'. People who wanted more teams are probably having reservations about what it now means, similar to UK citizens who have regreted voting for Britex. Was it really necessary to break a highly successful eight team model?

The problem is that you can’t have an elite competition that’s a training ground. If they want to lift the standard they should play more practice matches.

Gil has to go. He’s bringing the game into disrepute. It’s becoming more obvious by the day.

I’m not denying that women’s and girls footy is popular at the moment, but the standard of the “elite” competition is not elite. The AFL got the cart before the horse for this competition, and they way they have carried in about it is an insult to actual elite women’s sport, of which there is much and has been much for many years. That’s pretty much my gripe with the AFLW in a nutshell.

Oh my Gorb, that's as bad as the Coles backflip in WA on plastics bags. Way to halt progress, Gill.

It is an amateur comp ,beat up by AFL marketing gurus, who strongly recommend we watch. The money the women are paid largely cover out of pocket exs that would not even incur tax. To a large extent, AFLW offers content to the television network,who then strongly promote it with edited highlights of women playing a rugged skillful game, then amplified by breathless commentators waxing lyrical about action that does not compute with the actual vision. A gimmick is a trick or device intended to attract attention ,and publicity to increase appeal. In the spirit of things then , AFLW portrayed as a professional game ,is definitely a gimmick and will remain so until the skills become instinctive after many years of training. On an amateur level its not a gimmick, because competitors learning the code play for fun. Should AFLW play more games, hell yeah, as many as they like, but lets have perspective.

If AFLW wasn't ready for more games, then they shouldn't of introduced more teams. The whole idea that they need clear air to compete is a load of BS. Cricket (Representative / Big Bash) and Football (A League and European) share Summer time slot with Tennis jumping in for the Aus Open. Imagine the outrage is the Men's competition was reduced to 10 weeks so as not to clash with Rugby League during Origin.