There’s been a lot of talk about how the standard of play in Rounds 1 and 2 are the best opening two rounds in AFLW history.
Well sure, but that’s not saying much. Problem is, the women are always coming off a ten-month off-season.
If the men had a ten-month off-season, their skills would be pretty dreadful in Round 1 also.
The AFLW does this to itself by the structure of the competition – they say they can only increase the length of the competition once the standard improves, but for as long as the season remains two months long, the first four rounds of the competition will continue to be well below the actual standard the players are capable of producing.
Typically the AFLW skill level increases dramatically by about Round 4 or 5, as you’d expect, because it just takes that long for part-time players to get their eye in.
But that’s too late for a lot of potential fans, who often decide to ‘give the AFLW one more shot’ in the first round or two, and are turned off by what they see.
My advice to footy fans who haven’t been watching AFLW, but would like to give it another try – wait until the tail end of the season heading into finals.
By then not only will the players be one-touching the ball instead of three-four-five touching it, but you’ll know which teams are worth watching this season.
Thus far, it’s looking like the Dockers, Crows, Kangaroos and Lions… but the Lions will probably screw it up later in the season by playing 48 players behind the ball and still seeming puzzled when they can’t score, so mostly those first three.
And maybe the Pies and the Dees.
Sarah Rowe (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
The lopsided results in many Round 2 games also brings out the usual conversations about how the AFLW has expanded too fast and spread the talent too thin.
Well no. I’ve written about this in more detail before, but in short, most people making this argument have no clue what the AFLW’s actually for.
Sure, not having huge blowouts would remove those games from TV, but at this point, the AFLW is primarily about development. Big blowout margins are the price to be paid for that development, and it’s a price well worth paying.
Would the AFLW be improved if Gold Coast weren’t in the comp to get thrashed by the Lions like they were on the weekend? The Queensland junior all-stars game a few months back showed a huge pool of exciting young talent coming through the Gold Coast ranks.
Given the AFLW’s state-by-state system, most of them can’t play anywhere else but Queensland.
With the Lions the only team in Queensland, most of them would be struggling for a spot. Would that make the AFLW ‘better’? To remove the huge incentive of an available playing spot on an AFLW list, in your home state, from all those big-dreaming juniors?
(Chris Hyde/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Would it be better if Richmond weren’t in the competition? Richmond will keep losing until they accumulate enough high draft picks that they start winning. The maths aren’t hard.
Unlike in the men’s, the players coming through women’s junior ranks get better and better every year, and it’s technically impossible for AFLW teams, in any state that’s developing great juniors, to stay on the bottom of the ladder for more than a couple of years.
My advice to the ‘we expanded too fast’ brigade: get a grip, and be patient.
After all, the baby Bulldogs were being written off after Round 1, despite only losing by nine points, and in Round 2 they beat Carlton.
Half of that team is barely out of nappies. By Round 9, they could be eating solids and playing finals.
Richmond
Richmond’s improvement is real, but as I expected, the rest of the competition has improved by at least as much, leaving Richmond languishing down the bottom of the ladder as before.
And now they’re playing Ellie McKenzie in the forward line. So all that hope that Tigers’ fans invested in the club, that finally they might have grabbed a second star midfielder in the draft to back up Mon Conti, was apparently misplaced because the Richmond coaching staff think instead that they drafted a forward.
I’m sorry?
Have they actually seen the Richmond forward line?
You know, Brennan, Traub, Wakefield, Bernardi?
(AAP Image/Daniel Pockett)
That’s the one area of the field where Richmond were actually good. Their problem last year was that their midfield stank and they couldn’t get their forwards the ball.
This year, similar deal, because instead of using McKenzie to support Conti in the middle (as would appear blindingly obvious) they throw her forward then wonder why once again they’re getting smashed in the middle and their forwards never see the ball.
The bright side for Richmond fans is that the way they’re going, next year they’ll have automatic number one draft pick Georgie Prespakis in the team as well, and she might be even better than McKenzie, which is saying something.
The less bright side is that the coach will probably play her in the goalsquare, and Richmond will still get flogged in the middle and lose every game.
While we’re at it – I don’t like to be too critical of individual AFLW players, they’re not getting paid huge money, and they’re all doing the best they can under trying circumstances.
But for Katie Brennan, I must make an exception. She’s the star forward of her team, but she misses goals, drops marks, opportunity after opportunity goes begging but commentators still have nothing to say but what a big-time player she is.
Well, I’ve yet to see it. Most of us are. Either she steps up, or we start referring to her as just another average player, and the club puts their marquee money somewhere else.
Carlton
Carlton think they’re as fast as last year, and try to play like it, with lots of dinky handballs to unleash the runners. Unfortunately, their fastest player is Chloe Dalton, and she’s headed to the Tokyo Olympics this year (COVID allowing).
Her replacement is Elise O’Dea, and whatever O’Dea’s many attributes, speed isn’t one of them.
The Blues’ midfield has also been missing Lucy McEvoy with injury, and their forward line has lacked Brooke Walker, who’s nearly as fast as Dalton. While fellow youngsters Mimi Hill and Abbey McKay have been good, thus far into 2021, it’s not the same.
Against the Bulldogs, for most of the game the Blues had more handballs than kicks. Only in the frantic final quarter, when they had no other choice, did they start kicking long, ending the match with 130 kicks and 118 handballs.
The recurring problem with women’s football is congestion. If you always pass short, you create more congestion, unless you’re super fast. Fremantle are perhaps the one team in the AFLW freakishly fast enough to get away with it, but so far this season Fremantle’s kick-to-handball ratio is more like two-to-one.
In other words, Carlton need to start kicking the ball long, and stop relying on midfield speed they no longer have.
Does this mean Elise O’Dea is a bad player? No, not at all.
Does it mean that her, plus Maddy Prespakis (herself no speed demon) in the midfield together, might create a speed deficit? Absolutely.
Carlton will need to change the way they play, put away the endless handballs to players who get dumped in the turf immediately after, and kick long instead.
Like Fremantle. Can’t everyone just be more like Fremantle? The AFLW would be so much better if they were.
Adelaide
The Crows are back, and it’s beautiful to see. What a difference Erin Phillips and Chelsea Randall make, and they haven’t even welcomed back Chloe Scheer, who will one day be spoken of in the same awed tones.
Yes, the Crows have a loaded forward line, but it’s their ability to get the ball into that forward line, repeatedly and deeply, that makes it so effective. If only Richmond would learn this lesson.
Anne Hatchard (Tamika Walker, AFC Media)
Adelaide is the big reason why I’m not fussed at the inequality of AFLW results. Yes, Adelaide are going to trash a lot more teams than just GWS and West Coast this year.
But I was at the 2019 grand final where 53,000 fans turned up, and apparently had a grand old time. Crowds like that don’t just turn up for okay teams who beat oppositions two times out of three by an average of a few goals.
They turn up for champions capable of grinding good opponents into red mince.
The Crows will have a much harder time doing that to Freo and North in 2021 than they did in 2019, but in a time when the AFLW struggles to be taken seriously by some, the Crows remain the most seriously-taken team in women’s football.
Adelaide loves them, and not just because they love Erin Phillips.
They play fun football, which at its best is watchable for pretty much any footy fan.
They’re not at their best yet, because AFLW teams are never at their best before Round 4, but when they are, they’re the most marketable asset women’s football has, and they fly the flag for what the AFLW is capable of one day becoming.
That flag is worth flying, even if it means some huge scoreboard blowouts.
Final notes
Last season, Georgia Patrikios was one of the best players in St Kilda. This year, she’s clearly the best. The speed of her elevation resembles Maddy Prespakis’s ascent at Carlton. That’s probably no accident.
Which leads me to a pop quiz.
What do Saint Kilda, GWS, Carlton, Richmond and Geelong all have in common? Answer; the clear outstanding star of each team is a recent draftee who was too young to play in the AFLW’s first season -that’s Patrikios, Alyce Parker, Maddy Prespakis, Monique Conti and Olivia Purcell.
And were it not for her horror run of knee injuries, Nina Morrison could easily have joined Purcell at Geelong, while next year McKenzie could be right up there with Conti at Richmond. That’s five teams out of 14, and more on the way.
With all the kids at the Bulldogs, you’d think the same might happen there very shortly – except that Ellie Blackburn is fast becoming not so much a gun in this competition as a cannon, and my current prediction for AFLW MVP.
Any of the Doggies’ kids will have to get very, very good to move ahead of her.
The Dom is good
Roar Rookie
West Coast had no one left on the bench, played a top side with copious amounts dubious umpiring decisions with a 9 point loss, to me thats a win . Give credit where its due. Hopefully the next derby wont be played in freo or with sub standard umpires which should end in a different result
The Dom is good
Roar Rookie
toaster players? childish and disrespectful, although pretty standard from your supporter base
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
The problem is that the talent isn't there - watch any game and the majority of players a terrible kicks and even worse handballs. Run the VFLW like a seconds comp; that bridges the gap.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
There's a fine balancing act. The talent pathways are there - the foundation is in place and there needs to be a broad base of AFLW clubs to distribute that talent as it comes through. If it were too concentrated then especially for a shortened season it would be too hard to break into and the best would rocket to elite level and the gap between say VFLW and AFLW would become too great for many. The standard of play continues to improve and the best are now approaching 40-50 AFLW games and are looking to be elite.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
The St K coach had a whinge about North's draft concessions.
adam
Guest
Most of those free kicks were because of stupid plays by the toaster players. It was like they had never played in the wet. They were also lucky on a couple occasions in not giving 50's, as well the free. But again, I think the umps cut them some slack because it was wet. That said, the toaster are going to give up more frees in the rest of the season, as more and more senior players get injured. It's just what young sides do. I hope Dana Hooker gets better soon. The toasters did well on Sunday. Even you would have to admit, if Freo had been more accurate - it would have been a blood bath, even in the shocking conditions.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
Remember with North - - it wasn't so much "concessions"..........it was natural justice. Most of the girls there had been part of the North - Melb Uni program; so when the expansion of the AFLW that included the inclusion of North came along - - via free agency many of the girls wanted to return to allow them to finish what they'd started. In some respects it righted the injustice of North not being in the first incarnation. It certainly stood out against Geelong the difference in the natural ball drop of the players who are looking most comfortable at the level. Certainly a couple of those North girls can drill a daisy cutter pass around the corner to gladden the heart of any leading forward. Need to remember though - - while we have the 10 week AFLW; we also have all the winter state league competitions. Many of the players return to the VFLW etc. The Tassie players were able to play a season 2020.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
The commentary could improve. Virtually the whole NM vs St K they were barracking for St K. Personally I love blow outs, in the absence of shot outs. There was a time in footy no one cared if someone got trounced. Theses things eventually swing around and the trouncer gets on the wrong side of a caning. Unfortunately with 16 min quarters we probably will never see real carnage. It's only 4 years in. As Joel says it's all part of the development.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
No good expanding the talent pool when there's too many players who aren't up to standard - it just reduces the standard of play. What's with the obsession with comparing it to the blokes? If we're going to go there, the blokes unwatchable games are tactic based whereas the women's unwatchable games are skills based (GC 37% kicking efficiency); you're comparing apples with oranges.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
Yeah I agree, Freo and Brisbane were definitely playing at a higher standard on the weekend, other than North. I think there's a huge gap between the best players, who are natural footballers, and players who they're brought over from other comps. Players like Prespakis, Huntington, Phillips have good judgement in the air, don't panic and good decision making. Players like Harris are one dimensional - she can take a grab but not much else. A lot of the kicking techniques don't look natural at all (2 handed ball drops!) and they lose a lot accuracy and distance because of it. It's obvious to me that the league will improve significantly when they draft more natural footballers and go away from the ring-ins from other sports. Teams like North who have had the concessions to bring in the top footballing talent, as opposed to athletes, are cutting the other teams apart, and they move the ball a lot better because they have natural skills and decision making. To offset this the other teams need to play a style that gives the players more time to kick and handball so there's less mistakes. They all need to sort their forward lines out too - far too many long bombs straight to defenders. I think this would be sorted by shortening the ground; align it with their kicking distance. I'd reduce both arcs to 40m and reduce the centre square by 10m; reduce the ground length by 30m. The players seem to have it ingrained in them to have shot once they're inside the 50 when they shouldn't be having a shot outside 40. Harris is probably the biggest kick in the game and there's no way even she would get over a woman on the mark and someone on the goal line if she kicked from 50. As far as the commentators go, Jason Bennett does more harm than good; he's the person that's exposing the game to criticism with his ridiculous over the top commentary. I reckon 4 or 5 times every game he's calling a player "kicking it to the hot spot" when she's clearly shanked a kick or didn't make the distance on a shot at goal. Just call it honestly.
WCE
Roar Rookie
The umpiring for the WCE v freo game was suspect to say the least. 7 free's in a row to freo in the 3rd quarter is one glaring highlight and it was played at freo oval. Not often i whinge about the umps because to me there job is hard enough but this game was shocking for free's to one side and deflating to the Eagles who were baffled on numerous occasions of why a free was paid. GET IT RIGHT or get another job
Boo
Guest
Georgia Patriokis can play glides over the ground and has time to spare .No surprise the standard is improving Aust women have always been achievers think AFLW will follow the same trajectory as top women's cricket which is great too watch .On a sour note hope the Cats girls can get off the bottom of the ladder as I have never seen Geelong wooden spooners.
Pedro The Fisherman
Roar Rookie
I wholeheartedly agree re: the umpiring. It is abysmal (is there a descriptive word that indicates a situation worse than abysmal? Atrocious perhaps?). There is no need to try and even up games in mens' or women's football but the AFL and umpires hate a blowout. Regarding the undue reliance on playing on, this is driving a lot of the congestion issue, especially the huge reliance on handball (which the players are not well drilled in either). When the skills get better players will become more confident in kicking to position (a position that is hopefully more than 25 metres away). The game IS improving but quite slowly. Now about those marquee players that are not very good ... Lets call them the Moes or the Taylors. Perhaps the commentators could look belong Victoria to find some that actually have skills and deserve the accolades. There are quite a few at each of Freo and Adelaide and a couple in Brisbane!
Rob
Guest
Lets not forget there are more than a few AFL games that are bearly watchable every season too... and these are games played by guys who have been playing since they were 5 with proper development paths in place. It will take another decade for the AFLW to have a full roster of women who have had access to the same development. But the important thing is those paths are now laid out. As for the expansion I was against it on the "dilute the talent pool" argument but I see now that the best way for development to progress is through more clubs offering more opportunities- I actually now think the season should be lengthened given the absurdly long pre-season so there are more good quality games once the cobwebs have been blown off - and teams that have a rough start to the season still have something to play for after round 4 - this won't immediately improve the quality obviously but it will potentially provide more meaningful games in the latter part of the season.
Naughty's Headband
Roar Rookie
Yeah it's definitely improving, outside of GC; a kicking efficiency of 37% is unacceptable in a semi-professional comp. Most of the games on the weekend were entertaining enough and the Dogs vs Blues game was good fun. The umpires should swap with the BBL umpires - they might be better at a different sport; they're hopeless at their own. The AFLW umpires clearly don't understand the holding the ball rule, amongst others. To improve the game quicker I think they need to look at coaching tactics; it looks to me like they're trying to teach the players to run before they can walk. There's too much emphasis on playing on and moving the ball on, and most of the players don't have the skill to do that so they're constantly playing themselves into trouble. This means that most of the time they're under pressure when they dispose of the footy which inevitably leads to mistakes; it looks like an hour of panic out there. Focus on the basic rules of footy - punch from behind, get a player on the line when they're kicking for goal, no u-turns etc etc, and put most of the coaching focus into kicking and marking skills. Oh, and the Dogs are doing very well considering they were robbed of most of their talent. Izzy Huntington is a natural footballer and makes things happen; they need to get her involved more often.
berrlins
Roar Pro
Totally agree, the Crows im full flight are awesome to watch. Dunno what's up with Carlton, they had all the ball in the last 10 minutes and should've won that game, doggies defence stood firm with some luck from wayward shooting, love watching Blackburn go about it as well, tough as nails and class to boot.