AFLW 2022

[Lods]

It's chicken and egg lods.

Does the standard get better and that leads to better pay
Or
Does better pay lead to a better standard.

....and which should come first.

The girls are starting to make a bit of noise about pay. Not that they think they deserve more for playing AFLW, but because in order for it to take the next step, the girls need some kind of security. 1 year contracts is the norm, with 2 year contracts the maximum possible and rare by comparison. Those 1 year contracts are basically for 6 months, they other 6 they don't get paid.....BUT....they are still expected to be elite athletes.

The afl dropped the ball when they canned the season mid finals 2 years ago.
You had girls busting their gut all year, play 7 or 8 games and then the afl pulls up stumps and you get nothing out of it. Postpone first, cancel as  last resort.

How can the girls take the next step with their commitment if the afl doesn't give them any?

Give them a proper season, give them an annual wage they can make work financially and the standard will magically improve....and it will grow the game where their salaries are covered, by the revenue aflw makes.

You hear the girls speak and their love for the game is never in doubt. They just want what's fair. The criticism they get and the demands that are asked of them are both completely out of whack with what they get paid.

Give them the money they want need and the rest will take care of itself.....including a truly national draft which evens out the competition like its supposed too.

I have no doubt that the women have a great love for the game.
I think what supporters want to see is a 'Sam Walsh' like love and commitment to the 'club' and their team-mates.

I suspect a big push for increased salary is probably coming from the older players.
They've been the pioneers, but the youngsters are coming thick and fast.
These older players have a limited playing time left and can probably see a situation where they run out of time before the big money is forthcoming.

I've never been a big fan of the draft.
I don't think it evens out a competition to a greater extent than a salary cap alone would.
The NRL seems to operate quite well on that basis...and you don't have the player retention issues that clubs like the Gold Coast and GWS have experienced under the draft structure.
But having said that there needs to be some improvement on the current state "zoning" type restrictions.

What these discussions are showing is that the AFLW is an evolving concept.
Where we're getting some disagreement is over the pace of that evolution and the form of the final product.

I tend to agree with LP's comments that the AFLW needs to develop some points of difference that improve the spectacle but keep the basic structure of the game.

[kruddler]

I tend to agree with LP's comments that the AFLW needs to develop some points of difference that improve the spectacle but keep the basic structure of the game.

The AFLW game has several points of difference, i'm not sure why he harps on about that.

- The girls only have 16 on the ground....a fair difference.....with 5 on the bench.

- The girls have a 'last touched/lasso' rule as well.

- The girls also have a deeper throw in as well, with boundary umpires throwing the ball in 15m from the boundary to bring the ball back into the corridor.

All of these drastically alter the way the game is played. Its a quicker, faster moving game that is played up and down the corridor. Its a much less defensive style because with less players, and no boundary line sanctuary there is less chance of stoppages and floods.

What other changes would people want to see that is different from the men? You can throw the ball to a teammate? Must do the splits before every goal?? Wave purple flags instead of white???

[kruddler]

Just looking at the AFLW ladder

Carlton have played 6 games thus far.
Our 5 losses have been to 5 teams who are currently in the top 6 on the ladder.....the other team in there we play R10.

The 1 team we have played that is outside the finals is Geelong, and we looked a class above them......and we were never meant to even play them, we were meant to play the 8th placed bulldogs, who have played 1 less game and should be in 7th spot realistically.

To say we've had a hard draw is an understatement.

Sure, our season is still disappointing, but IMO we had the worst draft/trade period out there and it was to be expected.
There has been changes in the off-season to 'weed out' some of our issues and i think it could be detrimental to our development if we sack the coach right now. We'll see some improvement in the girls from here.

[Gointocarlton]

Just looking at the AFLW ladder

Carlton have played 6 games thus far.
Our 5 losses have been to 5 teams who are currently in the top 6 on the ladder.....the other team in there we play R10.

The 1 team we have played that is outside the finals is Geelong, and we looked a class above them......and we were never meant to even play them, we were meant to play the 8th placed bulldogs, who have played 1 less game and should be in 7th spot realistically.

To say we've had a hard draw is an understatement.

Sure, our season is still disappointing, but IMO we had the worst draft/trade period out there and it was to be expected.
There has been changes in the off-season to 'weed out' some of our issues and i think it could be detrimental to our development if we sack the coach right now. We'll see some improvement in the girls from here.

I would hazard a guess and say that those within the 4 walls of the organisation will accept none of those as reasons or excuses for poor performance. Few supporters should also, not saying the coach should be sacked but...

[kruddler]

I would hazard a guess and say that those within the 4 walls of the organisation will accept none of those as reasons or excuses for poor performance. Few supporters should also, not saying the coach should be sacked but...

Those within the 4 walls would know about the reasons for some of those players leaving....and should realise that its a thing of the past mostly.

They won't accept those reasons, and will probably sack the coach because of it.......doesn't mean its the right thing to do, its just the carlton thing to do.
People forget we were a basketcase when Half took over. He took us to a flag, and had us deep into finals the following year before the season was canned. He can coach, he has proven that.

[Thryleon]

Don't know why you would sack an AFLW coach at this stage.  Harf is well liked by the girls, committed and does ok except the last two years which is arguably more about the landscape of the competition changing a lot than anything he did or didn't do.  Losing talent every year is hard.  Newbies in every year is hard too.

Its not like there are a raft of big names out there wanting to coach.  You might look to a post footy star to become a coach but we are about 5 years off that happening.

[Lods]

The main reason for a coach turn over is that a lack of success puts pressure on the admin/board through things like sponsors,  member and supporter expectations.
The lack of success builds up over the years.
It's even more intense when that extended period of 'failure' follows a bit of a golden era.

The factor in an AFLW coach's favour is that the expectations and subsequent pressure just aren't there yet.
It's the 'history' factor I mentioned earlier.
The majority of us 'don't care' enough...yet.
The pressure isn't there for change...They have the luxury of letting it play out a little longer.

[LP]

But is our lack of success a true and fair assessment of the past?

I suspect we were basically undone by COVID and could well have had a flag already if not for the way things turned out. Now, having had our best chances undone, the bias towards non-Melbourne based teams is greater than ever.

[Thryleon]

The main reason for a coach turn over is that a lack of success puts pressure on the admin/board through things like sponsors,  member and supporter expectations.
The lack of success builds up over the years.
It's even more intense when that extended period of 'failure' follows a bit of a golden era.

The factor in an AFLW coach's favour is that the expectations and subsequent pressure just aren't there yet.
It's the 'history' factor I mentioned earlier.
The majority of us 'don't care' enough...yet.
The pressure isn't there for change...They have the luxury of letting it play out a little longer.

That would be true of the mens, but in the womens game people are just happy seeing a womens competition, and it would take a significant coach to make someone like Harf get fired.

If Brendan Bolton wanted to coach the women, that might get the requisite attention.

[DJC]

I think that Harf is safe, and so he should be.