AFLW Rd 1: Carlton vs Collingwood at Ikon Park

[kruddler]

Neither are most Olympic athletes, unfortunately in the women's sports.
Those excuses are all reasonable and make sense, but at the rate of improvement, they won't be quality for 10 years and very few people will be watching then.

I think they need to work around those excuses. It is harder than for men because they have other jobs, but so did most men even well into the 90s.

Highlighting the areas that need to improve and the reality of how much they need to improve is part of the solution.
Draft players and ensure they meet skinfold tests, put training on at the clubs for them year round. If someone says they can't commit.. then draft someone who can.
It should take less than one season of training to be more than good enough to play this game at that level, so you get the players prepared to do that.

Preseason for local football now starts in January for most clubs and they are not getting paid either.

The question is, does the game just continue along with the type of spectacle like last night or does it want to be taken seriously as a sport that attracts sponsors, supporters and the cash flow to allow the girls to play as full time professionals. Remember the men earned the right to professionalism, it wasn't just handed to them.

If the girls want to grow they can't hide behind the excuse (and I am not saying that they are, but others making these excuses for them) that they are not professional and have other jobs etc. They want to be up on the big stage in front of 20,000 paying spectators and televises on national tv then they need to make the SACRIFICE.

Could you imagine the havoc one girl with the ability to be a top player in any U/18 competition could do out there? Just 1?
They would pick up 40 touches and rip it up.

I don't agree with glossing over real issues if you want to succeed. That game last night would have won over very few people and would have lost a number of people that were 'taking a look'.
It does not help with the abysmal commentary team (was it Nicole Livingstone?), which was as bad as any I have ever heard.

It comes back to a simple question. Do the women want to have a professional football league?
If the answer is yes, they need to treat that the same way someone would treat the goal of making the Olympic team and throw everything into it.

Jim, I believe you train Olympic level or those attempting to be Olympic level walkers, How many are paid professional? And how many non professionals come in overweight for a professional athlete?.. I don't know what is required to be an Olympic walkers I am guessing, but I do know those hoping to make the Swimming teams are making HUGE sacrifices with hours of training each day and restricting their diets, with no guarantee of making it.

All of what I have said sounds critical and it is, but pretending that was a good game to watch to me is far worse than pointing out how much they need to improve.

All of your comments seem to be in regards to athletes who have played and trained most of their lives to get to the pinnacle of their sport. Absolutely ZERO of these girls have done that, because there was no pinnacle of their sport. They were lucky to even have a sport to play. Some of them could only play with the boys until 13 or so and for a lot of them there was nowhere to go after that.

Don't judge the football now. Judge it in 10 years when the young girls of today have been able to train all their developed lives for this opportunity.

No elite athletes? Pretty sure plenty of them were elite...in other sports. Downie played 232 WNBL games in a past life. There are others who played basketball, netball...we even have a javelin thrower in our team. Its a mixed bag and a melting pot.

re weight etc..
Have a look at Mo Hope from collingwood a year ago, and have a look at her last night. if she wasn't so unique with her look, you'd barely recognise her.
Sarah Perkins from Adelaide lost 40kg to make the cut.
There will be more girls doing similar the longer the competition is in existence.

re commentators...did you watch on fox or FTA?
Fox commentators were good, basically the VFL commentators with a AFLW player throw in.