AFLW Rd 1: Carlton vs Collingwood at Ikon Park

[DJC]

I wonder if the AFL took the ALFW seriously enough when planning. Some humble thoughts.

1. Free entry spanks of fear that there will be little interest. Many knew it would be popular. There should be a gold coin donation as entry, which goes to a reputable breast cancer research organisation/domestic violence support organisation. A magnificent opportunity to do some real good re women's issues, missed. But it's not too late. There is a dynamic opportunity here for the league to buddy up with women's issues organisations and for the players to become mentors etc. AFL marketing dept must be one of the most unimaginative and impotent in modern business.

2. Last touch free kick (boundary line) worked a treat, eh! : They just don't get it, do they. The differences between male and female physiology is well said by others. But the AFL failed to take this into account. To speed up the game and get more scoring you only need to factor in the different body structures... so, tackling modifications to better suit women - for a start, no shirt-fronts, breasts don't do well with repeated blows. Like the head and genitals, harsh contact to the boozies should be penalised.

3. Get tougher on incorrect disposal. The number of free kicks that didn't happen in all 3 games was embarrassing. This should also apply in the men's competition. Look at replays of games a couple of decades ago or longer, if you were caught with the aggot whether you had prior opportunity or not, you were penalised. This will speed up both games. Once you take possesion, you'd better dispose of it by foot or handball... or else.

4. Absolutely the skills will improve in time. But it'll take some time as more funding goes to girls (up to 12 years) and teens and more teams and leagues are established.

5. Ball size is still not right. Confidence for the women / teens / girls will come when they can have more control over the ball in their hands - this will also improve skills (obviously).

Good points Baggers, particularly the gold coin donation and women's issues.  The only reason I can think of for why this hasn't been done is the cost of collecting and processing donations.  Perhaps a volunteer organisation could do it.

The size of the footy is an interesting issue.  Women's hands are significantly smaller than men's and a smaller footy may be easier to handle and mark.  However, my rudimentary knowledge of physics and aerodynamics suggests that the smaller the footy, the less distance it can be kicked  :-\

The AFL should really test proposed rule changes under match conditions before making changes.  Surely it would have been possible to trial the last touch rule in a few VFLW games.