Swans AFLW Thoughts on AFLW

[Foreign Legion]

I am starting this thread not to upset or denigrate anyone involved in AFLW - want to make that clear.

After watching The Swans AFLW team in their first few games and also watching other teams over the last few years, I have formed some opinions about AFLW.

The low level of scoring in most games is concerning - just doesn't make for good viewing. I think it is significant The Swans first game at North Sydney was our highest scoring and most interesting game. Crowd involvement was great as well.

I think the general problem with the game is - The grounds are too bloody big! It was shown up yesterday when we tried to play absolute top line footy with distribution by handball to an overlap player to try and setup the perfect disposal. The problem with this is that this draws too many players near the ball to help out and when (if) the ball is kicked forward there is no one left inside 50M! I think North just had at least 1 player that was told to hold her position about 40M out no matter what happens.

A shorter ground would prevent this from happening as forwards would tend to play close to goal and should result in higher scoring. Playing AFLW games at grounds like Whitten Oval is insane - its a huge ground.

As far as I know the footy is smaller for AFLW games so why isn't the ground. Long term there must be at least 1 dedicated ground in each State for AFLW. Not talking about replicating a mini MCG etc just something about 120M long which seems to be the sweet spot. Not sure how long North Sydney is but it seems much shorter on TV anyway. A lot of AFLW games seem to be played between the forward 30-40M of each team.

Interested in other Members thoughts.

[KTigers]

I've tried a few times but I can't watch it. The skill level is just not very good. I mean how long have some of these players
been playing footy? Are a lot of them really new to the game or something? If that's the case then it's going to take a while
for them to get better.

[Foreign Legion]

That is part of the problem KTigers. The coaches try and teach them a footy style that most would not have played. Too much handball. Knowing about space and the places you need to be to setup the 'perfect' disposal is not an easy thing to learn.

If the grounds were smaller there would be more emphasis on the 'kick/mark' style of play. On the big grounds going backwards or sideways just makes it tougher to score.

If you think about it for the Women playing on a 'normal' AFL ground is the equivalent of a 200M long ground for men.

[Jimitron5000]

Something I have noticed are kicks, especially hurried kicks from packs don't tend to go far enough to break the congestion leading to a situation that resembles rolling maul.
16 a side is a good idea, but the wingers could be replaced rather than forward/back pockets which would alleviate congestion in the middle. Could also argue for rules that ensure players hold their position but I have no idea how that could be enforced.

[KTigers]

I see where you are coming from FL, but isn't that going to make the ground pretty crowded. Sure AFLW players are athletic
but just because you are good at one field sport doesn't mean you'll be good at another. Y'know, by the time a player gets to
the AFL almost all of them have been kicking and handpassing a footy since they were five. They've played hundreds of games,
had hundreds of teammates, got to understand other players' games and team tactics, been tackled thousands of times and
run and run and run. I'm not sure there is a crash course that can replicate what they have learned from all that footy, and
have developed into their own instinctual style.
It's just like other sports. It really helps if you start very young.

[Foreign Legion]

Yes the kicks are shorter for sure. That is why I argue for a shorter ground.

Not just the Swans but all teams end up kicking to vacant forward lines. I really would not like a rule to enforce positions except maybe the 6 6 6 presently. I think anything else may make coaches lazy.

16 a side on the current grounds would make the game more unwatchable - just random kicks to no one in the forward line.

[Ludwig]

About what skill level of boys football would be equivalent to the AFLW? I haven't watched much of either, but it looks roughly equal to 13 to 14 yo.

I watched the AFL Futures game, which were 17 yo players, and that was definitely at a higher level than AFLW, by at least a couple of years.

When I lived in Cygnet TAS, I would sometimes watch the local games, which were part of the regional Tasmania competition. Those were at a higher standard than the AFLW.

There may be some very good reasons to have a women's football competition, but it's not for the quality of the football.

[Captain]

I have tried watching it but have given up. The standard is far too poor.

I actually prefer watching the u12 - u16 girls footy at my local club.

[Foreign Legion]

To address your question Ludwig - I'd say it is about about 16yo boys level. A hell of a difference between 14 and 16yo male footy.

The problem with the long ground is everybody follows the footy and if it is kicked clear there is no one to use it. Shorter grounds would make AFLW a LOT better. I want it to succeed as this will promote footy throughout Australia

[aardvark]

16 a side on the current grounds would make the game more unwatchable - just random kicks to no one in the forward line.

It's already 16 a side. There is a 5-6-5 rule. One of the things that hurts AFLW the most is people making uninformed comments about things they know little about. Might I suggest the AFL know what they're doing, perish the thought.

[stevoswan]

I agree with most posts here....it just not good footy to watch. I'm all for the women's game but I'd say that women's rugby league resembles the men's game far more than it does in AFLW.

When the AFLW started, I enjoyed it for the tackling, they tackled like beasts even if the skill level was not great. I figured that the skill level would rise as each season passed but I feel this is just not turning out to be the case. You could seriously watch a country league reserves game or even U/18's and see higher skill levels. I'm not sure the paying public will stand for this too much longer and we are already seeing crowd sizes at AFLW matches decline rapidly.

Of course, as young girls who played Auskick from the get go come through these pathways and arrive at the 'highest level', we should see much better footy but how long is this going to take? Will the game be self sustaining until then or will the W league need propping up with league funds largely earned from the mens game? I mean, how long can you keep hiring grounds, employing caterers, ticket people and ground officials for crowds of 800 to 1000?

Another problem is the distance between the good teams and the bad (Swans). I mean, who wants to watch a game where one teams wins 61 to 1? It will take years for clubs to be 'equalised' from a largely unknown talent base.

It's a worry indeed.....by rushing into this concept, the AFL may well have ticked the 'inclusion' box but maybe not the 'big picture, common sense' box. I wish the women's game well but definitely worry about it's long term economic viability.

[Foreign Legion]

It's already 16 a side. There is a 5-6-5 rule. One of the things that hurts AFLW the most is people making uninformed comments about things they know little about. Might I suggest the AFL know what they're doing, perish the thought.

Why am I uninformed if I may ask?

I have watched at least 30 games and about 5 in person.

How do comments hurt a game? Should it not be robust enough to endure criticism?

[stevoswan]

It's already 16 a side. There is a 5-6-5 rule. One of the things that hurts AFLW the most is people making uninformed comments about things they know little about. Might I suggest the AFL know what they're doing, perish the thought.

The paying public can only go on what they see.....and what they see at the moment is low quality football. It's got nothing to do with knowing "little"....and I reckon you might be challenged on the concept of the AFL "knowing what they're doing"!

[liz]

I am curious about whether the comments made in this thread arise from mostly watching the Swans AFLW team or are based on broader viewing of the competition. Clearly our team is, at the moment, a long way behind most and probably some way behind all the rest. It will likely take a while for that to change. But the standard of the game played by the better teams is now pretty decent. It's come a huge way from the first couple of seasons.

I'm not an avid AFLW watcher by any means. I've watched all but one of our games this year (two of them live, the rest on TV) but don't spend my time glued to games between other clubs. Nonetheless, I've watched enough over the past seven years to see how it's improved in that time. Even if you just watched the games played by the Swans this year, surely you can see how the Giants, Roos etc are now able to move the ball cleanly, with purpose and with structure. They've been assisted by our women's defensive limitations but, regardless, it is clearly now Australian football (which was maybe questionable in the early seasons).

[Foreign Legion]

It's already 16 a side. There is a 5-6-5 rule. One of the things that hurts AFLW the most is people making uninformed comments about things they know little about. Might I suggest the AFL know what they're doing, perish the thought.

AFLX