AFLW Condensed Season — Hurting the Comp?

[Meg]

‘Former AFLW player and media commentator Kate McCarthy said the condensed season is “clearly putting a lot of strain on players and clubs”.

“I don’t know how many players that are experienced or older are actually going to play 11 games, because with four-day breaks, there’s clearly going to be players that don’t get right for the next game,” she said.’

[ootf]

The poor midweek attendance numbers will not help get to the AFLW average attendance targets to have a longer comp either. (1855, 2712, 1325 this week). They've shot themselves in the foot.

[Meg]

The poor midweek attendance numbers will not help get to the AFLW average attendance targets to have a longer comp either. (1855, 2712, 1325 this week). They've shot themselves in the foot.

agree, that worries me as well.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

When an organisation sets a target, then acts in a way that makes achieving those targets far more difficult - it's hard to take that organisation seriously.

[Meg]

To be fair, the AFL have delovered on a promise to expand tne AFLW comp to an 11-match home & away season, while balancing pros & cons about how this could be best achieved
And they did consult with stakeholders before deciding on this program.

The article below is good background.

“"We consulted a number of key stakeholders in the fixture build including the AFLPA, Clubs and Senior Coaches when determining the most appropriate structure of the season.”

[Meg]

And this article has good discussion of pros and cons of this season’s schedule.

”The largest pro is that despite there being some challenges with the approach, it means that the AFL has kept their promise and delivered on an extra game this season, and no matter how it's being done, there is more footy being played.”

[Ruck'n'Roll]

"No" Laura Kane responds to Meg's question

[Ruck'n'Roll]

It'll be interesting to see if anyone shows up at Whitten oval this Friday night.

[Meg]

I hope some of the Swans fans who are in Melbourne for GF do go to Whitten Oval. It looks to be easily accessible by train from the CBD.

In a nice interview with Scott Gowans today, in talking about the strength of the Swans One Club approach to the men’s and women’s teams, Gowans says the club has booked a bus to take all the Swans staff to Whitten Oval to support the women. Maybe that doesn’t include men’s coaching staff?

[mcs]

It was an excellent crowd at Whitten Oval tonight. No idea on official number but between 4 and 5 thousand would be my guess.

The mid week rounds are I guess a necessary evil at the moment, but seriously detrimental to the competition at this point as well I think. Especially with so many injuries.

[Meg]

It was an excellent crowd at Whitten Oval tonight. No idea on official number but between 4 and 5 thousand would be my guess.

Good that you were able to attend mcs. Crowd only 2,856 according to the official report. And a healthy proportion of those appeared to be wearing red & white, so probably a few others were like you, in town for tomorrow’s Big Match.

yes, the comp is somewhat diminished by the necessity to rest star players to manage this condensed part of the season — Montana Ham was a late change also ‘managed’ (and replaced in the selected side by Aimee Whelan). Even more diminished if players suffer injuries due to tight match turnarounds.

as I posted earlier, the AFL is delivering on a commitment to increase the season by one match this year, while still playing within the weeks most favourable for crowds and supporter interest. I assume it is a decision that will be reviewed at the end.

[mcs]

Certainly looked like plenty more than that to me crowd wise, but there you go!