‘Give women full season’
REIGNING AFLW best and fairest Emma Kearney believes the league needs a fulllength season so players can better develop their skills.
The league yesterday unveiled the make-up of its controversial two-conference format, along with the 2019 draw.
Newcomers Geelong and North Melbourne are in separate five-team conferences for the seven-round competition that begins on February 2.
While the women’s league has expanded to 10 clubs, the regular season hasn’t grown, meaning not all teams will play each other.
Melbourne star Daisy Pearce has lashed the season’s length as gimmicky, with Kearney — who has transferred from Western Bulldogs to North Melbourne — saying many players were left frustrated.
“Daisy was certainly not the lone wolf in that,” Kearney said in Hobart.
“As AFLW players we want to be taken seriously and we want the competition to be taken seriously.
“The more games you play at a higher level, the quicker it is to develop players.”
North Melbourne is in Conference A with Western Bulldogs, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle. Brisbane Lions, Greater Western Sydney, Collingwood, Carlton and Geelong are in Conference B.
They’ll play home games in Melbourne, Hobart and Launceston, with training to be split between Tasmania and the mainland.
Kearney said it would be a challenge to jell a new squad, about half of which was yet to play AFLW.
“I like helping out young people. I’m a teacher by trade,” she said. MEANWHILE, AFL Women’s finals players will share in a $127,500 prize pool for the first time as part of a new pay deal that will also see wages increase next season.
The Geelong Advertiser understands the base wage for players in the expanded competition will be $13,400 (up from $10,500) while the top players in the four-tier payment system will earn around $25,000 ($20,000 this season).
Players also have the capacity to earn further income from ambassador roles.
It’s believed the one-year deal is being put to the players this weekend and will be signed off on next week.
The players are expected to receive education and training grants as part of the collective bargaining agreement and also share in the AFL Players Association’s injury and hardship fund.
The AFLW pre-season is set to start earlier, on November 14, with players still limited to training 13 hours a week during that period and 10 hours in-season.
AAP