AFLW returns with distinctly higher quality of play on show
In the midst of legal challenges in tennis and inglorious scandals plaguing cricket, the AFLW’s return this weekend came as a welcome relief. Entering its sixth season, the league kicked off on Friday night with a thumping win by expansion team, Richmond, over fellow newcomers, St Kilda. While both teams entered the system in season four, the score could not have been more different, with the Tigers managing an almost perfect 10 goals one (61) to the Saints’ 3.5 (23). Ironically, it was the previously underperforming Tigers who provided one of the most impressive passages of play ever witnessed in women’s football.
Setting aside inevitable first game wobbles and some uneven score lines, the main takeout from the opening round was the dramatic improvement across all aspects of the game. This was despite Covid-19 delaying the start of the season, forcing last minute fixture changes and depriving the crowds of seeing W Award winner, Emma Kearney, line up for North, after she tested positive to Covid earlier in the week.
While Covid and injuries are a risk for all athletes, AFLW players’ six-month season and part-time wage offset by year-round fitness and conditioning means most AFLW players also have full time jobs, family or educational commitments. The challenge of “living with Covid” in the face of multiple responsibilities and activities increases significantly. Yet astonishingly, despite all of this, the standard of the competition continues to take great leaps, year after year.
Some of the improvement comes down to experience – players have simply had more time in the AFL system. Foundation players have now notched up five campaigns, and as seasons have been extended to 10 home and away games plus three finals matches, this means significantly more playing time. Clubs have reviewed and improved their women’s football departments, staffing and resources, fitness programs and player support every year. This means players have more targeted and consistent preparation.
The “cross-code experiment” has also changed emphasis, with crosscode players either committing entirely to football, or dropping out of the AFLW system. The Tigers’ Mon Conti’s outstanding display on Friday night (29 disposals, nine clearances and seven tackles) is testament to what she’s capable of after completing the first full pre-season of her AFLW career since putting her basketball career on hold.
Uninterrupted pathways have also helped the rising standard of play. Since the inception of the AFLW the AFL and state competitions have established pathways for girls and young women into elite AFL football with the introduction of national and youth academies. Prior to 2017, there was no established youth pathway through teenage years, and most of the senior players who have dominated the competition were forced out of football for extended periods, often to join other sports, or leaving sport altogether, due to a lack of youth competitions for girls beyond 14 or 15 years old.
Most notably, two-time W Award winner, Erin Phillips turned to basketball when she was no longer allowed to play AFL foootball, forging a career in the WNBL and playing for the Opals at the Olympics. It took her out of footy for 19 years before her triumphant return to her first sport.
The introduction of new rules have also had an impact on the game. Despite generations of women’s football development at their disposal, clubs attempted to simply overlay coaching strategies from the men’s game when setting up AFLW programs. At the same time, the AFL made significant changes to the rules, introducing a smaller ball, and fielding only 16 players a side.
“It’s problematic when you remove two players from the traditional field when they don’t have a full-time endurance engine to make up for it,” said Julia Chiera, Darebin Falcons VFLW assistant coach, former teammate and coach to many of the game’s biggest stars. “Parttime players’ skills, fitness and playing experience were just not ready-made in 2017 for that vision.” This is less of a problem in 2022. Additional rule changes to the boundary throw in, this year’s stand rule, and the goal square kick in have also had a positive impact.
Another development, according to Chiera, is that “male coaches have finally adjusted the game style to suit the women’s game, and women players’ strengths”. This has been a common complaint among women’s football experts, beyond the issue of fairness, about the limitations and frustrations of seeing new or untried male coaches cross over from the men’s game without the depth of experience or a solid understanding of the specifics of the women’s game. Whether in acknowledgement of issues of equity or the need for relevant experience, there has been a noted increase in female assistant coaches drawn from women’s football. And it shows.
In round one, multiple players racked up north of 30 possessions and there was an early goal of the year contender from Fremantle’s Ebony Antonio. Whatever further challenges 2022 throws at the AFLW this season, players and clubs have already demonstrated their commitment to digging deeper and playing harder and smarter with every new game.