Women’s flag hopes dashed
GEELONG’S hopes of claiming its first women’s premiership are over after AFL Victoria called off the VFLW grand final.
It was announced on Friday that the decider, which was originally set down for August 8, between the Cats and Collingwood would be cancelled.
Geelong coach Andrew Bruce said the AFL had “pushed pretty hard” for the match to receive an exemption to restrictions.
“Clearly with Melbourne … not coming out of lockdown at this point, it’s just the unknown of when community sport will actually get back up and be able to be played,” Bruce said.
“There was a lot of work that went into it. There were multiple attempts made to try and get it done.”
He said it was a frustrating finish to the season.
“The players, coaches and support staff are all disappointed with the outcome that we didn’t get to play our grand final,” Bruce said.
“Everybody put in (an) enormous amount. Everybody thought this was probably going to happen and was really unavoidable in the end with the ongoing restrictions.”
Collingwood had not played since July 10 and Geelong’s last game was the preliminary final win over Essendon on July 31.
AFL Victoria said “as the final series is not able to be completed, the AFL has determined no premiership can be awarded for this season”.
“The VFLW grand final has been rescheduled four times this season, but state government lockdowns have meant it was not possible to play on any of the rescheduled dates,” AFL Victoria said.
“Both clubs have provided written submissions to confirm they cannot field a VFLW team, due to the lengthy break since their most recent respective game and the requirement to consider and begin preparations for the next AFLW season and allow a break for players who need post-season treatment.”