Did the AFL drop the ball on women's footy?

[GWT6]

Lol. Take a look at the stands and the ratings. An extra crap game a week nobody watches isn't paying for anything. FTA viewers for Gold Coast and GWS average well under 30k per game in their home market. Nobody is watching!

And every time Collingwood or Essendon play GWS it's one less time they play Carlton or StKilda or even Brisbane, games that are much more followed by neutrals.

You're being lied to and failing for it hook line and sinker.

Bit of false advertising going on with your user name.

The last couple of TV rights deals would not have been as big without the two expansion teams. It's not opinion, it's fact.

 

[Saab NLAW]

You have proved my point.

i read your post, what is the point that you're trying to make?

 

[Saab NLAW]

Unless it's at the highest level, soccer is a difficult game to watch if you're not emotionally invested with a team. But soccer at the highest level is a great game, watching guys like Messi do their thing for their countries is amazing, even if it ends up in a nil all draw. But try sitting through an A-league game...I'd prefer to chew razor blades.

The world cup is soccer at its highest level, we're emotionally connected to the result because it's Australia playing, whether it's womens or mens. But I have no interest in watching any womens local soccer games, or even watching Sam Kerr play for Chelsea, I find them incredibly boring because of the big gap in skill level and the result means nothing to me.

AFLW games are just terrible to watch, it's a commercially created competition that we've all been told that we have to accept and watch. The skill level is just horrendous, but what's worse about the AFLW is their arrogance.

 

[terrybull]

With many people around the world coming to Australia when they usually don’t it would have been good if AFLW was playing for curious tourist.

 

[Saab NLAW]

With many people around the world coming to Australia when they usually don’t it would have been good if AFLW was playing for curious tourist.

Why? It would instantly turn them off the AFL

Terrible idea

 

[Bostonian]

Soccer became popular world wide because it costs nothing for poor people to play it.

Just need a ball.

 

[Bostonian]

With many people around the world coming to Australia when they usually don’t it would have been good if AFLW was playing for curious tourist.

There's literally an AFL season playing now while this tournament was going on.

Plenty of AFL to watch for the curious tourist.

 

[The Educator]

Soccer became popular world wide because it costs nothing for poor people to play it.

Just need a ball.

A combination of that and the fact it spread through Europe and then through the European empires when the other codes were either new world games (i.e places people were emigrating to not away from) or elitist in a way that stunted its growth (i.e. rugby)

 

[Mitchell Madness]

One things for sure, those criticising skill level etc of women's footy have no idea what the mena game was like 100 years ago (look up footage)
Thank God the internet wasn't around back then, or we wouldn't have the afl now...

 

[peetoo]

There’s the usual appeals for governments to ‘do more’ for women’s soccer.

But like the men’s, investment means a feeder comp for the rich European leagues

I don’t honestly see, structurally, what different could be done for soccer. Having the mcg available seems weird, we all know soccer is nsw owned and the biggest games would never be there

 

[Altum Volantes]

The whole Matildas thing has been an interesting watch.

You have ‘non-sport’ types coming out and talking in great detail about how they felt all these kinds of emotions - stress, excitement, joy, heartache etc by watching the Quarter Final against France. To them this is a ‘unique experience’ because they don’t watch sport and they haven’t experienced what we all follow various sports for - the thrill of watching your team win.

One woman drew parallels to ‘the journey of life itself’…

Quite something.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Bit of false advertising going on with your user name.

The last couple of TV rights deals would not have been as big without the two expansion teams. It's not opinion, it's fact.

Lol that's utter delusion. The AFL touts the most obvious lies and you fall for it.

GWS ratings in their home market is the same as the SANFL regular season games in Adelaide. I guess the SANFL must be raking in the cash from the tv networks

 

[The Educator]

The whole Matildas thing has been an interesting watch.

You have ‘non-sport’ types coming out and talking in great detail about how they felt all these kinds of emotions - stress, excitement, joy, heartache etc by watching the Quarter Final against France. To them this is a ‘unique experience’ because they don’t watch sport and they haven’t experienced what we all follow various sports for - the thrill of watching your team win.

One woman drew parallels to ‘the journey of life itself’…

Quite something.

I think that is right.

In those moments there are large portion of the populous who are having what to them is a really novel experience because they are not into sport. Generally they would view people who are invested emotionally in sport as irrational.

There is more than a bit of narcissism in it.

 

[GWT6]

Lol that's utter delusion. The AFL touts the most obvious lies and you fall for it.

GWS ratings in their home market is the same as the SANFL regular season games in Adelaide. I guess the SANFL must be raking in the cash from the tv networks

I bet you do you're own research.

 

[terrybull]

There's literally an AFL season playing now while this tournament was going on.

Plenty of AFL to watch for the curious tourist.

Just nice for the world to see that AFL women are tougher than Soccer superstars millionaire’s men

 

[terrybull]

Why? It would instantly turn them off the AFL

Terrible idea

Disagree.
More enjoyable to watch then soccer games (unless it’s world cups).

 

[SC_Power]

The gap in soccer is even bigger its just womens football is a more pleasing and different spectacle then AFLW.

Matilda's lost 7-0 against under 15 boys.

That’s simply an athletic issue which is about speed not height, how would a semi professional U15 AFL team go against an AFLW team do you think?

 

[SC_Power]

Unless it's at the highest level, soccer is a difficult game to watch if you're not emotionally invested with a team. But soccer at the highest level is a great game, watching guys like Messi do their thing for their countries is amazing, even if it ends up in a nil all draw. But try sitting through an A-league game...I'd prefer to chew razor blades.

The world cup is soccer at its highest level, we're emotionally connected to the result because it's Australia playing, whether it's womens or mens. But I have no interest in watching any womens local soccer games, or even watching Sam Kerr play for Chelsea, I find them incredibly boring because of the big gap in skill level and the result means nothing to me.

AFLW games are just terrible to watch, it's a commercially created competition that we've all been told that we have to accept and watch. The skill level is just horrendous, but what's worse about the AFLW is their arrogance.

But that’s the same for every sport, and every competition that’s not the elite for that sport.

You have to be emotionally invested in the team. That’s why US College sport is so amazing, they capture their base completely, and the event creates the excitement and lifts the sport.

 

[HairyO]

Having played all sports Australian football is a much harder game to play because it has a wider skillset, that's why W is a hard watch, this being despite having high participation rates with females now.

It's also why you see as well with nrlw for example, that despite it coming in later and having much less participants it doesn't seem as far off the men's comp as in the AFL world. Basically tossing a rubber ball sideways a few metres is an easy skill to master to a base level, the AFL skills of kicking, handballing and catching from a distance under pressure makes it a lot harder to master, especially for a part time athlete.

So the difficulty in the aflw being successful is that it's a very difficult game to play to get to a watchable level.

Exactly. And most boys start playing in the U6 or U8 and are exposed their entire life. Half the women in the AFLW came from other sports because they are athletes.

It will take time to have the girls who start in the U6 and U8 grow up and make it to the top level.

Gil's ego ****ed the comp because it expanded way too fast. There simply isnt anywhere near enough talent. If it stayed with 8 teams then it would possibly be watchable.

As it stands its rolling packs of poor tackling, and attempts to kick to space but not having the strength or skill to get it more than 30m or maybe 40m.

To anyone other than the dyed-in-the-wools its not watchable.

 

[HairyO]

That’s simply an athletic issue which is about speed not height, how would a semi professional U15 AFL team go against an AFLW team do you think?

The boys would flog the women. At 14 or 15 there will be boys who can hit hard and kick the ball 45m or even 50m.

Mind you this is my experience from decades ago when we played an U15 team where half the opposition drove themselves to the game.

That school had a name for cheating

 

[Gavin Excell]

Think womens soccer more resembles how the men's game looks. The smaller field size to AFL assists women's game.
Men and women AFL looks totally different

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Just nice for the world to see that AFL women are tougher than Soccer superstars millionaire’s men

Oh those guys are tough, of that I have no doubt. Embarrassing though it is to see, they’re not staging because they are wimps.

They’re just trying to gain any possible advantage they can, because scoring goals in soccer is so stupidly difficult.

I don’t for one minute believe this horseschitte about how the women don’t resort to diving because, well, I don’t know why, I guess the implication is that women are morally superior, or perhaps that the men are cynical because they are paid such eye-watering salaries.

I predict that with the increasing professionalisation of women’s soccer we will start to see an increasing level of diving.

 

[Crowbling]

Lol it's the biggest code on the planet because the British empire ruled the world during the 1900s and spread it and their culture around the entire world. No different to American culture now and the English language as examples.

Everyone look, Bjo187 has it all figured out!

 

[Teen Wolf]

There simply isnt anywhere near enough talent. If it stayed with 8 teams then it would possibly be watchable.

Nah. 15th-placed Hawthorn v 18th-placed Sydney last season was a better game of footy than anything in the 8-team comp.

I still get CHILLS watching this moment! Swans jumped 'em with the first 4 goals in Q1, awesome stuff:

Half the women in the AFLW came from other sports because they are athletes.

It's more like 20% are latecomers to the sport, including 5% Irish (such as the amazing Gilly, as seen in the video above). The other 80% grew up playing Aussie rules.

 

[SC_Power]

Oh those guys are tough, of that I have no doubt. Embarrassing though it is to see, they’re not staging because they are wimps.

They’re just trying to gain any possible advantage they can, because scoring goals in soccer is so stupidly difficult.

I don’t for one minute believe this horseschitte about how the women don’t resort to diving because, well, I don’t know why, I guess the implication is that women are morally superior, or perhaps that the men are cynical because they are paid such eye-watering salaries.

I predict that with the increasing professionalisation of women’s soccer we will start to see an increasing level of diving.

Definitely diving at the professional level because of the stakes on the line.

But for a fair percentage of them, I’d suggest that anyone who had hit their shin on a tow bar or their toe on a chair leg knows how knocks to the leg hurt like hell immediately and you hobble for 15-30 seconds after, and then feel ok pretty quickly.