AFLW 2019 Expansion - Welcome North/Tas and Geelong (WCE, GC, Rich, Stk in 2020)

[NimFromSudan]

Work around is that clubs are presenting to the AFL this week and that a decision will presented to the AFL commission to sign off on at their meeting at the end of August.
From that info my guess would be we get an announcement in the week between Round 23 and the AFLW Exhibition match.

 

[boncer34]

Is the thread heading doing anyone elses head in?

 

[NoobPie]

Is the thread heading doing anyone elses head in?

As in, there are actually only 8 teams? Or is there a non AFL club application?

 

[boncer34]

As in, there are actually only 8 teams? Or is there a non AFL club application?

Yeah 8 + 9 + Pa/Syd = 19.

 

[Walshawk]

If North get in the HS says they will play as Tassie Kangaroos, with games in both Hobart and Launceston. which will compromise Hawthorn's bid which included a home game in Launceston.

 

[Great8]

Essendon has taken the next important step towards entering the AFLW competition, announcing the Bombers plan to field a team in the VFLW competition in 2018.

The VFL team will train and play at Highgate Reserve in Craigieburn and includes a strong alignment with the Calder Canons Youth Girls Academy Program.

Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell said the introduction of an elite team in the region fills an important pathway gap for female footballers.

“This is a really significant and important step towards Essendon entering the AFLW competition,” Campbell said.

“There is an abundance of talent in this region and an Essendon VFL team supports the club’s influence on the football pathway, from grassroots to our future AFLW team.

“Our academies programs in the North West of Melbourne, Tiwi Islands and West Arnhem Land have been structured to influence and enable all aspects of the system that grows, develops and nurtures female footballers.

“Underpinned through strong working relationships with AFL Vic, AFL NT and the Calder Cannons, our VFL Women’s team will provide an important aspiration for local girls playing junior football and our home grown talent will now be able to continue their football pathway locally at Highgate Reserve.”

Calder Cannons Talent Manager Ian Kyte said the introduction of an Essendon VFL team in the North West corridor of Melbourne would add significant value to the growth of the game and development of female footballers.

“For female athletes and talent in the Calder region this will now complete the pathway and provide a team at their back door where they can aspire to reach the highest level as professional footballers,” Kyte said.

“To have role models for all participants is the final piece of the puzzle, finishing the ongoing development work that has existed in close consultation with the Calder Cannons across all ages for the past 23 years.

“It is with great excitement that everyone at the Calder Cannons look forward to seeing the Black and Red sash of the Essendon Football Club take the field in the 2018 VFLW Season as a precurser to gaining an AFLW license.”

Essendon will make a final presentation to the AFL on Friday as part of its Two Pathways, One Dream submission for an AFLW license in 2019.




http://m.essendonfc.com.au/news/2017-07-27/vflw-team-ready-to-launch

 

[The_Wookie]

Essendon has taken the next important step towards entering the AFLW competition, announcing the Bombers plan to field a team in the VFLW competition in 2018.

The VFL team will train and play at Highgate Reserve in Craigieburn and includes a strong alignment with the Calder Canons Youth Girls Academy Program.

Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell said the introduction of an elite team in the region fills an important pathway gap for female footballers.

“This is a really significant and important step towards Essendon entering the AFLW competition,” Campbell said.

“There is an abundance of talent in this region and an Essendon VFL team supports the club’s influence on the football pathway, from grassroots to our future AFLW team.

“Our academies programs in the North West of Melbourne, Tiwi Islands and West Arnhem Land have been structured to influence and enable all aspects of the system that grows, develops and nurtures female footballers.

“Underpinned through strong working relationships with AFL Vic, AFL NT and the Calder Cannons, our VFL Women’s team will provide an important aspiration for local girls playing junior football and our home grown talent will now be able to continue their football pathway locally at Highgate Reserve.”

Calder Cannons Talent Manager Ian Kyte said the introduction of an Essendon VFL team in the North West corridor of Melbourne would add significant value to the growth of the game and development of female footballers.

“For female athletes and talent in the Calder region this will now complete the pathway and provide a team at their back door where they can aspire to reach the highest level as professional footballers,” Kyte said.

“To have role models for all participants is the final piece of the puzzle, finishing the ongoing development work that has existed in close consultation with the Calder Cannons across all ages for the past 23 years.

“It is with great excitement that everyone at the Calder Cannons look forward to seeing the Black and Red sash of the Essendon Football Club take the field in the 2018 VFLW Season as a precurser to gaining an AFLW license.”

Essendon will make a final presentation to the AFL on Friday as part of its Two Pathways, One Dream submission for an AFLW license in 2019.




http://m.essendonfc.com.au/news/2017-07-27/vflw-team-ready-to-launch

Thats a good plan.

 

[The_Wookie]

Essendon stamps VFL Women’s team for 2018, wants rivalry with Carlton to cross into AFLW
LAUREN WOOD, Herald Sun
July 27, 2017 6:42pm

ESSENDON is committed to fielding a VFL Women’s team in 2018 and wants to take its blockbuster rivalry with Carlton from the men’s game to the AFLW.

The Bombers will today front the AFL to make their pitch to the committee that will select which clubs — a minimum of two — will be awarded licences to join the AFLW competition from 2019.

Written submissions were handed to the league last month with clubs starting to present in person to the league this week.

And the Bombers have added extra ammunition — including the proposed VFLW team — to their bid that will be unveiled today.

“We are (committed to it no matter what happens with the AFLW licence) … based in the northwest corridor, with a really strong link to our heartland and a strong alignment to the Calder Cannons’ youth girls academy," Essendon chief executive Xavier Campbell told the Herald Sun.

“That’s a significant and important step to hopefully earning an AFLW licence in 2019.

“(Current VFLW team) Darebin is probably a bit closer than Diamond Creek, but then you go across to the Western Spurs, so there’s a big gap.

“And it’s a talented region — there’s an abundance of talent in the northwest and it’s a rich footballing playground for years, both boys and girls. It probably helps complete the pathway for that region. We feel there’s an important role for us to play.”

Campbell — who also plans to build upon the “already well-established” rivalry with the Blues if the Bombers are awarded a 2019 licence — has previously turned to other sports in an effort to gather information on integrating an elite women’s team into the club.

This week he looked further abroad, engaging US national women’s soccer league outfit the Portland Thorns.

“I had a conference call with the Portland Thorns, which is aligned with the Portland Timbers, and are seen as best practice when it comes to the establishment of a men’s and women’s football program,” he said.

“We’ve created a platform through engagement with them to get their insight through how they feel and things that they’ve done that have worked well and things that they could improve on.”

Campbell said the club has been strongly supported since it launched its bid — fronted by daughter of club great Michael Long, Michaela.

“We're excited about the opportunity to present to the AFL steering group (today),” he said.

“We feel confident in our submission, we feel confident in the process we put in place to build our submission and it will be nice to be able to bring that to life and present it to the steering group.

“There’s great anticipation around an AFLW licence and hopefully entering the competition in 2019. I feel like we’d be really well supported from the get-go. We feel with that alone that we can help grow the game of girls’ football across the country.”

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...w/news-story/782f50878dff2185b7927b346605609a

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[Great8]

Dons AFLW Destination Club
Simon Conway - @SimonConway12

28 July 2017 10:58 AM

Essendon is set to become the destination Club for female footballers and athletes thanks to its world-class facilities and dedicated mentoring program.

That’s the message from Bombers General Manager of Community, Academies and Women's Football Development Darren Harris after the Club presented its AFLW submission today.

Essendon already boasts one of the biggest footprints in Australian sport on its 100,000 sq. m. training base in Tullamarine and there are plans for further expansion, while the AFL has also earmarked the Bombers headquarters as a future venue for AFLW games..

“Every player that represents the Bombers in the AFLW will enjoy an elite environment that will give these athletes their best chance of realising their potential,” Harris said.

“Our Tullamarine training base is already the envy of the rest of the AFL competition and we’re committed to ensuring our female athletes enjoy the full benefits off these facilities too.

“Once at Essendon our athletes will be supported by women’s specific services from leading experts who are employed by the Club.”

Essendon will focus its recruitment on its existing Next Generation Academy zones including Hume, Moonee Valley, Moreland, Mitchell and Macedon Ranges regions in Victoria as well as West Arnhem and Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory.

When listed by the Bombers, each player will be assigned a mentor from the Essendon Women’s Network.

The EWN was established in 1997 and has long been regarded as the most successful women’s group in the AFL.

Its membership is made up of professionals from all different walks of life.

“This level of deep engagement across the development of our female footballers will underpin our desire to be the Club of choice for female athletes,” Harris said.

“Our Academy strategy in the Tiwi Islands, West Arnhem and our north west corridor engages, listens and builds relationships with the community so that we can positively influence junior footballers and enable them to become the best person they can be on and off the football field.

“As part of this strategy each Essendon women’s player will have access to a mentor through the Essendon Women’s Network to develop them off the field.

“We are focused on developing the person so that their time playing for Essendon provides a genuine career opportunity.”

http://m.essendonfc.com.au/news/2017-07-28/dons-aflw-destination-club

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

If North get in the HS says they will play as Tassie Kangaroos, with games in both Hobart and Launceston. which will compromise Hawthorn's bid which included a home game in Launceston.

Tasmania, Canberra and NT probably should get an AFLW stand-alone side at some point. None will ever get a mens team, the cst is far too much to even be a consideration, but a womens team can work. Canberra United in the W-League, with no A-league side, works well for that sport.

 

[The_Wookie]

Veteran journalist Caroline Wilson has revealed on the Age Real Footy Podcast that at least three teams appear to be over the line in their attempts to join the competition, and gave her views as to which clubs should join the AFLW.

“I’m hearing four clubs are going to get it,” Wilson said.

“I’m told West Coast are over the line, Geelong and Tassie Kangaroos believe they’re over the line, which leaves Richmond and St Kilda slugging it out.”

Wilson believes that the teams that entered the AFLW licence race this year will not be in contention for the final spot.

“I don’t think Hawthorn or Essendon should be in the hunt, even though their presentations to the AFL were very good.

“They didn’t go in the first time, provisional licence holders should get favouritism.”

“If it comes down to Richmond or St Kilda and one of those misses out, there will be hell to pay, so watch this space.”

St Kilda, Geelong, Richmond, North Melbourne and West Coast were awarded provisional licences on June 15 last year, with Essendon, Hawthorn and Gold Coast coming into contention and formally submitting bids back in June of this year.

Port Adelaide and Sydney did not submit bids, deciding they are not quite ready to take that step.

http://[NB: girlsplayfooty domain h...flw-expansion-teams-reportedly-locked-in.html

 

[Gigantor]

http://[NB: girlsplayfooty domain h...flw-expansion-teams-reportedly-locked-in.html

If it all possible, they should jump straight to 14 teams.

 

[BringBackTorps]

http://[NB: girlsplayfooty domain h...flw-expansion-teams-reportedly-locked-in.html

It would be very disappointing if GC don't get a team. Qld. have more regd. female players (mainly in schools) than Vic.!

On SEN Radio (Lyon/Watson program) this morning, St Kilda's Matt Finnis said, re St Kilda's AFLW bid "Women's soccer is very strong in the southern suburbs, we need to offer another pathway". This is the first time I have heard any AFL official/Club official SPECIFICALLY mention female SOCCER (which is probably played in the majority of schools in Aust. -the FFA claiming now has more regd. players than netball) as an area of concern. St Kilda's comment implies it is one of the reasons for the belated creation of the AFLW.

 

[The_Wookie]

It would be very disappointing if GC don't get a team. Qld. have more regd. female players (mainly in schools) than Vic.!

As opposed to Victoria having more female players in actual clubs than the rest of the country combined. And more new clubs this year than the rest of the country...combined.

 

[BringBackTorps]

As opposed to Victoria having more female players in actual clubs than the rest of the country combined. And more new clubs this year than the rest of the country...combined.

All the more reason to create another AFLW side in Qld.!
Qld. has the highest regd. nos. in Aust! This would directly & effectively encourage those huge Qld. nos. to join their local AF club. How could the AFL justify having only 1 AFLW team in Qld, & 6-7 in Vic.?

 

[NoobPie]

All the more reason to create another AFLW side in Qld.!
Qld. has the highest regd. nos. in Aust! This would directly & effectively encourage those huge Qld. nos. to join their local AF club. How could the AFL justify having only 1 AFLW team in Qld, & 6-7 in Vic.?

Because the level of talent would still be far higher overall in victoria? Because a victoria can leverage its club's support? Because, in the longer term, it might be better to have a dominant Lions team rather than 2 weak QLD teams?

 

[The_Wookie]

All the more reason to create another AFLW side in Qld.!
Qld. has the highest regd. nos. in Aust! This would directly & effectively encourage those huge Qld. nos. to join their local AF club. How could the AFL justify having only 1 AFLW team in Qld, & 6-7 in Vic.?

auskick numbers. AUSKICK numbers. FFs this is why people hate us.

 

[BringBackTorps]

Because the level of talent would still be far higher overall in victoria? Because a victoria can leverage its club's support? Because, in the longer term, it might be better to have a dominant Lions team rather than 2 weak QLD teams?

Victoria certainly has far more talent NOW. The AFLW Draft allows "evening-up"of the talent ie Vic. players can go to a GC team.

Qld. female AF, with its huge nos., would be turbocharged if GC got an AFLW team.

The AFLW is a crucial development driver (female & male AF) for AF GR growth in Qld. (& NSW). From a northern state dev. & strategic perspective , a GC AFLW team is far more valuable.
I believe up to 7 Vic. teams, & only 1 in Qld., would be very misguided if strengthening the game in Qld. is paramount (which, of course, as the AFL is the custodian of the game, it should be). Refer to my comment above re St Kilda's M.Finnis' views on the extraordinary strength of female soccer. (Incidentally, your recent Ausplay survey figures on female soccer appear not to relate to school sport).

 

[jatz14]

Victoria certainly has far more talent NOW. The AFLW Draft allows "evening-up"of the talent ie Vic. players can go to a GC team.

Qld. female AF, with its huge nos., would be turbocharged if GC got an AFLW team.

The AFLW is a crucial development driver (female & male AF) for AF GR growth in Qld. (& NSW). From a northern state dev. & strategic perspective , a GC AFLW team is far more valuable.
I believe up to 7 Vic. teams, & only 1 in Qld., would be very misguided if strengthening the game in Qld. is paramount (which, of course, as the AFL is the custodian of the game, it should be). Refer to my comment above re St Kilda's M.Finnis' views on the extraordinary strength of female soccer. (Incidentally, your recent Ausplay survey figures on female soccer appear not to relate to school sport).

There isn't going to be only 1 Qld team, there is only going to be 1 for the next few years. It will inevitably get 1 in the next expansion imop. I have no problem with this.

I think WA is going to have a hard time digesting 2 AFLW teams, and in the short term, Qld is better served by 1 good AFLW team than 2 poor ones.


Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

 

[wally funk]

If it all possible, they should jump straight to 14 teams.

Six new teams would be a huge jump; too huge realistically. That's a lot of new players required in a league where there are already too many people complaining about the quality of talent. The AFLW should really only be expanded by two teams for 2019, but now too many AFL teams are trying to jump on board at once after seeing the first-year popularity of the league and now want a slice of the pie.

 

[NoobPie]

Victoria certainly has far more talent NOW. The AFLW Draft allows "evening-up"of the talent ie Vic. players can go to a GC team.

Qld. female AF, with its huge nos., would be turbocharged if GC got an AFLW team.

The AFLW is a crucial development driver (female & male AF) for AF GR growth in Qld. (& NSW). From a northern state dev. & strategic perspective , a GC AFLW team is far more valuable.
I believe up to 7 Vic. teams, & only 1 in Qld., would be very misguided if strengthening the game in Qld. is paramount (which, of course, as the AFL is the custodian of the game, it should be). Refer to my comment above re St Kilda's M.Finnis' views on the extraordinary strength of female soccer. (Incidentally, your recent Ausplay survey figures on female soccer appear not to relate to school sport).

The Ausplay survey is the most comprehensive we have available to us and overwhelmingly says female netball is far higher than soccer...with the gap between football and soccer being significantly less even before this years growth. This included futsal and (boys and girls) apparently 10% of children numbers in soccer were in the 0 to 4 category

In terms of Finnis' views (can't see where he used the term "extraordinary strength"), a thinking person might consider that in the context of his advocacy for a team in that part of melbourne. Radical thought, I know. In reality though there are more girls football teams than soccer teams in the southern suburbs like there are in every other part of melbourne and you need up to twice as many players.

Incidentally, I don't say this with any prejudice for or against the saints getting one of the next licences, whether there is a women's team playing at moorabin or not in the the next phase of expansion will have next to zero impact on femal playing numbers in the southern part of melbourne

 

[Gigantor]

Six new teams would be a huge jump; too huge realistically. That's a lot of new players required in a league where there are already too many people complaining about the quality of talent. The AFLW should really only be expanded by two teams for 2019, but now too many AFL teams are trying to jump on board at once after seeing the first-year popularity of the league and now want a slice of the pie.

But another way of looking at it is that there is no better time to include the extra teams (all of whom are currently involved in developing talent).

If all the new talent gets soaked up by existing teams, which keep improving year on year, makes it tougher for clubs to come into it in the future. If the six new potential teams can keep their young talent for another season, they have a chance of coming into the comp in 2019.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

I'm genuinely worried about the 2nd WA team, and how competitive each WA team will be as a result. Fremantle finished 2nd last only two GWS, but more significantly with a percentage of 64.1%. To be fair Bowers' injury probably had a huge impact (each team's best 3-5 players have a bigger influence than what we're used to with the men's AFL given the drop off in talent), but however, consider this:

WA beats Vic in 2015, and narrowly loses to Western Bulldogs (half of Vic) in 2016. With WA having 1 team and Vic with 4, Freo are considered ahead of the pack, and even after losing a heap of marquees and other depth players to other states, are assumed to be brought back "to the pack" and the vast majority of pundits would have assumed that they would still finish the season with a percentage of at least 100%.

What does their eventual percentage of 64.1% mean as a result? It might mean a things, but the thing that players going 30-40 "deep" in the WA talent pool who constructed 17-27 on the Freo list, were fundamentally weaker than the equivalent 17-27 from the 6 other clubs excluding GWS. Nobody could really "judge" how week this 30-40 deep because none of these players had ever played against other states from 2015-6, given that WA rep teams only went to about 30 deep in the talent pool. We can speculate why this is the case (probably the politics of WA state footy meaning the distribution of talent across teams in the WAWFL isn't as it should be, but that's for another thread), but it's clearly the logical deduction here.

Now all of a sudden you have WA with two teams with squads of 30, which even assuming that no more WA players leave and even a few might return (like Gibson, but others have stayed...), the talent pool is now having to go 60 players "deep" in WA. To me that's a massive issue, and will weaken the two WA teams massively.

Remember Freo are already starting as the league's 2nd worst team. There'll be 2 new Vic teams, but the depth of talent in Victoria will remain consistent despite the 2 new teams with the strength of Vic Country and Metro in U/18, the quality of TAC Cup (better than other states) and the simple fact that Victoria is growing faster in community suburban footy than other states. In any case, it's still only a 50% growth in Victoria in number of AFLW teams vs 2 in WA.

Now on top of that, all 4 Victorian AFLW teams finished with a percentage of over 100% whereas Freo's was 61.4%, and Freo's talent pool is going to be diluted more Victoria's where the underlying talent pool is already weaker.

Huge mistake by the AFL in my eyes, unless they can convince a heap of talent from other parts of the country to move West.

 

[Crawb]

I understand Geelong & Tassie Roos. Both make sense and they focus on new regions for AFLW. Both even got stadiums ready for use.

But can WA handle a 2nd team so soon talent-wise? The talent is in Victoria now. So it should make sense starting up a bunch of Victorian clubs now so that the focus can ultimately shift more to interstate in time.

No doubt the Eagles are the next non-Victorian club in and would be an absolute lock in the next round of expansion. But I'd have Richmond and St. Kilda ahead of them.