2019 AFLW Season

[LionsMaw]

If the Lions were being introduced next year and poaching Suns players would people be so against the expansion?

Of course not because we would for once be getting the better of someone else rather than being forced to accomodate every other campaigner at our expense. What a question!

 

[Hollow Knight]

Of course not because we would for once be getting the better of someone else rather than being forced to accomodate every other campaigner at our expense. What a question!

Yeah it’s a bit like saying “would you care as much about child labour if your child wasn’t involved”.

Probably not, because having a personal investment makes the issue feel more impactful. Doesn’t for one second mean the issue itself isn’t important.

Bad faith argument.

 

[jackess]

Bit of a disingenuous angle to take, when clearly it is an issue where emotion and logic can and do coexist.

By any objective measure the Lions have been gutted to an extent that is clearly disproportionate to the rest of the competition.

I’m also suspect of anyone who thinks “immediate profitability” should be the primary guiding objective. Firstly it’s a soulless way to view the world. Secondly, it’s pretty much contrary to how most sporting competitions started out from scratch. Thirdly, rapid expansion is contestable from a business point of view - overcapitalisation is an ever present risk.

Feels like you’re just trying to get a bite today jackess by playing contrarian. You have always had a faint whiff of edgelord when discussing AFLW.

I think it’s pretty gutsy by the AFL. I can’t see a 14 team league being profitable for a very long time. In the mean time it’s brilliant for women’s sport to have such a massive competition.

Sucks for us but we’ve been spoilt.

Name a single competition with an even playing field. Can’t expect a part time comp like the AFLW to be any better. Especially while it’s expanding.

 

[jackess]

Yeah it’s a bit like saying “would you care as much about child labour if your child wasn’t involved”.

Probably not, because having a personal investment makes the issue feel more impactful. Doesn’t for one second mean the issue itself isn’t important.

Bad faith argument.

I’d say it’s more like eradicating child labour in another country even if effects the quality of life in your own country.

Why shouldn’t the other clubs get an AFLW team?

 

[Hollow Knight]

Name a single competition with an even playing field. Can’t expect a part time comp like the AFLW to be any better. Especially while it’s expanding.

So because a competition can never be perfectly equal we shouldn’t even bother to make it less unequal?

 

[BRAB]

Because there was less teams?

The best team won this year so I don’t see an issue.

So expansion necessitated the introduction of the conference system? Good that we've got that covered now.

What expansion also did was create a massive divide between teams which has actually been emphasised by the conference system perfectly. That's why two teams with more wins than the best teams in our conference missed out on finals.

To win AFLW now you have to be the beneficiaries of concessions as a start up club or be in a one team town. The talent pool will be stretched even thinner and the disparity in skill levels between teams will be on full display.

It's hurt the competition as a whole. With the conference system the best teams will get screwed over as well. Nobody wins under this system.

The whole competition is a joke and it's come about because decisions are clearly being made year on year with no long term plan in place.

I get it's fun to be contrarian but it really goes much much deeper than people just being upset about players leaving. It's hard to watch a competition with so much long term potential be mismanaged in the way it is.

 

[Tom14]

I’d say it’s more like eradicating child labour in another country even if effects the quality of life in your own country.

Why shouldn’t the other clubs get an AFLW team?

They should but I think it could have been more staggered and accompanied by a commitment to improve conditions for players and alleviate some of the other issues affecting competitive balance (e.g. only paying for player relocation costs once).

Introducing 6 teams in 2 years is clearly a stress on the competition - they could have pushed out the time frame a bit. I get that clubs who don't have teams desperately want to get them now, but the AFL should take an independent view and have expanded more gradually.

They could have also protected us from the poaching from North this year because we were always going to lose a lot to GC. But that's my Lions-specific complaint.

 

[LionsMaw]

Yeah it’s a bit like saying “would you care as much about child labour if your child wasn’t involved”.

Probably not, because having a personal investment makes the issue feel more impactful. Doesn’t for one second mean the issue itself isn’t important.

Bad faith argument.

Sort of has a 'Let's think how everyone else feels' tinge to it. * everyone else! I don't give two steaming craps about everyone else!!

If it means The Lions come out on top I'm totally ok with it. If we don't.....then it's s**t.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Why shouldn’t the other clubs get an AFLW team?

More counterpoints to arguments people aren’t making.

But to treat your bad faith argument in good faith, they should, when it is sustainable and doesn’t massively set back the clubs who were proactive and did the initial work.

No one is against expansion on principle. But it had to be managed. The angst here is clearly reflective of a view that it isn’t being managed appropriately.

If you are going to portray everyone here as simply saying “hurrr, expansion bad, full stop.” then you aren’t going to be meaningfully engaging with the real issues. Not sure if that is your intention.

 

[jackess]

I think they shouldn’t have piggy backed off current AFL clubs (even though this plus the novelty factor was the main reason for its success so far) and should’ve made it a full time sport.

But it’s mainly a marketing tool for the AFL and the clubs. Women get the opportunity to play a sport at a decent level which is great for them.

For us we need investment in junior women’s footy and patience

 

[Pancho Gonzales]

One part that feels wrong is the "player moving as pay is low" explanation. Is there any way Katie Brennan or Brianna Davey wouldn't get paid the same at their current club or be able to do their day jobs?

 

[Dalions]

All I see is Adelaide smashing the rest of the competition again. Unchallenged!

 

[Lionwest]

Lauren Bella is officially Gold Coast bound, to be honest would have thought she was going to be the first announced

 

[Lionheart182]

For us we need investment in junior women’s footy and patience

Fully agree with this. Increasing the number of teams without the talent base to match it is going to render some games unwatchable. Seems like the opposite of patience when you consider the level of competition at this stage. You mention making it a full time sport - well who pays the girls for turning up every day? It's a nice thought but it is pure fantasy unless the AFL is comfortable with running it at a loss for a number of years just to pay the girls less than they would earn playing footy part time and working.

For better or worse it seems like the AFL have determined they are going to expand rapidly and try to ride the novelty wave until the standard picks up, but it seems like the inevitable dip in quality next year is going to turn a lot of people off from watching, free or not. This might be the best thing for it in the long run though as the AFL only really listen when people vote with their feet.

I would tune in for the occasional game this year but can tell you I will not even consider it next season because chances are there will be lots of lopsided games. Can only assume there are plenty of others in the same boat.

 

[JakePeralta]

Kate Mac to St Kilda...

 

[Hollow Knight]

Kate Mac to St Kilda...

Big, marketable personality gone, but on the lesser end of the scale in terms of talent lost.

 

[Dylan12]

The quality of games in the next instalment of AFL will have to drop off further with the players spread so thinly.

 

[MSB ROYS]

Kate Mac to St Kilda...

It was no secret after the presenters subconsciously blurted it out in on the AFLW podcast a month or so ago.

 

[M Malice]

The quality of games in the next instalment of AFL will have to drop off further with the players spread so thinly.

100%, the commentators this year were saying that the quality of footy had improved, that was not what my eyes were telling me, I thought it went down. Self interest propaganda.

 

[MSB ROYS]

For better or worse it seems like the AFL have determined they are going to expand rapidly and try to ride the novelty wave until the standard picks up, but it seems like the inevitable dip in quality next year is going to turn a lot of people off from watching, free or not. This might be the best thing for it in the long run though as the AFL only really listen when people vote with their feet.

I think that they succumbed to pressure from precious, entitled Victorian clubs as well.

 

[Hollow Knight]

100%, the commentators this year were saying that the quality of footy had improved, that was not what my eyes were telling me, I thought it went down. Self interest propaganda.

The quality has never been stellar and they rightfully focused on the romance and the personalities of these girls getting to play the game they love. Which is why it’s such a setback to lose all the players clubs have built their narrative around.

Sabrina, gone. Tayla, gone. Ashmore, gone. Kate Mac, gone, Kaslar, gone. Virgo, gone. Some people just see dollar signs, but a lot of emotional currency has been lost in all these “transactions”.

 

[Skoob]

Wow. Blaming the players for the AFL incompetence?

I haven't actually done that anywhere in my post, so there's that.

 

[Skoob]

I can't say I blame the players. Given how much they are paid and the limited season I fully appreciate them doing what is best for them.

Completely agree that the AFL has screwed up expansion as they screw up most things. It doesn't surprise me that we are bearing the brunt of it as we are an easy target as usual.

I didn't say I blame them, but there's no doubt it weakens the brand. They are only moving as a result of AFL policy/strategy/execution. I wondered if they were cynical, because perhaps they believe they have to grab absolutely every cent they can get as quick as they can. Understandable, but I think it also undermines the strength & legitimacy of the competition a bit.

 

[jackess]

Good summation

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/wo...s/news-story/9f03b973ea9d6571c6e5db1b90e2dc5d

 

[Hollow Knight]

Lutkins captain for mine.