News 2020 AFLW Season - General

[TigermanM2]

Confirmation today that Ross (foot), Saxon-Jones (foot) and Dempsey (back) have medium term injuries and that Campbell has a shorter term hip injury and all will miss round 1.

Harley also has a season-ending shoulder injury and has already been replaced by Hannah McLaren.

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womens.afl

Think the new rule allowing clubs to top up lists is a sensible one.
Hannah will be a good addition. Good size but very raw. Bit to work with. Performed pretty solidly in VFLW when she played. Thought she was a sneaky chance to make our initial squad.
We’ve entered the competition a little short of depth in our backline so not at all surprised we didn’t go like for like replacing Harley.

Pretty rotten for the young kid getting injured Good luck with your recovery Emily.

 

[TigermanM2]

Richmond’s Sabrina Frederick and Monique Conti ready to make their own AFLW history.
Lauren Wood

Monique Conti had joined the queues that flocked to Ikon Park, while Sabrina Frederick gathered around the telly with her then-teammates in Brisbane.
It was 2017, and the doors were locked on the opening night of the AFL Women’s competition as league chief Gillon McLachlan tried to calm the throngs and apologise at the close of the gates.
Conti, then 17, had been training with the Blues and couldn’t believe her eyes, while Frederick watched on in Lions training gear “in shock”.
Neither could have forecast where they sit today.

And 1072 days after that night, the competition – and both of them, too – has done some growing up, and in numbers, with the duo to debut for one of its newest members at the very same venue on Friday night.

“I lined up, got in and got a seat,” Conti recalls.

“I wasn’t going to go – I was going to watch it on TV, but I thought ‘I may as well’. I trained with Carlton for most of their pre-season so I thought I’d go and watch and see what all the fuss was about.

“People were going crazy – they were so passionate about it and just loved the idea that it was women’s footy and it was all happening. It was really cool to be there in that environment.

“It made me want to play so bad.”

Frederick, who described the match as “a moment in time that people will never forget”, says this Friday night’s blockbuster season-opener – the first time Richmond will feature in AFL Women’s after earning a licence to join the competition this season alongside St Kilda, Gold Coast and West Coast – is “an honour”.

“It will be a huge night,” the forward said.

“And to have the privilege to be the opener when we haven’t played a game yet, that’s a huge honour and everyone does appreciate that.

“The fact that the boys get to do that same game (against Carlton) as an opener … everyone is excited to have that slot.

“Come the day, I’m sure everyone will be excited but definitely excited to take on the challenge, as well.”

Both All-Australian players, Conti – a premiership player, best-and-fairest winner and WNBL star – and Frederick, a marquee player for Brisbane and Rising Star nominee, wrestled with their decision to leave their respective clubs at the end of last season.

Conti said she “couldn’t have made a better decision”, while Frederick – who has experience Grand Final heartbreak, twice – admits there had been questions.

“Honestly, you always think ‘is the grass going to be greener?’ when you make big decisions like that,” she said.

“But I think I’m meant to be here. I feel really at home here – it’s just meant to be. In a weird way, I never thought I’d be in Melbourne, playing football. I never would have even thought about it.

“But I think now, I couldn’t play football anywhere else. It’s so strange like that. But it is good.”
At Tigerland, both say they feel “valued”.

Chief executive officer Brendon Gale has pulled on his boots to assist in ruck training, and Frederick said one of coach Tom Hunter’s greatest assets is his ability to relate to his players, many of whom are in an elite sporting environment for the first time.

“That goes a long way … especially to a group of women, but also a group of young women,” she said.

“He gets it. He’s a teacher by trade so he understands how to teach people. Knowing when is the right time to be serious or soft – whatever it may be – he gets that.

“I’ve done a little bit of coaching in my time, and I’ve noticed with women is we like to know the reason as to why we’re doing things.

“One thing that I appreciate about our staff and our coaching team is they provide reasoning as to why we’re doing it – not just telling us, ‘This is what you have to do’. It’s ‘this is why we’re doing it, because we want to get better at this’, and we all jump on board and we buy in, because we’re like, ‘Yep, OK, this is why’.

“I think that’s a massive thing in women’s footy – we want to know why. We’re not just going to do anything for the sake of it.”
Conti grew up in Melbourne – as a Kangaroos supporter – but admits even she has been surprised by the power of the “Tiger Army” that has relished having a women’s team to support.

“They don’t just love the men, they love the club,” she said.

“I was even in Puckle Street in Essendon and just walking and someone was like ‘Go Tiges’. And I was like ‘Go Tiges’.”

Frederick – who also works at the club – is often approached on Swan Street coffee runs, and can only smile when she sees houses and shops painted the famous yellow and black.

They have been colours that have flooded the snaking streets of terrace homes in recent years with the men’s team claiming two of the past three AFL premierships and taking the suburb along for the ride with it.

It doesn’t bring pressure, Frederick says, but lofty standards simply come with the territory in 3121.

“We’ve had three teams in the club win a premiership this year (AFL, VFL and the wheelchair football team),” she said.

“It’s obviously something we can’t ignore – this club is really proud and they expect high things from the teams.
“I don’t think that’s too much to ask – you’re here to compete, and ultimately you’re here to compete for a premiership. And we want to be competitive. We’re not here to make up the numbers.

“We have belief in the team and the talent we’ve got that we are going to try and do our very best. And if that means we end up being in the big dance, then that’s great. But if it’s not, then it’s not.

“No one’s made us feel like that yet (that there’s pressure). It might come. But right now, the club’s excited to have a team.

“Come Round 1, the conversations might change, but at the minute, everyone’s excited. That’s been nice. Everyone’s proud we’ve got a team and we’re out here doing our thing.”

 

[balmainforever]

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womens.afl

Time to paint Carlton yellow and black: The Tiger army is coming
Sarah Black

Picture: Sarah Black
RICHMOND key forward Sabrina Frederick is hoping the Tiger army makes Ikon Park its own in Friday night's blockbuster AFLW season-opener against Carlton.
It will be the first time a Richmond AFLW team takes to the field, and despite the Tigers having hosting rights, the match will be held at Carlton's home ground to allow as many fans as possible to attend.
"I think the girls are just really excited to start the season. It's something I watched on quite enviously over the three years of playing at Brisbane, but it's nice to now be a part of that and it's such a special time," Frederick said.

. Picture: AFL Photos
"We personally want to paint Ikon Park yellow and black on Friday night, definitely just want as many fans as we possibly can out here.
"It's going to be great weather, thank god, which has been great for us, but can't wait and just want to get as many people here as we can."
Carlton midfielder Sarah Hosking is coming into her third season-opening match and believes the home ground advantage may give her side a bit of an edge.
"If anything, the girls are prepared. The season opener comes with nerves and especially being around these first four years, it's an understanding of what to expect from a game like this," Hosking said.
"Especially given it's Richmond's home game, but here at Ikon Park, we're lucky enough to train every day.
"We've sort of got an upper hand there, but we're really looking forward to starting the season opener, the girls know what to expect from a big game like that."
The Blues were runners-up in the 2019 season – in part to the conference system allowing them to qualify for finals in the first place – but they are under no illusions as to where they stand coming into 2020.
They were simply outclassed in the season decider against Adelaide, going down by 45 points.
"I don't think you ever forget about something like that, we were well and truly aware of where we finished," Hosking said.
"We made it to the Grand Final, but I've mentioned a few times that 'Harf', our coach (Daniel Harford), has made the group aware that we finished in fifth position in an overall ladder.
"The girls are looking forward to this year and in our pre-season it was just making sure we worked on the things we needed to work on and obviously putting our best foot forward for round one."
Richmond has been a powerhouse club in the AFL competition over the past few years, winning flags in 2017 and 2019, but Frederick is eager for her side to stand on its own two feet.
"Obviously there's a lot of history there and there's a lot of great resources in the people that's around [the club]," she said.
"But at the end of the day, we're a new team, we're not the exact same team as the boys and we want to create our own history as well.
"So, come Friday, they'll be here supporting us and the whole club will be, but we're about to write a new chapter of the book."

 

[TigermanM2]

Richmond urges Tiger Army to pack Ikon Park for first AFL game v Carlton
Herald Sun
February 6, 2020 11:34am
RICHMOND is urging its fans to paint Ikon Park "yellow and black" as AFL braces for a near-capacity crowd for the opening game of AFL Women’s tomorrow.

Richmond will play its first-ever AFLW game on Friday night against the Blues, and league women’s football boss Nicole Livingstone said plans were in place for crowd numbers that could mirror those seen at the competition opener in 2017.
“We don’t talk about lockouts – we would like to get to capacity,” Livingstone said.
“We are preparing for capacity and everything’s in place for that. We’ll have a screen on the northern lawn, in case the overflow needs to go out there.
“What we hope is that the Tiger Army does march down Royal Parade and really gets behind them.
“They had a win against West Coast in their practice match, and they looked good. To see Katie (Brennan) flying and Sabs (Sabrina Frederick) was great … it looks good for the Tigers.
“Hopefully with Carlton’s huge support network, we get a lot of people coming to Ikon Park.”

Richmond AFLW captain Katie Brennan with fans Lachie Galbraith, Cleo Magauire and Luca Pandolfini. Picture: Nicole Cleary
Tigers skipper Brennan said she had watched on as the first-ever game of AFLW in 2017 - contested between Carlton and Collingwood and was "locked out" with a capacity crowd - with "envy" as she anticipates tomorrow night's huge clash.
"It's been something that I've looked on in a bit of envy in a sense," she said.

"The first game I just remember being in tears of pride and just being so excited for all the girls running out there, that it was finally possible - we were playing for premiership points in AFLW gear.
"It's something that I've really aspired towards but I've loved watching along the way.
"I'm genuinely so excited and all you want to do is just play footy at this time of year."

RICHMOND v CARLTON
Where: Ikon Park
When: 7.45pm Friday, February 7. Gates open 6pm
Entry: FREE
TV: Live on Fox Footy and Channel 7 from 7.30pm

GETTING THERE
Car: There is limited on street car parking available around Princes Park. Free 2-hour and meter parking in surrounding areas, please check street signage. Melbourne Zoo Parking: $2 for 5 hours. Managed by Zoo staff, monitored by city of Melbourne parking officers.
Tram: No. 19 tram (City-North Coburg) runs from the city to Royal Parade Walker St / Stop 16, a three-minute walk to Ikon Park.
Train: Take the Upfield Line to Royal Park Station. It's a 13-minutes walk from there to Ikon Park.
Bus: Route 123 Bus to Walker St / Stop 16, then three minutes' walk to Ikon Park

AFLW ROUND 1
Friday Feb 7
Richmond v Carlton (Ikon Park, 7.40pm)
Saturday Feb 8
GWS v Gold Coast (Blacktown, 1.10pm)
Melbourne v Kangaroos (Casey Fields, 3.10pm)
Brisbane Lions v Adelaide Crows (Hickey Park, 5.10pm)
Sunday Feb 9
Collingwood v West Coast (Victoria Park, 1.10pm)
St Kilda v Western Bulldogs (RSEA Park, 3.10pm)
Fremantle v Geelong (Fremantle Oval, 5.10pm)

 

[TigermanM2]

"If you don't like AFLW, don't watch it!"



Four new AFLW teams could be good for the league, even if it spreads the talent pool thin
By Offsiders columnist Richard Hinds



"If you don't like AFLW, don't watch it!"

No, this is not a new advertising slogan devised by Gillon from Marketing.

Don't waste your breath whining about the low scoring when you rave how about how your AFL men's team has perfected the dark defensive arts of zoning and frontal pressure.

Don't tell us the AFLW is being "shoved down your throat" when the media coverage is still minimal in comparison with the AFL.

Don't lecture us about how the AFLW's free admission means it is "not paying its way" when there are thousands of young girls lining up to pay registration fees at local clubs who will become lifelong consumers of the game.

Don't waste your time watching it then sharing your half-baked ill-informed opinions on social media if your fragile male ego is threatened by the sight of women playing Aussie rules.

These were the kind of sentiments that gained considerable momentum last season after the foul trolling of Tayla Harris, the Carlton star who had the temerity to be the subject of a photograph that demonstrated her incredible athleticism and, in turn, became symbolic of the empowering nature of the AFLW and women's sport in general.

The response to this message from those reserving their right to hate on the AFLW with impunity was that the competition was placing itself beyond reasonable criticism; that it was cocooning itself in a protective bubble with the help of subservient media acolytes.

But this view conveniently ignores the sheer weight of the abuse to which the AFLW and its players have been subjected since they dared set boot on sacred male footballing soil.

Last season, full of good intentions, I wrote a column about an AFLW game that was particularly scrappy by previous standards and posed the question whether the league was ready for such analysis.

In response, some members of the media who regularly cover AFLW pointed out that legitimate criticism of the game by informed observers was expected and even appreciated.

Our females sports stars are shining brightest, so why hasn't there been a corresponding spike in the coverage of women's sport, asks Richard Hinds.

But, sadly, even mild negativity immediately provided aid and comfort to those serial trolls and misogynists who would seize on any criticism of the AFLW to justify their own often twisted points of view.

And sure enough, rather than responding to the substance of the column, the reader comments, some of them dripping with bile, included just about every predictable prejudice against the league, including the very right of women to play the game.

The "don't watch us if you hate us" response is therefore inevitable, although not without some risk given the message will be manipulated by the trolls, and even some media critics, who claim this message is "divisive" and even "man-hating".

But in its four years the AFLW has produced sufficient success stories to balance the "love us or leave us" message with more positive stories — from the enormous crowd of 53,034 that attended last season's grand final to the emergence of stars and role models such as Adelaide's Erin Phillips to, most encouragingly, the impact it has had on young girls who will be part of the next generation of participants and fans.

One of the best sports photos taken last year was of Geelong's Georgie Rankin, great-great granddaughter of George Rankin who played in the Cats inaugural season of 1897, celebrating a close victory in front of a group of exultant young girls.

https://twitter.com/MichaelCWillson

It was the AFLW's raison d'etre in one heart-warming frame.

If the players are united in their rebuff of the trolls, there was some division over the off-season when a faction challenged the AFL's collective bargaining agreement against the advice of their own AFL Players Association.

RichmondW@RichmondWomens
https://twitter.com/RichmondWomens/status/1224913723564802048

Getting ready...

See all the best photos from training last night - https://tige.rs/3barKM8

https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=1224913723564802048

While a three-year deal was inevitably agreed, such militancy was the first significant sign at least some players have advanced from the "we're just grateful to have a competition" stage to "we deserve much more".

With that attitude comes some responsibility to provide a "product" that justifies greater demands — although only if the bar is set by the reasonable standards of informed observers, not the astronomic expectations of those who make spurious and self-serving comparisons with the 150-year-old male game.

Competitively, the main feature is the addition of four new teams — Gold Coast, Richmond, St Kilda and West Coast — meaning the AFLW has grown from eight teams to 14 in its four years.
Given the debate about whether the player pool already been spread too thin, such rapid expansion will place yet more focus on the quality of games.
But in the long term, the real test of the new teams is whether they add to the crowds and TV eyeballs trained on AFLW.

In the case of power clubs Richmond and West Coast particularly, you would imagine a significant boost to overall figures as fans previously disenfranchised by their club's non-inclusion get involved.

Regardless, any perception the standard of the competition has been diluted will put yet another arrow in the quiver of those mostly male couch experts searching for new ways to justify their predictable social media attacks.

The message to them from AFLW players and their most fervent supporters is loud and clear: Pick up the remote control, change the channel and leave us alone.

 

[Cdog71]

There where some positives last night and I’m confident we’ll be alot better for the game.

Last year rnd 1. Carl vs North Melb in Tassie.

North won
7 10. 52
2 4. 10

We have to learn to play those wide flanks at Ikon

 

[fumbler]

Well done ladies.
I am so lucky to be a Richmond supporter and it’s all because of people like you that makes it so great.

I am honestly humble to think that I wasn’t going to like having a women’s team but after watching you not give up and your ability to play the game out has converted me.

Thank you and good luck to every player in that first game and to those who flew the flag previously and for those yet to come good luck.

❤