All the AFL have to do is demonstrate that there are different rules applied to different leagues in men's competitions to show that this isn't a men vs women debate, but simply that the different leagues have different rules. Some leagues have send-off rules, the SANFL has the last touch rule, players in lower leagues get paid less than their AFL counterparts despite 'playing the same game'. There are many examples.
This is a cynical ploy, (which you even admit) to back the AFL into a corner in a kind of emotional blackmail based on 'how it will look', rather than a genuine grievance beyond 'it's not the same, therefore, sexism'.
If KB does win, this will be a Pyrrhic victory. Anyone who suspected that the AFLW was an exercise in virtual signalling rather than an attempt to create a genuine league will be convinced of the former. Brennan isn't a trailblazer, rather a pyromaniac, and she's just doused the AFLW in petrol and lit the match.
And before we go down the path of suggesting that KB is being told to 'know her place', remember that the Swans aren't fondly remembered for their cynical manipulation of the tribunal system which saw Dunkley play a GF by getting a court injunction (later lost). They were well within their rights to do it, but it was a dick move.
A better move would have been to accept the decision, but then try and have future changes made by simply going directly to the AFL or the AFLPA. She would have appeared magnanimous and may well have achieved her objective. Instead her and the WB look like a bunch of whiny brats which has dragged down the whole competition.
