AFLW Official - Bombers, Hawks, Power, Swans all to enter AFLW from 2022-23 onwards.

Jul 2, 2010
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The AFL is expected to finally embrace an 18-team AFLW competition for the 2022-23 season when it announces expansion plans at midday on Thursday.
The league has not yet informed those four teams - Essendon, Port Adelaide, Sydney and Hawthorn - that they will be in the competition next year.

But the Herald Sun understands the AFL will make the declaration that every team will have its own women’s side for a 2022-23 competition that will start at the end of next year.

The four teams put in detailed submissions which were assessed by the AFL Commission at its two-day meeting last week.

And while there will be significant concerns about the dilution of talent in coming seasons the reality is the league cannot continue holding out sides like Hawthorn, who have battled for years to gain entry to the AFLW.

 
Sydney are quite aggressive with their list build, eight players already announced and a couple of high profile AFLW players in their sights, Hawks have three, Essendon has one, and Port don't have a coach and are still waiting to announce their first signing (which makes me wonder if she's currently playing finals for someone else). Very different approaches...

Club threads on the AFLW draft/trade board:
Essendon 2022 - First AFLW signing: Georgia Nanscawen!
Hawthorn 2022 - Sophie Locke signs on!
Port Adelaide 2022 - Inaugural List Build
Sydney Swans 2022 - Seven more players signed to the inaugural team!
 

TBOW

Premiership Player
Aug 9, 2012
3,191
3,860
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Bwahahaha cry me a river. The sheer bloody minded arrogance of vfl club supporters.
This is an odd post briztoon. Should we not be concerned when our 4 best players are being circled by other clubs? Do you disagree that we have had more talent poached over the years than most other Victorian clubs?

I think we all accept that this is the foundation period of the AFLW and that there will be some pain to come with that, but it doesn't mean we have to feel good about it.
 

Oliver G

Premium Platinum
May 14, 2009
3,367
8,594
Melbourne
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Bwahahaha cry me a river. The sheer bloody minded arrogance of vfl club supporters.

Care to explain how my post was arrogant?

Sydney got pillaged.

Sydney has not played a single match so not sure how they got pillaged, the Dogs however have lost the following to just expansion signings alone...

Bannister, Daria
Brennan, Katie
Bruton, Jenna
Conti, Monique
Ernst, Tiarna
Karlson, Selena
Kearney, Emma
O’Connor, Aasta

So in terms of pillaged it's currently 8-0 to the Dogs.
 
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Many Dogs supporters will not follow AFLW if another raid happens and are letting the club know that.

I won’t either. Why invest just to lose all connections a few seasons later while other clubs don’t.
 

TheNextPicken

He can go on the left
Oct 3, 2013
97
64
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
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Many Dogs supporters will not follow AFLW if another raid happens and are letting the club know that.

I won’t either. Why invest just to lose all connections a few seasons later while other clubs don’t.
I've got to say, as a Bulldogs supporter, losing Izzy, Ellie, Kirsty Lamb and Toogood, even losing 3 of the four will make me feel a bit disenchanted about the club next season.

I'm honestly sick of losing players to expansion - Only Brisbane knows worse than us.
 

Munga

Brownlow Medallist
Jul 2, 2003
12,630
20,259
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Many Dogs supporters will not follow AFLW if another raid happens and are letting the club know that.

I won’t either. Why invest just to lose all connections a few seasons later while other clubs don’t.

Yeah I said the same thing a long time ago. You can't just have the heart of your club ripped out.

Someone on here proposed that clubs should be able to protect X amount of players based on ladder position. That's probably one of the best ideas.

Starting with 1st (Premiers) and 2nd they can protect two players each, 3rd and 4th protect three, etc. down to 13th and 14th who can protect eight (it's not like they have enough poachable quality anyway).

Although it's not the same if players leave for current clubs and not being poached by the new clubs. That would be outside the "protection".

The top two get hit the hardest, but overall most clubs should be able to hold onto their core.

Having said all that, if the players actually want to leave for more $$$ who can stop them?
 
Someone on here proposed that clubs should be able to protect X amount of players based on ladder position. That's probably one of the best ideas.
I said it a page or two ago, just speculating.

Having said all that, if the players actually want to leave for more $$$ who can stop them?
There was certainly nothing stopping Brisbane from stealing a bunch of sought-after players from Victoria, Tasmania and WA six years ago (plus a few notable instances since then, too). And if Craig Starcevich wasn't the main architect of that, he wouldn't sound like such a whiny little hypocrite right now.
 
...while Hawthorn have sounded out twins Breann (Carlton) and Celine (Bulldogs) Moody, and are also interested in Gold Coast’s Janet Baird.
 
Oct 8, 2004
1,143
1,619
Melbourne
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St Kilda
The best hope for supporters of clubs that get raided is that the league improves the compensation system somewhat. They aren't going to implement anything that stops players who want to move from moving.

As much as people (including me) freaked out when North came in, in the end, they're probably closer to what everyone would like to see than the other five expansion teams were. Nobody gets excited to see two of the expansion teams battle. Hopefully, there's more of an even spread of star players leaving teams, but there probably won't be. Somebody's going to get hammered and somebody good is going to emerge unscathed.

Compensation, even if improved, will likely still be disappointing. The pick 1 that the Dogs got in the trade for Conti probably won't happen for anybody. Blackburn or Riddell are probably worth some absurd number of draft picks if they were ever traded under normal circumstances. In expansion, North or the Dogs will be lucky to get a mid-first of either actually leaves.

My guess is the new teams will get any stars they sign and they'll get to keep their picks, which will be better than any of the previous expansion teams. I can't see the league punishing the new teams at the draft the way they did North. They'd rather get these teams right and fix the broken teams later than add more broken teams in. If they miss high, and these teams are too good, that's probably more acceptable than missing low.

The last point I want to make is that we're probably going to hear a lot of names are 'considering offers' by the time the signing period starts. Especially with no CBA, I reckon there's some nervous player managers who'd like to make some clubs equally nervous to extract a few extra dollars from the club they really actually want to stay at. We'll see if any of this early mail is any good. I can't remember the media's track record from previous expansions.

I definitely feel for the Dogs supporters if any of the rumoured quartet wind up leaving. If it's all, then it's a disaster, and I'd really be wondering what's going on there - especially given past sign-and-trade periods.
 
The pick 1 that the Dogs got in the trade for Conti probably won't happen for anybody.
My guess is the new teams will get any stars they sign and they'll get to keep their better picks than any of the previous expansion teams. I can't see the league punishing the new teams at the draft the way they did North.
I wouldn't say North Melbourne were punished. The AFL simply (and accurately) assigned picks according to the strength of the recruits. It's a whole different situation to now with the picks already decided before the signings are made. I believe this change (and, crucially, the TBC quotas--i.e. the number of players each team can lose via free agency) is an attempt to manufacture more Conti type trades.

The new teams are already getting first crack at 3 young guns from their development zone. The last thing the league should want is to have them overloaded with teenagers because that's how thrashings happen. It would therefore be logical that the AFL's intention for the 8 picks is to ideally have them be traded for established players.

The last point I want to make is that we're probably going to hear a lot of names are 'considering offers' by the time the signing period starts. Especially with no CBA, I reckon there's some nervous player managers who'd like to make some clubs equally nervous to extract a few extra dollars from the club they really actually want to stay at. We'll see if any of this early mail is any good. I can't remember the media's track record from previous expansions.
Don't even have to look back as far to previous expansions. Just last year Ebony Marinoff was reportedly considering an offer from St Kilda, likewise Chloe Molloy with Brisbane. The only concerned parties that can benefit from leaking those stories are the player managers.
 
Oct 8, 2004
1,143
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Melbourne
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St Kilda
I wouldn't say North Melbourne were punished. The AFL simply (and accurately) assigned picks according to the strength of the recruits.
Fair point. My guess is the new teams will keep their top picks, though, even if the new teams sign a lot of stars the way North did. I'm basing this on absolutely nothing, mind you, and you've got a much better track record of figuring out what's happening with these things than I do. I certainly won't be upset if you're right and I'm wrong.

I'm really pleased that they've allowed the new teams to sign mature-agers outside their VFLW clubs. I feel like that was a really unnecessary constraint last time (also with the special assistance to Geelong and Gold Coast). Hopefully, that will allow the new teams to build more competitive squads from the start. I agree that you don't want these squads being too young and I'm a little concerned by Hawthorn's initial signings, but there's still a lot of water to go under the bridge.

Don't even have to look back as far to previous expansions. Just last year Ebony Marinoff was reportedly considering an offer from St Kilda, likewise Chloe Molloy with Brisbane. The only concerned parties that can benefit from leaking those stories are the player managers.
I remember the Marinoff one, for obvious reasons, but I'd forgotten there had been any speculation around Molloy. At the other end, I think it's pretty clear that someone in Carlton was leaking Harris stuff.

Not sure I can tell if any of the current rumours look like the previous ones. Blackburn, in particular seems like an odd one because I'm not sure there's much more the Dogs even could have done to keep her. I assume that, if she goes, it's because the Swans have better employment lined up for her than the Dogs could, or that Swans captain is more appealing to potential sponsors than Dogs captain. I'd defer to your assessment on Riddell. Don't really know much on Toogood other than I remember there was some speculation she might join the Saints last expansion. I think, in part because she's from the eastern side of the bay and lives (or lived) near the club. She's a much bigger star now, though, so I imagine any move for her is for money as well. Maybe I'm naïve and maybe it's all about money. I certainly don't have any issue with players getting as much as they can, especially with club salaries being where they are.
 
Nov 2, 2004
1,465
382
Yulee
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Fair point. My guess is the new teams will keep their top picks, though, even if the new teams sign a lot of stars the way North did. I'm basing this on absolutely nothing, mind you, and you've got a much better track record of figuring out what's happening with these things than I do. I certainly won't be upset if you're right and I'm wrong.

I'm really pleased that they've allowed the new teams to sign mature-agers outside their VFLW clubs. I feel like that was a really unnecessary constraint last time (also with the special assistance to Geelong and Gold Coast). Hopefully, that will allow the new teams to build more competitive squads from the start. I agree that you don't want these squads being too young and I'm a little concerned by Hawthorn's initial signings, but there's still a lot of water to go under the bridge.


I remember the Marinoff one, for obvious reasons, but I'd forgotten there had been any speculation around Molloy. At the other end, I think it's pretty clear that someone in Carlton was leaking Harris stuff.

Not sure I can tell if any of the current rumours look like the previous ones. Blackburn, in particular seems like an odd one because I'm not sure there's much more the Dogs even could have done to keep her. I assume that, if she goes, it's because the Swans have better employment lined up for her than the Dogs could, or that Swans captain is more appealing to potential sponsors than Dogs captain. I'd defer to your assessment on Riddell. Don't really know much on Toogood other than I remember there was some speculation she might join the Saints last expansion. I think, in part because she's from the eastern side of the bay and lives (or lived) near the club. She's a much bigger star now, though, so I imagine any move for her is for money as well. Maybe I'm naïve and maybe it's all about money. I certainly don't have any issue with players getting as much as they can, especially with club salaries being where they are.
Hoping Marinoff comes back to Melbourne to play under Goddard, but not sure what is possible given her contract status.
 
Would be surprised if Georgie prespakis does not request a move there now also
I'd be really surprised if she "requested" a move, given she could join as a free agent. And I'd still be pretty surprised if she did that, based on reports from the last month or so.
 
Oct 9, 2001
18,059
15,823
2, 4, 6, 8
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Sydney
Must say I'm surprised the Swans have managed to get Morphett from the Giants considering she was drafted out of the Giants academy last year. McKinnon was the Giants ruckman that I was expecting we would end up with.
 
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