News Richmond to officially join AFLW in 2020

[Rodney Dangerfield]

I was sort of hoping all the guinea pig clubs could get this thing up and running properly whilst we sat back watching them pissing money against the wall until they got it right, then Just saunter in and take the piss out of the comp.
But I guess we are going to have to go and show them how to do it eventually.
It’s not for me but I wish them luck.

 

[SumTingWong]

Haven't seen many men's netball teams getting any tv time

Is this a joke?

 

[tigerdan]

It's so frustrating that these threads constantly devolve into a debate over the merits of women's footy. The debate is over. Women's footy's growth in the last three years alone has led to a massive explosion in the popularity of the sport, the likes of which is close to unmatched in its history.

We have a team now and it's a Richmond team that will soon be an integral part of the fabric of our club.

Get on board or don't, but save yourself the shouting into the wind about how it's not a worthy endeavour, or a waste of money or whatever your objections are.

I look forward to the day we can have a good old BigFooty circlejerk about which player shirks contests too often or how our first round pick is the next Daisy Pearce etc. instead of this crap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't mind Womens' Footy, and in fact my cousin played for two of the AFLW teams. She could always play better than boys her own age until their teens when they all got big. I am very proud of her.

What I do worry about is the costs in running the Richmond women's team. Naturally it can't break even in its first year unless there is some huge sponsorship deal that I have not heard about. What I want to know is when (and how) do we expect it to break even? And if the answer is 'never', then I am not really happy about subsidising something that does nothing towards helping us win a premiership. We won't always be top of the table and there's only so much money we can spend - year on year - on what is effectively a PR exercise.

 

[TigermanM2]

I don't mind Womens' Footy, and in fact my cousin played for two of the AFLW teams. She could always play better than boys her own age until their teens when they all got big. I am very proud of her.

What I do worry about is the costs in running the Richmond women's team. Naturally it can't break even in its first year unless there is some huge sponsorship deal that I have not heard about. What I want to know is when (and how) do we expect it to break even? And if the answer is 'never', then I am not really happy about subsidising something that does nothing towards helping us win a premiership. We won't always be top of the table and there's only so much money we can spend - year on year - on what is effectively a PR exercise.

I’m a bit sick of this argument as well. Why does the AFLW side have to break even? Maybe having 100,000 members is because we are better connected with our female fans as a result of our AFLW push. How much does this generate in $$ elsewhere?

Maybe it’s just the right thing to do!

We have a wheelchair team and I’m sure as hell that doesn’t break even and probably never will. Should we pull that plug too?

Sometimes you have to invest to make the club bigger and better.

 

[Ned_Flanders]

wait what? when is this happening?

from a selfish perspective that is bloody annoying. not to mention that the club has made an effort to link in with the South East area, and now our train lines won't be stopping at Richmond? (not the clubs fault obviously)

From late 2025/early 2026

This will be your new map, and it will be awesome for you:

Three bottlenecks are ******* the pakenham line today:

1) with the current manual signals, a train can only leave platform A when the train ahead of it has left its platform - be it 2km or 5km. the metro will have digital signally, which will mean they can run more trains on the line

2) the level crossings have also limited the number of trains because for road viability they couldnt have the boom gates down any more. the level crossing removal program is already resolving this.

now you've read all this, and are asking "wtf does this have to do with Richmond Station". well, thats 3.

3) the city loop is at capacity. right now four platforms are managing 1) Craigieburn line, 2) Pakenham/Cranbourne line, 3) Frankston line, 4) Sunbury/Melton line, 5) Upfield line, 6) Werribee/Williamstown line, 7) Upfield line, 8) South Morang line, 9) Hurstbridge line, 10) Alamein line, and 11) Glen Waverley line. The math on this sucks. Math means each platform has 2-3 lines running through it, which means further spacing out the branch services beyond that. The metro means two of the largest lines, Pakenham/Cranbourne and Sunbury will have their own "loop" effectively, and it will remove their services from the existing city loop.

For Richmond, its simple, you just jump off at South Yarra or Caulfield, and jump on the Frankston line. FWIW, this isn't a biggie. This happens already every day, with people jumping platforms at Richmond (for example) to switch between loop vs flinders st services.

 

[TigermanM2]

Today is the day we can start to officially list players who aren't on AFLW lists.

Jess Kennedy, Jacqui Graham and Alice Edmonds would be a fair chance to be signed. Would take a serious look at Kate Dixon too.

 

[NimFromSudan]

Today is the day we can start to officially list players who aren't on AFLW lists.

Jess Kennedy, Jacqui Graham and Alice Edmonds would be a fair chance to be signed. Would take a serious look at Kate Dixon too.

Pretty bang on I reckon, though I wonder if we'll go so early on players who are not standout choices.

 

[beema limapep]

To state that any women's sport is on par with men's in terms of ability is beyond idiotic.

Womens long distance open water swimming is generally considered to be on par with and better than mens.

 

[OhDustinMartin]

I think its an exciting area for the club to be in. The talent is going to be getting better each year (you can see the increase of women playing footy quite clearly out my way). Girls who are drafted are lightyears ahead established players - Chloe Molloy for the Pies killed it in her first year (i think she won their bnf but not 100 per cent sure) and Monique Conti was BoG in the grand final. Issy Huntington for the dogs also went bananas before she did her knee. If we're in it it can only mean good things for the club and I'll watch and barrack for anyone wearing yellow & black. Sure it won't get to AFL level but it's a diffferent game, you can see that they go ridiculously hard for the footy. I prefer it to AFLX by a kilometre and I'd rather watch a tough, contested game of AFLW over Saints v Gold Coast.

 

[Bojangles17]

I don't know where the women's team will play but it can't be at Punt Road unless they make it fit for spectators.

1. the only food and drink outlets are down the grandstand end.
2. the only decent toilets are inside the grandstand ( don't think the main building is open for this ) , the rest are unhygenic portaloos.
3. if you are down the station end of the ground and want to access points 1 and 2, you need to exit the ground and walk around and re-enter down the other end.

That’s a whole other story

 

[TigermanM2]

Pretty bang on I reckon, though I wonder if we'll go so early on players who are not standout choices.

Yeah I agree. The players I listed were standouts in our VFLW side so I think they will form part of our AFLW anyway so might as well name them if they are looking at playing next year. I think it will kick start a bit of a buzz around our AFLW team. In saying that, as we've seen, a few players from other AFLW teams have gone back to jobs and so forth so they might be happy to keep playing VFLW. It is still a big sacrifice from girls to play AFLW especially for the older girls with jobs and families.

 

[TigermanM2]

I think its an exciting area for the club to be in. The talent is going to be getting better each year (you can see the increase of women playing footy quite clearly out my way). Girls who are drafted are lightyears ahead established players - Chloe Molloy for the Pies killed it in her first year (i think she won their bnf but not 100 per cent sure) and Monique Conti was BoG in the grand final. Issy Huntington for the dogs also went bananas before she did her knee. If we're in it it can only mean good things for the club and I'll watch and barrack for anyone wearing yellow & black. Sure it won't get to AFL level but it's a diffferent game, you can see that they go ridiculously hard for the footy. I prefer it to AFLX by a kilometre and I'd rather watch a tough, contested game of AFLW over Saints v Gold Coast.

You make a good point. Not entering until 2020 I think will be a good thing for us with the improved development of girls set to enter the system and we should get better access to these girls than the foundation clubs.

 

[HTT]

The talent pool is going to even further diluted.
I find AFLW unwatchable in terms of enjoyment although I support the concept 100%.
I realise it will get better in time, but until then I can see better standard of footy at my local reserves comp.
I'd like to see them play on smaller grounds to encourage higher scoring. At the moment you almost get more goals at a soccer match.
To me, there hasn't been enough done in terms of making the scoring higher and making the standard of play more attractive.
Smaller ground dimensions would help enormously.
But I will reiterate, I support the concept fully.

I agree. I think it needs to have smaller teams and smaller grounds to really concentrate the talent. That will bastardise the competition but it already has that vibe with the 16-a-side. It only runs for two months and the 'real' season is arguably VFLW which runs all year with mostly the same players.

AFLW, more than anything else, needs to be in the public eye, and then 10-15 years down the track when the talent base grows, take steps to make it more of a true parallel to the AFL.

 

[TigermanM2]

I'm hearing that our AFLW inclusion next year is making a few existing teams very nervous. No shortage of mad Tigers currently playing AFLW who would jump at the chance.

 

[1980GFVideo]

I'm hearing that our AFLW inclusion next year is making a few existing teams very nervous. No shortage of mad Tigers currently playing AFLW who would jump at the chance.

Yep

Im thinking of going down the hannah mouncey path. I dont have her/his body so I think im a better chance of being admitted.

I see it as my only chance of representing Richmond.

 

[TigermanM2]

Yep

Im thinking of going down the hannah mouncey path. I dont have her/his body so I think im a better chance of being admitted.

I see it as my only chance of representing Richmond.

Have no idea what your skill level is like but better get in quick. Marked improvement this season compared to last. Its only going to get better.

 

[Senor M]

Yep

Im thinking of going down the hannah mouncey path. I dont have her/his body so I think im a better chance of being admitted.

I see it as my only chance of representing Richmond.

It's 2019---- can we please leave transphobic comments like this in the past where it belongs.

 

[Bojangles17]

I don't know where the women's team will play but it can't be at Punt Road unless they make it fit for spectators.

1. the only food and drink outlets are down the grandstand end.
2. the only decent toilets are inside the grandstand ( don't think the main building is open for this ) , the rest are unhygenic portaloos.
3. if you are down the station end of the ground and want to access points 1 and 2, you need to exit the ground and walk around and re-enter down the other end.

That’s a broader issue than just aflw , vfl games already generate a reasonable crowd that the club needs to accomodate with better amenities , you’d like to think these are part of Punt rd development plans

 

[Cotcho]

The AFL stuffed up when Gil went into full social justice warrior mode. The communist doesn't understand that the rising tide lifts all boats. The first year of the AFLw should have been Richmond, Collingwood, Adelaide, West Coast. The best 4 clubs in the country with the most fanatical support. The top talent spread across 4 clubs making it a far stronger competition and if they did it correctly the crowds would have turned up. Half the trick with sport if atmosphere and tribal like following. Then it really doesn't matter what the product is. See soccer, darts, Richmond for 37 years etc. It's all about leveraging the social approval or whatever it's called. When the apes think something is great because all the other apes like it etc. ffs

 

[A Tiger 4 lyf]

"I am the richmond woman"

 

[TigermanM2]

The AFL stuffed up when Gil went into full social justice warrior mode. The communist doesn't understand that the rising tide lifts all boats. The first year of the AFLw should have been Richmond, Collingwood, Adelaide, West Coast. The best 4 clubs in the country with the most fanatical support. The top talent spread across 4 clubs making it a far stronger competition and if they did it correctly the crowds would have turned up. Half the trick with sport if atmosphere and tribal like following. Then it really doesn't matter what the product is. See soccer, darts, Richmond for 37 years etc. It's all about leveraging the social approval or whatever it's called. When the apes think something is great because all the other apes like it etc. ffs

Think the crowds are pretty good actually. I’m glad we had to wait. We will field a far stronger side because of it while some “foundation” clubs are probably finding a lot on their list need replacing as they don’t stack up against the improving skill level.

 

[Cotcho]

Think the crowds are pretty good actually. I’m glad we had to wait. We will field a far stronger side because of it while some “foundation” clubs are probably finding a lot on their list need replacing as they don’t stack up against the improving skill level.

I'm not really referring to our on field performance. As a Richmond supporter if what you say is true then that's great. I just mean the overwhelming apathy that surrounds the competition is seemingly the AFL's fault for putting clubs with apathetic supporters as their foundations teams. Fremantle, Melbourne, Footscray, GWS etc.....I mean.....what were they thinking. Those teams are s**t in the mens as well.

 

[tora tora tora]

I don't mind Womens' Footy, and in fact my cousin played for two of the AFLW teams. She could always play better than boys her own age until their teens when they all got big. I am very proud of her.

What I do worry about is the costs in running the Richmond women's team. Naturally it can't break even in its first year unless there is some huge sponsorship deal that I have not heard about. What I want to know is when (and how) do we expect it to break even? And if the answer is 'never', then I am not really happy about subsidising something that does nothing towards helping us win a premiership. We won't always be top of the table and there's only so much money we can spend - year on year - on what is effectively a PR exercise.

Worry about the cost? Which is how much $ exactly? [2018 annual report says $27million in football operations ]When we were going solo in the men's VFL, did I hear figures of $0.5 million to field that team? In the case of the women's team, they play VFLW most of the year and then the AFLW for a few weeks. So there would be lower wages of the players ATM, but a lot of the off field expenses, medical, coaching etc would be similar to the men's competition.
I agree it is a fair chunk of money, but re:women's sport, there is both a groundswell of interest in women's sport in recent times. & govt funding opps too. If RFC was not trying to get a women's team on the field I would be calling for Brendan's head.
Our women's team came into existence coinciding with our on field success in the AFL. Which I agree is our mission. RFC is a pretty big operation and our club culture is being involved in education & few social issues. Korin Gamadji; Alannah & Madeleine; Maurice Rioli R.A.P.; Bachar Houli Academy. I think Swinburne have some accredited courses running out of Punt Road too.
As long as we don't expect Dimma to coach the women, I have confidence in Peggy & Brendan. I'm happy to have as many teams as possible running around in yellow and black.

 

[TigermanM2]

I'm not really referring to our on field performance. As a Richmond supporter if what you say is true then that's great. I just mean the overwhelming apathy that surrounds the competition is seemingly the AFL's fault for putting clubs with apathetic supporters as their foundations teams. Fremantle, Melbourne, Footscray, GWS etc.....I mean.....what were they thinking. Those teams are s**t in the mens as well.

Yeah can't argue with the logic that they should have targeted the clubs with the stronger fan bases.

 

[tora tora tora]

I'm not really referring to our on field performance. As a Richmond supporter if what you say is true then that's great. I just mean the overwhelming apathy that surrounds the competition is seemingly the AFL's fault for putting clubs with apathetic supporters as their foundations teams. Fremantle, Melbourne, Footscray, GWS etc.....I mean.....what were they thinking. Those teams are s**t in the mens as well.

The logic seemed to be 1 club in each state. Then obviously the Dogs. Carlton, Coll & Melb. Foundation VFL clubs