Why do you like AFLW?

[76woodenspooners]

Why do you like AFLW?

For me, it's like I'm a six year old kid again following the game for the first time. I don't really understand the gamestyle, I don't even know who the players are. I watch the game and when a player does a series of cool looking things that grab my attention then I learn their name. In the early AFLW games they were players like D'Arcy, Eva and Stevens. In the Bulldogs game Tesoreiro stood out for me.

Stevens stands out with the white ribbon in her hair - those who watched last night's Bulldogs game learnt the reason she wears it. Her Mum has Alzheimer's, and the ribbon helps her mum follow her game.

AFLW is full of wonderful stories. I like stories. I reckon it's pretty cool during the call we learn that Mary is a plumber and Sue is a policewoman and Angela is a landscape gardener. It makes it feel real, the players seem like real people.

Sure, our AFLW players fumble the ball a bit, but so do the opposition, so it all balances out in the end. Maybe it's because they make AFLW footys out of teflon? Dunno, it really doesn't matter.

And just like being a young kid again, I don't really care too much about wins and losses - back then I didn't even know what winning and losing meant. Maybe those who grew up in passionate footy households would soak up the energy of those around them, but I didn't grow up in that kind of household.

For me, our AFLW losses of the first few games were a bit 'meh', the result was only a small part of what the game was about. But I was super chuffed to see our girls enjoy their first win against the Bulldogs.

 

[barrackers]

Why do you like AFLW?

For me, it's like I'm a six year old kid again following the game for the first time. I don't really understand the gamestyle, I don't even know who the players are. I watch the game and when a player does a series of cool looking things that grab my attention then I learn their name. In the early AFLW games they were players like D'Arcy, Eva and Stevens. In the Bulldogs game Tesoreiro stood out for me.

Stevens stands out with the white ribbon in her hair - those who watched last night's Bulldogs game learnt the reason she wears it. Her Mum has Alzheimer's, and the ribbon helps her mum follow her game.

AFLW is full of wonderful stories. I like stories. I reckon it's pretty cool during the call we learn that Mary is a plumber and Sue is a policewoman and Angela is a landscape gardener. It makes it feel real, the players seem like real people.

Sure, our AFLW players fumble the ball a bit, but so do the opposition, so it all balances out in the end. Maybe it's because they make AFLW footys out of teflon? Dunno, it really doesn't matter.

And just like being a young kid again, I don't really care too much about wins and losses - back then I didn't even know what winning and losing meant. Maybe those who grew up in passionate footy households would soak up the energy of those around them, but I didn't grow up in that kind of household.

For me, our AFLW losses of the first few games were a bit 'meh', the result was only a small part of what the game was about. But I was super chuffed to see our girls enjoy their first win against the Bulldogs.

Great idea for a thread and great analysis.

For me it comes down to three things:

• It fills a nice void in the preseason (I'll watch almost all sport, even local footy)
• Because it's Collingwood
• Development

Development encompasses 3 aspects:

Game

The curious historian in me often wonders what footy would have been like 125 years ago when I read books on Collingwood and Aussie rules. What was the public reception? What did it mean to the community, team and players? How did the game grow? What were the skills and tactics like? While there's some remarkable old footage rarely is there a whole game and the emotion is difficult to express on paper.

I also think of how amazing it would be to tell future generations that you were there and seen the development of Collingwood and Aussie rules.

With women's footy in it's infancy we have that chance and it also provides some parallels, a chance to reflect and relate women's footy to the beginning of Aussie rules. Even looking at how annoyed St Kilda and their supporters are at missing a licence makes me think back to the struggle Collingwood fought for 3 years before gaining entry to the VFA.
​

Team

It's interesting seeing how sides went about constructing their lists and how this translates to the field and game style. Who got it right and who didn't. While the AFL has introduced new teams it's not the same as a brand new comp where it's unknown what attributes are required for success. The commentators last night were talking about metres gained being a key area of the women's game and went on to say that clubs are learning that the key stats to success are different in the men's and women's game.

From a Collingwood perspective it's also been interesting to see how we've developed as a team, to see the growth of our style, game play, consistency and also camaraderie. The girls really looked to be playing for each other last night, which the club admits was missing a bit early on and was helped by the road trip to Brisbane. Obviously with players having full time jobs outside of footy and therefore limited time as group being able to spend days together is invaluable.

The benefit of that road trip also brings me back to the interstate trips of our men in the early 1900s and then throughout McHale's time as coach. I've just started reading Jock and the same thoughts are given to the benefit of our trips to NSW and Tasmania and how they brought the group together.

​

Players

As you spoke about it's great learning how new players take on the game and what skills they bring along with their back stories. Being able to put faces and names to new players.

The other aspect is seeing how much it means to the women, that playing AFL wasn't something they could aspire to only a few years ago and their excitement to now have opportunity. It's also interesting to see what paths they've taken over the journey and how they're coming back to footy from other sports.

With social media we're in a privileged position to be able to see that.​

 

[TradeDraft]

Because it Mean we get Footy Earlier then we have had

 

[OniAu]

Love the stories and the backgrounds of players also!!

Love the fact we get to follow the best of the womens footy players and we have a team . Id be gutted if we didn't have a team in the AFLW. Id still watch , but it gives it that bit more by following the womens pies.

The league where it is now will be nothing like it in 5 to 6 years time. I can sense a lot of young girls will start to realise they can follow their dream from a young age and continue on with it into their early adult years. Which excites me , the talent/skills will lift.

I hope the AFL stick by the product and give it time to grow

 

[Vicky Park]

Good thread 76.

I've gone on about this a bit, but it's the involvement of new and different fans that I'm really loving.

And the 5 year old niece of my work colleague who keeps excitedly talking about girls playing footy. She's been taken to two Carlton AFLW games by her blues supporting parents (ok, it's not a perfect scenario), and she's loving it!

 

[JB1975]

Great thread, 76.

I haven't really articulated this stuff to myself in my own mind, so maybe I won't make much sense, but the first thing for me is that I've always associated football with women. My Grandma's enjoyment of football is an early and enduring memory. She loved South Melbourne. Bobby Skilton always remained the epitome of the gentleman. Paul Kelly was another favourite, so I suppose she was drawn to those quiet hard nuts who just got on with the job of winning the ball under extreme fire. I caught up with her outside the MCG on GF day in 2005, and the joy on her face at having just watched her Swans snag one is one of my greatest football memories.

But I remember also sitting in the backseat while her and Grandpa watched my uncle run around: her thermos, her sandwiches, her passion as she rode the bumps, her astuteness. And then I realised as I got older that she was always there, from the origins of the game itself, not her precisely but thousands of passionate women just like her, barracking politely or not so politely, occasionally offering the pointy end of an umbrella to the opposition brute. Look at the photos of the oldest games, visual relics where women in bonnets are almost as numerous as men. Australian rules football is a dynamic and incredible cultural artefact, but I firmly believe that the investment and support of women has been a fundamental part of its success.

These are some of the things which drew me to the idea of a women's comp, giving them an elevated platform upon which that passion could be played out. The women's comp, in practice, has other things which draw me to it, not least that it feels like football as it once was. It is played with a pure and unbridled enthusiasm, one where the professional pretensions of the comp sometimes give way before the simple pleasures of the game.

 

[Mkcaptain]

I'm not in the target demographic for the new league. But I really enjoy it. I can't eloquently describe why the game appeals to me like others have but I can briefly guess as to why I have taken such a shine to it.

Firstly the players. The game means so much to the players. They all have a passion for the game that simply is infectious. Often rightly or wrongly you wonder if the men care about the game as much as you the supporter do. But in this league there is no doubt how much the women care about the game. They all have dreamed about this, even though the dream seemed an impossibility. Many of the players had to quit as a junior and only have recently been able to take it up again. The players in their thirties have been underappreciated and cast aside for years, the AFL didn't want to know about women footballers and didn't care about women footballers. I love the fact the women have this opportunity and actually show through their actions just what it means for them. Everyone of those players has put their life on hold to play in this league.

Secondly, I care deeply about football as a sport. It is my game. I want the game to prosper and be successful. I'm proud that an extra 50% of the population now can not only appreciate the game as a fan, they can dream to play it on the big stage. My mother is the person I've spent the most amount of hours watching football with. Footy is for everyone. I want all my friends to understand my love of the game. Its great that people who used to almost eye-roll when I said I was going to the football are now tagging themselves on Facebook at AFLW games. Whether their support will continue is debatable. But I'm happy that my favourite sport is now much more accessible to my friends who previously didn't have interest.

Thirdly I love Collingwood. The reason I started getting interested in women's footy is when I heard Collingwood was bidding for a team. I doubt I would have been nearly as interested in AFLW if Collingwood din't get a team.

People who watch the game and analysis it in comparison to the men's are going to be disappointed. People who watch it as just a pure game of footy where players always go in hard, players never give up, and the players care about the game, those people will enjoy the game despite the different skill levels.

 

[Vicky Park]

Thanks to all who posted above. I cant believe how emotional I've been following our first win. You have all articulated your thoughts so well, and so beautifully. There's a small but dedicated group of us on BF who have been following our girls and the new competition with hope, delight, disappointment, elation - the full range of footy emotions! I have no doubt our numbers will grow, but right now I feel like we are pioneers!

 

[left at home]

l like the passion the women play with, win or not it shows. the skills at times are not great, but for me that does not matter
as that will improve in time. as a fan of footy it is great, just to be that a fan.

 

[Vicky Park]

Wondering if others agree - the standard of footy has seen significant improvement over the course of this short AFLW season? The early games started out as scrappy and congested, but the footy has opened up, with some real skills on display, and some scintilating plays.

The work by our Alicia Eva to make the play and score the goal on Saturday, running half the length of the ground, was just outstanding.

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/2017-03-04/aflw-evas-incredible-solo-effort

The competition, and women's footy generally, is going through the roof in Queensland, of all places. Martin Flanagan's article in The Age on the weekend was an eye opener. Then a crowd of 12k turned up for the Brisbane V Crows game on Saturday. Wow! The Suns and Brisbane AFL teams have struggled to get crowds of that size over the last several seasons. Its obviously a lot to do with the dominant form of the Brisbane women - coached by one of our own - but the numbers coming out of Queesland truly amaze.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/womens-afl/football-is-kicking-on-in-brisbane-20170302-gup70r.html

 

[barrackers]

Wondering if others agree - the standard of footy has seen significant improvement over the course of this short AFLW season? The early games started out as scrappy and congested, but the footy has opened up, with some real skills on display, and some scintilating plays.

The work by our Alicia Eva to make the play and score the goal on Saturday, running half the length of the ground, was just outstanding.

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/2017-03-04/aflw-evas-incredible-solo-effort

The competition, and women's footy generally, is going through the roof in Queensland, of all places. Martin Flanagan's article in The Age on the weekend was an eye opener. Then a crowd of 12k turned up for the Brisbane V Crows game on Saturday. Wow! The Suns and Brisbane AFL teams have struggled to get crowds of that size over the last several seasons. Its obviously a lot to do with the dominant form of the Brisbane women - coached by one of our own - but the numbers coming out of Queesland truly amaze.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/womens-afl/football-is-kicking-on-in-brisbane-20170302-gup70r.html

I agree that the standard has improved and thinking about it it shouldn't be a surprise. Just look at the difference in skills and structures between preseason matches and the season proper of the men's game. Entering Round 1 aside from one or two practice games the women wouldn't have played since September. With women only being semi-professional and holding down full time jobs or playing in other sports their ability to train is limited and I think the cricketers like Cameron have really played better as the season has progressed. Unlike the men the women wouldn't have played together as a group either, which adds another difficulty. Watching Collingwood there's been improvement of team work, implementation of the game plan and knowing each others strengths/weaknesses in the last few weeks. Knowing kicking distances of team mates would help being in the right spot, similarly knowing where a team mate leads would help in selecting the right option and both would translate to the viewer as better skills.

Starcevich has been the AFL Queensland Female Football High Performance Manager and youth coach since 2014 and also coached the Western Bulldogs in 2015. I'm pretty sure we tried to recruit Starcevich to coach our women's side, but obviously he turned us down.

Men's footy has struggled to gain a foothold in Queensland for a number of reasons including competing for the same demographic as rugby league. Could the different demographics of women's footy supporters ultimately be what sustains the Queensland clubs? From the article you posted it seems to be helping with press and opening discussions with councils.