Gil’s Neverending Farewell Tour Round.
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Roundelaide
All that planning ahead for an AFLM extra round several months into the future, while the AFL scrambles for decent venues for AFLW ( including a 2022 finals venue with capacity to meet demand).
The NRL has done it far better.
Do you know the lions have just completed a 10k seat stadium especially for their AFLW team in Springfield? It’s just going to be a few weeks short of the mark to host their grand final.
Going to 18 teams was a disaster as expected though, the talent is only suited to about 8 teams, if that.
Perhaps in a State where Rugby League is the dominant Code, 10k is ample.
But it’s not where Australian Rules is the dominant Code.
The bulk of the AFL’s problems seem to be the time of year that the AFLW is played.
The NRL is 27 rounds and runs until the GF in the first week of October. The NRLW play only 6 rounds plus 2 weeks of finals but it runs concurrent with the NRL so that the GF’s are both the same day. Also the size of the NRL grounds means they aren’t used for cricket should the season need to run longer. The AFLW encroaches into cricket season and the majority of grounds in Australia are multi use facilities and as it’s now cricket season then cricket takes precedence.
The AFL brains trust needs to move the AFLW to a full winter comp like the mens eventually. In the short term it with it staying at say 10 rounds you could start it say around June and run it until the end of September and then as it grows you keep starting earlier as you enter more rounds.
Obviously this would harm the secondary comps so I can understand why they don’t want to run them head to head just yet but the venue issue won’t disappear.
Either that or the AFL needs to make the ground that it owns available and just play all GF’s at Marvel for the near future
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All of the decent capacity venues are code shared and it’s now cricket season so they take precedence.
AFL could and should keep Marvel free though seeing as they own it but other states have no such options
For a league that averages i think around the 2 to 3k mark in attendance, 10k capacity is overly ‘ample’.
Evidence for average NRL attendance at elite level in Qld and NSW at 2-3k per game?
I think they mean the average AFLW crowd
Average over what period?
AFL House has seriously underestimated a level of spectator interest in attendance at an enlarged AFLW comp, as well as the acceptable standard of a venue, including PT options for attendance.
I don’t know the answer there. I was simply stating that I think that’s what the Bully was implying.
I don’t know the crowd figures for AFLW this season but from the bits I’ve seen on the highlights shown on the news during the year they don’t appear to be massive just yet but will hopefully get to that stage one day
AFLW. It might help to do some research before complaining about a stadium size of 10k, for a sport that averages 2 to 3k.
It’s the equivalent of complaining about North Melbourne playing at the mcg and it not being big enough for them, despite their average attendances being around 20k.
You threw the figure in there. I was asking for no more than your factual source. That’s what discourse is supposed to be.
On first glance, and because I’m not working it out on my phone, 2-3k seems about right to me. I’d say 3k seems generous, actually.
Weekend that has all the games and had to close the restaurant round
AFLM has decent grounds, covered seating and special PT access.
Playing the AFLW in the proper season would be a good start.
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Also, P1 of the HS and a 2-page spread inside. Not exactly being ignored.