Was great to see Gil crawl out from under a rock so that he could apologise to fans outside the groin who were locked out. Lucky he had a camera crew to capture his empathy.
Im not a big fan of it, but i do love the fact that girls who grew up supporting a team will now have the chance to play for their club.
I loved it and will continue watching when I can.
Imagine if they play the GF as a curtain raiser to our first home game at the G?
I enjoyed listening on the radio to some of the players before the game. One very articulate player stressed the importance of the access they were now getting to elite sport training facilties, instead of banging on about the pay gaps. As I understand it, the males get a lot of the income from AFL TV revenue. The women may not get to the same elite level unless full time, but if they continue to get gate lockouts and increased TV viewing, that may come.
As Susan Alberti said, it has taken 50 years to get here. Hope the pace quickens.
Didn’t get to see any of it last night but caught a bit of it today. Tackling and ferocity was top notch and loved their passion but the skill wasn’t a good quality and obviously that will improve with time and would need to improve dramatically to attract my regular interest.
I still think the AFL has jumped in too quickly and it would of been better if the VFL/WAFL/SANFL had comps for a couple of years first to build up the number of quality footballers available. Think we will see a lot of serious injuries as there are quite a few players new to game thrown in at the deep end with no awareness or feel for the game
I liked Clementine Ford’s tweet about a little girl with her Dad after the game, clutching a football. Domestically, must have been one of the last sports where grown up females did not compete against each other at more professional levels.
Only saw 1 Essendon jumper had to wear a black t shirt apparently dodn’want an Essendon one in the guard of honor for Collingwood on the ground .Hotdogs $6 .they ran out of beer but not hotdogs?. Most of these girls have played many years i know quite a few from my daughters time spent playing for Victoria and WA and now at Collingwood in a non playing role.Just like any parent who follows another team your really pleased to see your kids succeed in anything they do. Also one of the girls her nickname is Fish , real name Coutenay. Get it .
Was Spotless the caterer?
Still an AFL product. Didn't watch or care. See some of the saga types enjoyed it though.
I understand what you’re saying, and while there’s no way I’m going to have an interest until there’s an Essendon team (maybe not even then), I think of it as a good thing coming from a bad place.
I know the AFL have jumped on this so no-one else gets to call Australian Football anything other than AFL, so they can own it all, but the end result for female footballers is far better and sooner than any other option.
Didn't get to see any of it last night but caught a bit of it today. Tackling and ferocity was top notch and loved their passion but the skill wasn't a good quality and obviously that will improve with time and would need to improve dramatically to attract my regular interest. I still think the AFL has jumped in too quickly and it would of been better if the VFL/WAFL/SANFL had comps for a couple of years first to build up the number of quality footballers available. Think we will see a lot of serious injuries as there are quite a few players new to game thrown in at the deep end with no awareness or feel for the game
It says a lot when the mid tier comps/clubs were (reportedly) against AFLW starting up so early
Imo the success of the women’s big bash forced the hand of the AFL
Hopefully in a few years the league gets to the point where all these washed up ‘stars’ from other sports have about as much chance of success at the top level as Israel Folau
Only saw 1 Essendon jumper had to wear a black t shirt apparently dodn'want an Essendon one in the guard of honor for Collingwood on the ground .Hotdogs $6 .they ran out of beer but not hotdogs?. Most of these girls have played many years i know quite a few from my daughters time spent playing for Victoria and WA and now at Collingwood in a non playing role.Just like any parent who follows another team your really pleased to see your kids succeed in anything they do. Also one of the girls her nickname is Fish , real name Coutenay. Get it .
What?
If there’s ever an Essendon side, I’ll support it. I don’t care who’s in the jumper as long as they bleed for it. If you think about it, we basically all barrack for laundry.
Maybe the crowds won’t be as big, maybe the revenue won’t be as much or the standard may not be as high, but so what? There’s always room in this world for more footy.
Don’t know how you couldn’t want Essendon involved in this when you read stuff like:
I don’t care whether they are male or female, seeing Long’s talk about being a proper part of the Essendon family and what it would mean to them to run out for the club to me will make it a part of our history and tradition.
Must have broken the AFL record book, the number of first time players in any side.
And it did not start in time of war, unlike Rosie the Riveter and A League of Their Own.
My enormous prejudice and bias wouldn’t have allowed me to watch carl v coll but I did watch some of the crows v giants this arvo… I thought it was great. It made me even sadder that we don’t have a Bombers team in the women’s league. The crowd size was better than I expected. Really happy for the women who were selected to play… Their excitement and enthusiasm was infectious. Do we know if/when Ess is going to field a side? Would love to see a women’s team run out in the red and black.
They should start in November.
Only saw 1 Essendon jumper had to wear a black t shirt apparently dodn'want an Essendon one in the guard of honor for Collingwood on the ground .Hotdogs $6 .they ran out of beer but not hotdogs?. Most of these girls have played many years i know quite a few from my daughters time spent playing for Victoria and WA and now at Collingwood in a non playing role.Just like any parent who follows another team your really pleased to see your kids succeed in anything they do. Also one of the girls her nickname is Fish , real name Coutenay. Get it .What?
Courtenay fish ? No mate the’ve gone off the bite
I thought the AWFUlL was only offering a limited number of licences, which clubs could bid for. May have all been predetermined, but understand from reporting that EFC decided not to bid, no idea if licence bidding was auction-type $$$$$$. Did it come up at AGM or that members Q&A?
Also, wonder what the AWFL standard contracts are like and whether they are covered by AFLPA. No doubt there is a WADA clause.
I’m very happy for women and girls to play AFL as much as they want to. But having watched a quarter last night I don’t think I’ll be watching much more.
I'm very happy for women and girls to play AFL as much as they want to. But having watched a quarter last night I don't think I'll be watching much more.
Feel like this is quite a reductionist perspective… ignores the fact that last night was the first ever game… so much more to the story… it is very easy to pick holes… why not just appreciate it for what it is?