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  1. #1
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    Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    Melbourne AFLW champion Daisy Pearce has slammed the AFL’s proposed plans for the 2019 women’s season, labelling it as a “gimmicky tournament”.

    Despite the AFLW expanding to 10 teams, with the introduction of Geelong and North Melbourne, the league has reportedly decided to keep it as an eight-week season with two weeks of finals, by splitting the comp into two five-team conferences, meaning most teams will play one less home-and-away game than they did in the first two years.

    Pearce told SEN on Friday that it was contradictory for the AFL to bring in two new women’s teams but still view the competition as not growing fast enough to warrant an expanded nine-game regular season with finals.

    The Demons captain also said the AFL should “get the women’s game right” first before devoting so much money, time and energy to AFLX.

    “It doesn’t sit well with me or a lot of the players is the temperature that I’m taking,” Pearce said.

    “I get that there’s a commercial reality that they want to keep this competition within the little free eight-week timeslot where there is no sport, that was the reason for it in the first two years while it was in its infancy and getting going.

    “But I thought when those two new teams came in I was rubbing my hands together thinking we’re going to get a legitimate competition here, play everyone once and head into a finals series - you beauty.

    “But it seems not to be the case and the reason it annoys me is that this is presented as the female elite professional offering by the AFL and it has been lauded as that – finally there’s an elite women’s competition.

    “But with the AFL presenting it as that, it comes with a level of expectation that everyone within the sport, us players and coaches, we wear that expectation that this is going to be a professional elite competition when in reality this is a gimmicky tournament.

    “They would argue that it’s not that but that’s the perception that it gives that it enables them to tick the box that, yes we offer an elite competition to our women.”

    Speaking on 3AW on Friday morning, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan defended the league, saying there was ''no bigger priority'' than the AFLW.

    He said the window for the AFLW after the Australian Open remained their preference as it was ''clean air'' in the sporting landscape, and that no decision had been made on the format of the season and the number of games.

    "The World Cup goes for four weeks, you wouldn’t call that a Mickey Mouse tournament," McLachlan said.

    "It's balancing all of those issues up. In an ideal world, everyone would play each other once. I understand that, but I've outlined as clearly as I can all the things that everyone is working through to try and get to the right outcome."

    “We’re making decisions with a 30-year view, not in year three. There is no bigger priority for us in AFL head office than AFLW and women’s football.”

    Among those to express their anger on social media was former Adelaide premiership coach Bec Goddard, Melbourne's Lily Mithen and Aliesha Newman, and Collingwood's Georgie Parker.

    "Wait, 6 games only? No, it has to be a typo. Someone dropped off the 1. 16 games including finals. Surely we can find an extra couple of games from somewhere? There is still enough pizza for everyone. Including extra cheese on some," Goddard said.

    Magpie Parker, also an Olympic gold medallist in hockey, said: "I love moving across the country for months, leaving my family behind to play a 6 week season When the pre season is twice as long as the actual season, something is wrong! Don’t bring new teams in if you can’t accommodate for them!! @AFL #pissed."

    She added: "Start earlier. Trust the brand will stand up to the aus open, or play time slots that complement the tennis matches rather than compete with it. The year after there are another 4 teams coming in... what are we gonna do then..? Play 6 games again?"

    Pearce said splitting the competition into two conferences could turn out to be a disaster.

    “How do you evenly split those two conferences given that if you take the first two seasons for example when you’ve got no real form lines, different development trajectories, huge amounts of player movements off the back of each season?” Pearce said.

    “The Bulldogs finished last in the first season and won the flag in the second season ... you could split those five-team conferences off the back of last season and end up with all the best teams in one conference and [one of] the best teams in that conference might finish fourth and you don’t get a crack at finals.”

    Pearce insisted the time has come for the AFL to “bite the bullet” and allow the AFLW season to start overlapping with the AFL season.

    “I think it’s strong enough in its own right, it’s still got a lot of development to go, but I think the AFL brand and the rest of the ecosystem that it sits within is strong and established enough to support it in its formative years,” Pearce said.

    “And I think at some point you just have to bite the bullet and push it in because for as long as it’s an eight-week competition, it will remain at a level that isn’t elite and professional.

    “Players are training off their own back, we’re not contracted at the moment, a lot of people are training so that they can get to the line and be as elite and professional as they can. To say that is an elite comp sets an expectation that we wear and we try and offset by training our guts out for nothing at this time of year.

    “We’re signed up as contacted players but they don’t kick in until November to April and outside of that you’re an unpaid, uncontracted player. But you don’t just get to November and flick the switch and say, ‘I’m a professional athlete’.”
    https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/...03-p4zva9.html

    Well done AFEL at pissing off half your supporter base. Not happy Jan!
    Wake me up when we get to heaven, let me sleep if we're going to hell

    Good luck, for your sake I hope heaven and hell are really there, but I wouldn't hold my breath

    And we all found heaven - 2016 Premiers!

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  3. #2
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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    Quote Originally Posted by Daughter of the West View Post
    https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/...03-p4zva9.html

    Well done AFEL at pissing off half your supporter base. Not happy Jan!
    Half your supporter base? I doubt it. Having said that it is a stupid move. Should have gone to a 10 or 12 week season

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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    Eight weeks seems not to justify the amount of training I am sure these ladies are going to do. Was the high injury count last time around a factor I wonder?
    You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. ― Epicurus

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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    Quote Originally Posted by Topdog View Post
    Half your supporter base? I doubt it. Having said that it is a stupid move. Should have gone to a 10 or 12 week season

    Half of the supporter base of the AFL I think.
    Have you been reading those Roddy Doyle books again, Dougal!?


    I have, yeah Ted, you big gobshite

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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    Quote Originally Posted by Twodogs View Post
    Half of the supporter base of the AFL I think.
    That was what I was getting up, but on reflection, half of the supporter base of the AFL are likely not invested in AFLW.

    I'm pretty peeved however. These women are asked to bust their arses, in many cases take time out of work and possible even move states, act like professional athletes for a minuscule amount of time and are then panned for not playing to a high enough standard. You can't have it both ways.
    Wake me up when we get to heaven, let me sleep if we're going to hell

    Good luck, for your sake I hope heaven and hell are really there, but I wouldn't hold my breath

    And we all found heaven - 2016 Premiers!

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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    How about that head pat of a response from Gil?

    Unfortunately this has devolved into yet another example of the AFL squeezing every drip of profit from a social cause before giving up at the point of having to show actual support.
    - I'm a visionary - Only here to confirm my biases -

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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    How much input have Foxtel and Channel 7 had in this so that the AFLW season doesn't collide with their cricket coverage. I'm not sure they're too worried about the Tennis now that it's on Channel 9.

    It reeks of more policy on the run from head office.

    And Gil, the World Cup doesn't run for 4 weeks. The Finals do, but the tournament itself is at least 2.5 years in the making. Stick to talking about what you know best Gil....... and when you work out what that is, keep it to yourself.
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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    I also think this is half arsed. Give the girls a full comp. This could very well be behind the scenes trialling. I still think they can run the comp as curtain raisers to the men's game.
    Media just need to setup a little earlier to cover it. The ground is booked for football so there are no clashes.
    Head office is just ruining the game at all levels.
    It will soon be time to get the mob and hand out the pitch forks because some people need to be moved on.
    Don't piss off old people
    The older we get the less "LIFE IN PRISON" is a deterrent...

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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    I used to love the curtain raiser back in the day. Hate AFL management.
    You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. ― Epicurus

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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    I am guessing about half or more people who love footy do support women’s footy and all of them would support a fair comp. Wake up AFL HQ and consult first before floating half baked stupid ideas publicly. I would definitely attend curtain raisers-have dine so in past and loved it. Would need more marketing effort from clubs and AFL though and an understanding - i’d guess - that some who watch women’s game may not want to stay for men’s game (support different club etc).

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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    Quote Originally Posted by craigsahibee View Post
    How much input have Foxtel and Channel 7 had in this so that the AFLW season doesn't collide with their cricket coverage. I'm not sure they're too worried about the Tennis now that it's on Channel 9.

    It reeks of more policy on the run from head office.

    And Gil, the World Cup doesn't run for 4 weeks. The Finals do, but the tournament itself is at least 2.5 years in the making. Stick to talking about what you know best Gil....... and when you work out what that is, keep it to yourself.
    I honestly stopped reading when I read the World Cup bit. The most absurd comparison he could have possibly used.

    Yet more proof that the AFL is paying lip service to the women's game. I'm honestly starting to wonder why they even bothered.

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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW


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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    So the AFL are doing their utmost to avoid the elite girls competition clashing with the start of the men’s season and yet Gil is happy to back a 17/5 season where there will be largely 5 weeks of sub standard, meaningless games against the bottom 6 cellar dwellers leading into the finals series. He’s also comfortable with creating trial games within the men’s premiership season to test out a bunch of possible rule changes. Ohh but remember the “there is no bigger priority than the AFLW”. Really Gil.

    AFL hypocrisy at work again.

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  21. #14
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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    Quote Originally Posted by Doc26 View Post
    So the AFL are doing their utmost to avoid the elite girls competition clashing with the start of the men’s season and yet Gil is happy to back a 17/5 season where there will be largely 5 weeks of sub standard, meaningless games against the bottom 6 cellar dwellers leading into the finals series. He’s also comfortable with creating trial games within the men’s premiership season to test out a bunch of possible rule changes. Ohh but remember the “there is no bigger priority than the AFLW”. Really Gil.

    AFL hypocrisy at work again.
    I think that's the thing that gets me most rules, the "no bigger priority" line.

    By all means try and talk it up, but please Gil, don't feed us lines that are demonstrably not true.

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    Re: Pearce angered by AFL's 'gimmicky tournament' treatment of AFLW

    Gil is so preparing himself for a life in politics after this. It comes out in every cause he espouses and every word he utters (and doesn't utter). I couldn't tell you which side though. The Gil party I expect.
    Have you been reading those Roddy Doyle books again, Dougal!?


    I have, yeah Ted, you big gobshite

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