BringBackTorps
Club Legend
- Jan 5, 2017
- 2,963
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- AFL Club
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Everyone does NOT go away on holidays! I would only exclude Christmas Day, New year's Eve, & New Year's Day.I put in a week off for all teams between rounds 8 and 9. Playing on Dec 20-22 and Jan 3-5 with nothing in between equates to a substantial break compared to other sports.[Disagree. AFLW can be played EVERY evening of the week from 21 Dec. to 2 Jan., as Test cricket is not played in these evenings. Many people still want a footy fix during any time in summer]
And regarding crowds, BBL's numbers take off during school holidays, not sure there's any reason to be running scared of that period on the calendar.[Agree]
And for those leaving a city on holidays, there are possibly just as many out-of-town visitors coming to that city for their holidays. The Boxing Day Test series shows big crowds attend at this time (not that I'm suggesting AFLW matches should be played at simultaneous times with Test cricket -but evening times, after the cricket finishes, at 7pm, is fine).
It will be incredibly disappointing if this 6 week H & A proposal is persevered with. It is disrespectful to the AFLW, & it will cause a groundswell of opposition to the AFL. It is incomprehensible to me that the AFL could not forsee the anger this would cause. How widely did McLachlan consult on this issue? Does McLachlan have a tin ear? Is his judgement, inside a bubble, so poor? Where is Nicole Livingstone?
If McLachlan's suggestion is a such good idea, then how can it be explained that NO other prominent persons in the AFL, AFLPA, media - or players - suggested it before he did? Or should we simply now recognise that McLachlan is a genius, incomparable to other mere mortals?
"World Cup soccer is 4 weeks"? Its over 2 years. Its an embarassing & absurd analogy! The logical corollary of claiming the World Cup is an appropriate analogy is to argue the AFLW should, similarly, be played only over 4 weeks!
The AFLW should, of course, be a proper H & A comp., every team plays the other once, with a top 3 at least; & 2 Finals (Team finishing first straight into GF. Second plays, at home, the third team:winner into GF).
During Test cricket, and the Aust. Tennis Open Finals & BBL Finals, play the AFLW at times when there is no simultaneous clash. During school holidays, evening AFLW games any night of the week will attract a good crowd -particularly if played at traditional VFL, WAFL, SANFL or TSL grounds
If Ch.7 can't or don't want a full AFLW schedule (they are gaining cricket, but losing tennis), then, hopefully, Ch.9 or 10 can take the Rights -& promote the AFLW properly & respectfully.
EDIT:
Is the AFL and/or Clubs baulking at paying the players additional pro rata moneys, if they expand the season?
I hope not. They can find $180,000,000 pa to pay for the (non-player wage) bloated Football Departments.
Susan Alberti has stated, re the 6 wk ? H & A, "It is insulting to all women who aspire to play AFL". If Alberti is so strident in her opposition, she is unlikely to cower to the AFL -& will go on a media offensive, who will court her. The AFL is on the precipice of a major PR disaster -& will encounter a long-running firestorm.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl...osed-shorter-aflw-season-20180804-p4zvju.html
Can the AFL nominate one semi-professional elite H & A sporting competition in the world that only goes for 6 weeks, then 2 weeks of Finals? Probably not.
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