By Libby Birch
It takes time to develop a team from the ground up. It takes seasons to grow structures and game plans around a core group of players. As we often see in the men’s game, players recruited via the draft are not always picked for the now; they are chosen for their potential for growth, with an eye on the future team.
This year in AFLW, four teams have put an elite side together with only four months’ notice – Sydney, Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide. A massive ask for the players, staff and clubs.
Aine McDonagh celebrates a goal with the Hawks in their win over West Coast.Credit:AFL Photos
Thinking back to season one in 2017, everyone was on a level playing field. The eight inaugural teams were starting from scratch, with nothing but potential ahead of them. There was no benchmark of performance at AFLW level, and therefore the only direction was up.
Since 2019, 10 teams have entered the competition. That is 300 players over the course of three years. Geelong and North Melbourne entered in 2019. Gold Coast, Richmond, St Kilda and West Coast entered in 2020.
We are only just starting to see the likes of Geelong, who have always set up so well defensively, now having the added ability and method to counterattack and score quickly. Richmond, who have always applied high pressure around the ball, have added depth to their midfield in Grace Egan and high metres-gained players in Eilish Sheerin and Maddie Shevlin.
Because of these additions over the course of seasons, both teams have become consistent performers in the top eight. They are challenging the best sides in the competition; unfortunately, the noise over recent weeks has been about the score blowouts.
Crows superstar Ebony Marinoff tackles Port Adelaide’s Hannah Dunn in the first AFLW Showdown.Credit:AFL Photos
This isn’t because players aren’t up to the level, or that the skill level is just not there. Nor should it be attributed to a sexist narrative, that the women’s footy is boring, predictable, and one-sided. It’s as simple as clubs having less time in the competition to develop well-functioning teams, depth on their lists and solid game plans.
It’s not as easy as saying why can’t the new teams learn from the mistakes that the inaugural sides made. Teams and clubs must endure experiences that are often uncomfortable and uncompromising to grow. That’s life and that’s sport.
We have seen this time and time again in the men’s game. After being demolished by teams for years and years, the Bulldogs and the Demons rose to premiership success. The concept is the same, although these men’s sides have been around for 100 years compared to four months, with full-time athletes for many years.
As players and fans, we know football can be brutal, and for Port Adelaide’s AFLW team it was last round. The first Showdown, with 20,000 people attending, was another dominant display by a far more experienced Adelaide. But let’s have some perspective, this is a three-time premiership team that has played together for seven years, while Port Adelaide came together for the first time only four months ago. The round six game between North Melbourne and Sydney produced a similar result.
The question has been raised: how do we fix this? The answer is: There is nothing to fix. The competition simply needs time and assistance from the AFL with ongoing equalisation, including priority draft picks. This also requires understanding of the long-term vision we are trying to accomplish.
Yes, 18 teams was a big leap this year, but it needed to happen in order for the game to grow and to welcome more fans. Over the following seasons, the new teams will find their feet, get more depth on their lists with every draft and achieve small milestones along the way. Hawthorn are already starting to show what they are made of, only six games in, and they have the opportunity to win their third game in a row this weekend.
The Giants, who have had their majority of their side taken by the inclusion of the Swans and other expansion sides, showed heart after a 96-point defeat to beat Carlton last Saturday.
As the old saying goes, patience is a virtue. Forget the score, let’s look at the battles within games that will forever excite fans.
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