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Topic: AFLW-Raising the skill level. (Read 5263 times) previous topic - next topic
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AFLW-Raising the skill level.

I was watching the Women play in the Rugby League World Cup the other day, and I've seen a couple of women's cricket games in the last week or two.

It may just be my perception but the 'gap' in skill level between the women and men in those two sports seems a lot smaller than our game.

I kind of understand the Rugby League.
Women have been playing a high level of 'touch football' since Adam was a boy.
That sport would have pretty solid participation levels.
Skills and positioning in that game transfer easily to the game involving tackles.

Participation and the depth of the player pool are also factors.
It's hard to find specific figures.
AFLW is still very much in its infancy.
The skill level is one reason some folks express a reluctance to embrace the game.
The skills seem (to me) to be improving.
Is it just a matter of being patient?

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #1 –
Quote from: Lods – on
Is it just a matter of being patient?
Hopefully.

To me at the moment the AFLW is yet to lose it's "We want to play like the men" ethos. Most of those other sports have been around a long time and the tactics and structures have evolved to suit the participants. At the moment the AFLW is just trying to clone the men's game with male structures and tactics, it's a desire that will eventually die off in the participants, it is also possibly driven by a sub-culture in AFLW that is also perhaps in the early stages of starting to wane as well.

I expect to see many more Mimi Hill and Abbie McKay type players become the dominant part of AFLW, and at that stage it can evolve naturally as a game using tactics that suit the playing lists. For me the more is becomes tactically like Gaelic footy, based on speed, skills and agility, the better it will be for the girls to put on a show.
"Extremists on either side will always meet in the Middle!"

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #2 –
How many players on a cricket team lods? How many teams?
Ditto rugby.

Aflw has exploded onto the scene and expanded to over double its size in the space of 7 seasons.

The girls coming through now have only seen aflw fro. The age of 11 or so.
When we have girls coming through who have been watching it since they were like 6, then we'll see dramatic improvement.

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #3 –
Quote from: kruddler – on
How many players on a cricket team lods? How many teams?
Ditto rugby.

Aflw has exploded onto the scene and expanded to over double its size in the space of 7 seasons.

The girls coming through now have only seen aflw fro. The age of 11 or so.
When we have girls coming through who have been watching it since they were like 6, then we'll see dramatic improvement.

That's kind of the point I was making ;)

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Lods – on
That's kind of the point I was making ;)
I know, i was just backing that up and answering the question (albeit rhetorical) that it IS just about being patient....and why.

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #5 –
It’s talent and skills but also a big mental block to be overcome.
AFLW sees some pretty big, hard hits dished out and frankly most women are not mentally ready for it.
The cows, Lions and Dees dish out loads of hard hits that batter and intimidate, they are a step above and ahead of the rest.
Let’s go BIG !

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #6 –
Quote from: northernblue – on
It’s talent and skills but also a big mental block to be overcome.
AFLW sees some pretty big, hard hits dished out and frankly most women are not mentally ready for it.
The cows, Lions and Dees dish out loads of hard hits that batter and intimidate, they are a step above and ahead of the rest.

That's an interesting point.
I remember back in the days before a national competition watching underage football and even SANFL and thinking that the skills on display were superior to what was on show in the VFL.

It wasn't until later that I realised the skills 'looked' superior because the players in those secondary competitions had more time and less pressure applied.
The VFL was a whole step above in terms of physicality and pressure.

Even in our dark days, many of the players we were critical of, in terms of their disposal, were probably 'deadly accurate' on the training track when the pressure wasn't the same as in a match.

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #7 –
I reckon AFL W might need smaller grounds.  Bring the boundary and goal posts in by about 15 metres and the spectacle might improve.
"everything you know is wrong"

Paul Hewson

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Thryleon – on
I reckon AFL W might need smaller grounds.  Bring the boundary and goal posts in by about 15 metres and the spectacle might improve.
Ive been banging on about this for years. The ground is too big for players that on average only kick 30-35metres at best. Shorter grounds will at the very least up the scoring which imo is one of many of the issues facing the girls. Games where 2 or 3 goals is enough to win the game is nonsense for our great game. 

The skills should improve as the years go on but the kicking power of the womens will never match the mens so things should be adjusted to canter for that.

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Thryleon – on
I reckon AFL W might need smaller grounds.  Bring the boundary and goal posts in by about 15 metres and the spectacle might improve.

Yeah, nah!

Just add another two players to each team and the game will flow 🙂
It's still the Gulf of Mexico, Don Old!

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #10 –
You want the standard raised then let the better skilled ladies train with the men for certain drills.
Seen it happen in Basketball at club level and the improvement was dramatic in the women's game.
Bit like Education where if you put struggling kids in the same class as the star pupils some of the strugglers will be dragged up a level.

Erin Philips was a very good basketballer  and professional athlete who made the switch in codes and along with her father's background in football helping her has showed where the standard can be but every team probably needs a core group of similar standard players to drag the other players up a level.
 

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #11 –
Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on
Seen it happen in Basketball at club level and the improvement was dramatic in the women's game.
I can see it working after they get to AFL level or perhaps at least to VFL level, beyond that it was tried in Unders at amateur level a few years back and was an unmitigated disaster. But I can understand it working in basketball or soccer given the lower level of physical contact.

I think the AFLW problem is clearly that the girls need different game styles to the men, before we can see them shine. The NRLW is a good example, girls came out of a long standing touch rugby competitions, and as a result the NRLW tactics were different from the get go and the teams and tactics looked more polished from the start. Slick skills, fast movement, no hesitation, well organised.

As much as I am a booster for AFLW, much of it still looks like U13s footy, packs of players, inability to clear stoppages, low scoring. That game scenario leaves the competition prey to any team that has one or two dominant players, like Erin Philips. Sort of like when a kid like Weitering in U13s would play 1/2 a game for his club then another 1/2 for the opposition!
"Extremists on either side will always meet in the Middle!"

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #12 –
Quote from: northernblue – on
It’s talent and skills but also a big mental block to be overcome.
AFLW sees some pretty big, hard hits dished out and frankly most women are not mentally ready for it.
The cows, Lions and Dees dish out loads of hard hits that batter and intimidate, they are a step above and ahead of the rest.

Watching a player go off in tears after a decent hit is purely an AFLW phenomenon and I'm not sure that it will change markedly.  Of course women don't tear up when thumped in a martial arts contest but they're there to be hit and hit back (thanks Warren!).  Bing hit is not the primary objective of footy.

When the other Prespakis was cleaned up by friendly fire, our (then) Prespakis stopped to check on her while the play was going on.  Understandable, but not what you'd see from the Curnow brothers.

I think that we are one of the better teams at dealing with heavy knocks.  Our girls rarely stay down for long and I can't recall any tears.  We dish out a fair bit of punishment too, but are way off the pace when it comes to outright thuggery.

AFLW will always suffer from a lack of penetration from kicking and handballing.  Precision may be down but that can improve, the power to kick 50m or handpass without looping the ball won't develop.  That's where an AFLW-specific gamestyle needs to accommodate shorter kicking and slower handpassing.
It's still the Gulf of Mexico, Don Old!

Re: AFLW-Raising the skill level.

Reply #13 –
Quote from: DJC – on
I think that we are one of the better teams at dealing with heavy knocks.  Our girls rarely stay down for long and I can't recall any tears.  We dish out a fair bit of punishment too, but are way off the pace when it comes to outright thuggery.
Funnily, I suspect our stoic team suffers because of this.

We don't stack it on when we get hit like some opponents we just get on with the game, but we get tagged as bullies and get an unfair rub of the green because of it!

Personally, I'd much prefer a team like ours ahead of a team that flops!
"Extremists on either side will always meet in the Middle!"