Take your point Shawny but we have a few players who lose interest when it comes to manning up some players....Ed Curnow excepted, I guess Ed getting his larynx damaged via Dusty probably doesnt encourage the rest of our blokes to want to mix it when the umps ignore his raised "dont argue" fend off's.
But it seems that it was Cotchin who got Ed in the throat.
Whoever does play on Dusty needs to work on applying a chicken wing tackle to the fend off arm.
We usually do leave Dusty...our players dont want to stand anywhere near him, actually saw Gibbs trying to swap players so he didnt have to man him up.......
Or was he trying to get the designated minder to do his job; I don't really see Gibbs as the right match up for Dusty, not that we have to worry about that anymore
I'm in two minds about how to deal with Dusty. I think Thry has a point about not being Dusty-centric; stop his team mates and his influence will be limited. However, I don't think he can be left to run riot, particularly when he goes forward.
I reckon Alex Silvagni could be the man for the job, but perhaps only when Dusty goes forward. A tag team of Ed Curnow, Kennedy and perhaps Byrne could put some pressure on him in the midfield.
A two week ban for the kick to the groin seems about right in a short season.
If it had been the men I'd expect 3 or more, but 2 out of 7 or so AFLW games is a hefty penalty and appropriate.
I think that it's too lenient LP.
I realise that it's a short season but kicking an opponent, and particularly in the groin, deserves a more severe penalty. It looked bad and just the thing to stop mothers letting their daughters play footy. The AFL made a lot of noise about coming down hard on AFLW players that punch and they've let D'Arcy off with a slap from a wet lettuce leaf.
I would have suspended her for the rest of the season.
One mitigating factor is that she was given an almighty wedgie that should have earned her a 50 metre penalty. If that was paid in a timely manner, she probably wouldn't have kicked. The umpires seemed reluctant to pay obvious frees and 50m penalties. Perhaps they are umpiring to instructions. If so, the instructions need to change!
I wonder if the AFL took the ALFW seriously enough when planning. Some humble thoughts.
1. Free entry spanks of fear that there will be little interest. Many knew it would be popular. There should be a gold coin donation as entry, which goes to a reputable breast cancer research organisation/domestic violence support organisation. A magnificent opportunity to do some real good re women's issues, missed. But it's not too late. There is a dynamic opportunity here for the league to buddy up with women's issues organisations and for the players to become mentors etc. AFL marketing dept must be one of the most unimaginative and impotent in modern business.
2. Last touch free kick (boundary line) worked a treat, eh! They just don't get it, do they. The differences between male and female physiology is well said by others. But the AFL failed to take this into account. To speed up the game and get more scoring you only need to factor in the different body structures... so, tackling modifications to better suit women - for a start, no shirt-fronts, breasts don't do well with repeated blows. Like the head and genitals, harsh contact to the boozies should be penalised.
3. Get tougher on incorrect disposal. The number of free kicks that didn't happen in all 3 games was embarrassing. This should also apply in the men's competition. Look at replays of games a couple of decades ago or longer, if you were caught with the aggot whether you had prior opportunity or not, you were penalised. This will speed up both games. Once you take possesion, you'd better dispose of it by foot or handball... or else.
4. Absolutely the skills will improve in time. But it'll take some time as more funding goes to girls (up to 12 years) and teens and more teams and leagues are established.
5. Ball size is still not right. Confidence for the women / teens / girls will come when they can have more control over the ball in their hands - this will also improve skills (obviously).
Good points Baggers, particularly the gold coin donation and women's issues. The only reason I can think of for why this hasn't been done is the cost of collecting and processing donations. Perhaps a volunteer organisation could do it.
The size of the footy is an interesting issue. Women's hands are significantly smaller than men's and a smaller footy may be easier to handle and mark. However, my rudimentary knowledge of physics and aerodynamics suggests that the smaller the footy, the less distance it can be kicked
The AFL should really test proposed rule changes under match conditions before making changes. Surely it would have been possible to trial the last touch rule in a few VFLW games.
While much of that holds true for strength and power (doubtful we'll see any 60-70 metre kicks) the skill aspect should definitely improve as years go by. Holding on to marks, disposal,skills under pressure.... all those things.
I agree that skills will improve as will the ability to read the game. That should encourage a more free-flowing, less structured gamestyle.
Kicking and handpassing will remain a point of difference and I think that much smaller hands will mean that marking and ball handling will never become as clean, even with the Size 4 footy.
None of the above impacts on my enjoyment of women's footy
She just stabbed at that kick, she needs to kick through the ball, she knows how to....
I think that she is fine when kicking from a fair way out - and she would have to be one of the longest kicks in the AFLW - but seems to be uncertain when kicking from closer to goal.
I'm reminded of a conversation I heard on SEN (I think) some time back. A caller explained that he was responsible for developing the physical exercise regime for female recruits when the Australian Army decided to allow female soldiers to join most corps and services rather than being restricted to the WRAAC and nursing. After a couple of weeks, he realised that basing the physical exercise regime on that of male recruits was a huge mistake. Females obviously have significantly different musculoskeletal systems to males and were being injured trying to replicate the male recruits' exercise regime.
No matter how many seasons of AFLW there may be, most female players will never be able to perform anywhere near the level of male players. The NBL and WNBL comparisons have a much longer history and they are virtually different games. However, I don't mind watching WNBL (perhaps because they play like I did).
Anyone who expects AFLW to be the same as AFL will be sadly disappointed. Anyone who enjoys Australian footy, and can appreciate less power and more subtlety, will happily watch AFLW.
So far I have only seen the club song being sung with gusto and very brief highlights but I have listened to the dissection of the game by both the Outer Sanctum and Grandstand crews. They made some interesting observations:
The last touch rule has produced a counter-intuitive outcome with most play taking place in the corridor and increasing congestion and stifling scoring. Fancy the AFL getting a rule change wrong
The lights at Princes Park shine directly into the players' eyes and aren't conducive to clean marking.
There is a huge difference in skill level between the veterans (like Mo Hope) who are late starters and many of the 20 year olds who have grown up playing footy.
The pathways to footy are significantly different for males and females and the standard of AFLW will remain lower until the pathways converge.
Inside 50s are irrelevant in AFLW. Inside 30s are critical.
Many of the players have lost significant weight and, consequently, the ability to out body opponents.
And my favourite ... Sarah Hosking's comment "I'm glad I'm not a boy!" after D'Arcy kicked her in the groin
I disagree, but as I said each has there own thoughts based on their experiences. My managers ran about 25 to a team with usually 2-3 team leaders depending on the team leaders and complexity of the teams. Again that worked very well, but that is why I say each person's experience.
An infantry platoon has 33 soldiers; one lieutenant, one sergeant, three corporals and at least three lance-corporals; 25% of the platoon are leaders.
My son trains people in leadership and he works with a former AFL coach who spent a bit of time with Carlton. I suspect that my son's views on leadership are quite different to both your's and mine MIO. His colleague's views are probably different again
That has to be at best a wildly presumptuous assumption. 3 leaders for 42 or so players. That actually seems to be a very good number.
I hear what you are saying Paul, I just don't particularly agree. I think there are fairly good reasons to limit the number of leaders and have the message come through a small group of voices. Natural leaders will take it upon themselves to ensure their colleagues are living those values and they don't all need titles.
I also think the quality of leaders and their ability to get the message through to the group is a greater deal that what perhaps you do Paul. I agree it won't be the defining reason of our success or lack of it this year, but I think it makes a difference and is something we should be aiming to get right.
I had 45 staff and seven managers reporting to me and my 2iC. That worked extremely well. Of course, a footy team is not the same as a work organisation but leadership principles still apply.
Limiting the number of leaders is not conducive to good leadership.
Shes as Navy as I am Kruddler, and actually accompanies me to games, but lets face it, her priorities don't lie in watching footy and sometimes she makes those priorities mine.
They just don't get it, do they. The differences between male and female physiology is well said by others. But the AFL failed to take this into account. To speed up the game and get more scoring you only need to factor in the different body structures... so, tackling modifications to better suit women - for a start, no shirt-fronts, breasts don't do well with repeated blows. Like the head and genitals, harsh contact to the boozies should be penalised.
? She'll get suspended for the season for that effort.