first exp will only be 2-4 clubs...
afl knows it is on a winner however it also knows that the elite talent has to be built up, so that the games from a quality point of view get better..Hence why it deferred the expansion for 1 year.
Elite comp cant have teams kicking 20 points of less and while it is great they get elite talent from other sports, growing the game from grassroots is the key, thus improving the overall game which will attract more sponsors and more players
So a slow careful expansion is what the AFL will do to ensure its doesnt get killed off from itself..
Last year, I travelled up from Melbourne to see the Bloods play GWS. (Possibly the year before?)
The curtain raiser was a women's game between the Swans and Giants. Swans won!
I was therefore surprised when we didn't apply for one of the original licenses.
Is anyone able to tell me where the women who represented us that day came from? Was it a representative side from a local competition?
That match was the one of a series of women's exhibition matches last year, with the two teams for the Sydney game representing the best female talent in New South Wales and ACT (plus several American women who were putting themselves forward for consideration for the AFLW draft)). So I think both teams were formed by putting together a combination of women players drawn from various NSW and ACT clubs. That is, the players on the day for both teams didn't usually play together at the same club.
If you want to see who made up the Swans team, then the names and the clubs they came from are listed here:
Meet your women's team - sydneyswans.com.au
I believe the club has been upfront with the situation from the start. I also believe that even if we did put in a bid at the beginning of the process we would not have been granted a team. It was always going to go to GWS.
I have absolutely no problem with the clubs approach. The Academy is excellent news. What disappoints me is there are 2-3 excellent prospects in the NSW U/18 girls this year that will now have 10 year careers with GWS and that will keep happening until we get a team.
"At least two clubs � and possibly four � will be given the green light to join the AFLW in 2019."
"The AFL received bids from Essendon, Geelong, Gold Coast, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda and West Coast by the Friday afternoon deadline."
"The Sydney Swans made a submission indicating an interest in fielding a team in the future, providing they can provide appropriate training and administrative facilities."
Eight clubs submit bids for AFLW in 2019 - AFL.com.au
I do find it disappointing that we aren't launching an immediate bid, but I don't know enough about football administration and what it takes to run a club (including a men's team, a women's team and the academies) to know just how achievable it is. I know from my own work experience that there are always really great opportunities that have to be shelved because of a lack of resources, and that often people are not very happy about that.
Besides, what's wrong with women in Sydney playing for GWS? (Mods - please, please don't ban me! ) It would be great if Sydney (the city) had two teams, but at least we have one.
I'm extremely pleased the Swans are developing potential female players at the academy. Our club has always been strong on development of local talent and it's great to see this extended to girls and young women.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke
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