Just saw Kirra Dib’s highlights from State of Origin on The Professor. Hard as nails, kicks goals and a sweet left to right pass. The works.
The AFLW model was about plundering other sports to find players. There was nothing grass roots about it. They essentially went out and bought a competition.
Perhaps their was something grassroots about it. In Newcastle a number of girls are playing AFL at schools I teach at. . So its made some impact at grass roots level with youngsters. Don't get me wrong. I don't rate the sport at all. I see it as a pumped up training run however it has gained female players in the Newcastle area. I do believe that the development of TRL" Touch Rugby League" will circumvent the AFL push but it needs to be done in a timely and comprehensive way with rugby-league's full endorsement.
imagine the buzz for the girls (sorry - women) if they played before G1 at Suncorp - iconic stadium, stadium probably half full with the early kick off, and for them to be able to watch the men's game in the crowd (or sideline seats?) afterwards. Fair chance the casual observer or someone who's not a fan of women's RL would be a convert
I reckon they'd rather play in front of 2k, 3k, 6k, 10k who are there to see them rather than a 'half full Suncorp' which is full of people there to see something else. The exposure argument is rubbish and shortchanges fans of the women's game. I'd be surprised if any of the women's players would want it over a standalone fixture.
Women's game/s need to be stand alone fixture(s). They are unique to themselves and the relevance of what is being achieved would be lost playing as a 'curtain raiser' to the men's game. Kinda my issue with the WNRL right now being 'curtain raisers' to the semi finals of the men - stand alone fixtures at suburban grounds that struggle to see love or regular footy. Dragons at Wollongong, Broncos from Dolphins Stadium, Easts from North Sydney Oval & the Warriors from wherever their base may be - Gosford? If they ever expand the comp, Souths play at Redfern, Wests at Campbelltown or Kirkham, Cronulla at Endeavour and so on.
I know of a lot of people that would have loved to see some of the NRLW games live but were prevented because all the tickets were sold to NRL semis fans
The NRLW started moving to independent venues in a small way in 2019 - and would've done the same if not for COVID this year.
