AFL 2023: North Melbourne skipper Emma Kearney says bigger footballs could unlock better women’s games

Amid rule changes and game tweaks, North Melbourne skipper and AFL Women’s veteran Emma Kearney has an idea that she reckons will change the game.

Club captains launch the eighth season of AFLW. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

North Melbourne captain Emma Kearney is advocating for AFL Women’s to be played with larger footballs.

Kearney joined fellow AFL Women’s captains at Marvel Stadium on Monday to launch the eighth season of the competition, with the league announcing AFLW prizemoney would increase by almost $500,000.

She also works alongside North Melbourne men’s senior coach Alastair Clarkson as a development coach and said her time in the men’s program had provoked her thought that a bigger sized football could help the women’s game.

“I put it to the AFL, but changing the size of the ball (would be one change I would make). Before AFLW, we played with a 4.5 (size ball), which is a women’s size ball,” the 33-year-old said.

Emma Kearney, right, says increasing the size of the football used by women’s players could increase the skill level.

“For whatever reason, they changed it to a 4 (for AFLW). Since working in the men’s program and kicking a size 5 around, although it’s bigger in my hands, it’s a lot easier to kick and you get more penetration and it doesn’t sort of float in the breeze as much as (the other) ball.”

Kearney said she had taken the idea to the league which “took it well and they’re actually trialling it”.

“If we can trial a bigger-sized football (in actual competition), I reckon it would improve the overall skills of AFLW,” the premiership player said.

While the league is yet to agree to a pay deal with women’s players, it announced on Monday that in addition to the McLelland Trophy, which offers clubs a shot at $1 million for the highest tally of premiership points across men’s and women’s competitions – with double points for AFLW games – it had increased season eight prizemoney to $1.1 million, to be split between the competition’s top eight teams.

Emma Kearney, second from right in back row, at the 2023 AFLW Captains Day at Marvel Stadium.

In an agreement resolved last month to allow this season to go ahead, the AFL opted to keep the upcoming season at 10 games plus finals, though Kearney – a long-time advocate for an increase in season length – said the benefits to boosting games was evident.

“Most players in the competition, we want to play all teams at least once,” she said.

“West Coast we’ve only played (against) once, and we’ve been in the competition for four seasons.

“The more games we play, the better we’re going to get because we’re playing at the highest level. It takes time to jell and 10 games is not enough to do that.

“It’s cruel when you have girls who might have a soft-tissue injury or a broken limb – they could potentially miss the whole season or at least half of it based on that injury.”

Negotiations remain ongoing for a new pay deal with the hope that the number of women’s games will increase from next season, though season length remains a key sticking point in talks.

“The AFL fixture is never going to be (completely) equitable,” Kearney said.

“But to have it a little bit more equitable, playing every team once would be beneficial.”

Originally published as AFL 2023: North Melbourne skipper Emma Kearney says bigger footballs could unlock better women’s games