VFL Women’s players ‘dudded’ by cancellation of season
The four-team ‘Super Series’ has been “ill-thought-through” and women’s football has ”copped a real kick in the teeth”, says VFLW commentator Peter Holden.
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VFL Women’s players have been “dudded’’ by having their season reduced to a four-team series, leading women’s commentator Peter Holden says.
The AFL yesterday confirmed the season had been cancelled owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead there will be a series of matches in September.
The AFL said 120 of the VFLW’s best players would make up four teams, with each playing three games.
Standout players from the series will then figure in an All-Stars match.
“We look forward to seeing the most talented players compete in the VFLW Super Series and hopefully see many of those women drafted ahead of the 2021 NAB AFL Women’s Competition,’’ AFL head of talent pathways and state league competitions Tristan Salter said in a statement.
“In line with the variations to the men’s competition this year, the focus for both VFL and VFLW football in 2020 is to ensure talent in both leagues are provided with the best opportunity to develop as footballers and ultimately reach the elite level.
“All levels of the game across the country have been impacted by the health pandemic this year. While we would prefer to provide a standard season of women’s and men’s state league football, this outcome ensures an opportunity for many players to continue their journey in the football pathway.’’
But Holden, a commentator with Women’s Australian Rules Football Radio, said it was a disappointing result for the players.
“It has been ill-thought-through, there has been very little communication and it again shows how Victorian women’s football has been poorly managed over the last couple of years,’’ he said.
“All the concern is around the men’s game. The women’s game is treated as an afterthought.’’
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Holden said there was no reason why an abbreviated VFLW season couldn’t go ahead.
He said Darebin and Williamstown were stand-alones, and Hawthorn and Essendon had only VFLW teams, allowing a four-team competition to be set up.
He said the sides could have played each other twice or three times, and even fielded reserves.
Holden said that would have been preferable to a small number of “exhibition games’’.
“I think they (players) have been dudded,’’ he said.
“For three months they’ve been asking questions and trying to find out what’s going on, what’s the plan, can AFLW players play or not, and they were left in the dark until 24 hours ago.’’
The AFL said the competition was unable to proceed in its normal format because 10 of the 12 VFLW clubs were affiliated to an AFL club.
AFL protocols permit only approved players and staff who form part of the current AFL program to attend their club venues.
Holden said the AFLW clubs with VFLW teams could have participated by using other grounds or looked at temporary alignments with VFL clubs.
“If they lined up with the same format as the VFL men’s, you would have had eight sides and instead of the women playing a total of seven games, it would have increased to a possibility of 37 games and you would have doubled the list opportunities,’’ he said.
“As it stands you’re now going to have a fight on for players to get these 120 spots. We were going to have 12 VFLW teams and that’s now going to shrink down to just four teams. That’s a massive reduction. You’re going to have 120 available in theory, but not everyone in squads of 30 is going to get a game.’’
Holden also said the AFL’s approach to the VFLW was different to interstate leagues, with the SA, WA and Queensland competitions saying AFLW players would be available.
He said a lot of women were also going to miss out on football at community level with the Northern and Eastern leagues calling their seasons off.
“Women’s football in Victoria has copped a real kick in the teeth,’’ Holden said.