Women’s footy tougher, better than I expected, says Adam Cooney

I ADMIT I was a women’s footy sceptic and worried it would struggle to live up the hype. Then I sat down to watch last night’s game. ADAM COONEY’S AFLW REVIEW

Emma Grant of Collingwood is collared by Brianna Davey.

AN ALL-TOO familiar feeling crept up on me about 6pm last night.

In my playing days, Friday night footy was a ritual of mine. Dinner at the Cooney house is 6pm sharp. Around this time I usually felt the odd pang of nervousness hit me as I knew I had a game coming soon.

Friday night footy signalled the beginning of my working week, and I was always an interested excited viewer of whoever was playing on Friday night. It was a bit of a surprise when at around that same time yesterday these feelings returned.

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I began to pace up and down the house waiting in excitement and anticipation to witness the first game of footy for the year. I guess it will take a bit of time for the body and mind to adjust to the fact I won’t be running out myself at all this season. I didn’t care who was playing — man, woman, Carlton, Collingwood. I just wanted to see some footy.

We didn’t have to wait long to see some action. Bodies and ponytails were flying everywhere.

I posed the question to my two girls, aged five and 15 if they wanted to sit down with Dad to watch the girls play football. Unfortunately, Netflix won out (for now) so my eight-year-old son and I relaxed on the couch to watch the women go at it.

We didn’t have to wait long to see some action. The first contest signalled the beginning of a fierce and competitive comp; bodies and ponytails were flying everywhere.

It was more than I was expecting in terms of how hard the girls attacked the ball and ran their lungs out.

Carlton’s Shae Audley tackles Sarah D’Arcy.

At times the skill level was reminiscent of mine in the twilight of my career. Mongrels, turnovers and kicks out on the full were a regular occurrence, which is to be expected in the first round of a new competition given some of the women have only taken up the sport recently.

This competition has a bright future — in five years the skill and game development will improve out of sight as more and more girls sign on to play AFLW.

Emma Grant is collared by Brianna Davey.

I draw a similar comparison to the A-League. Some games were just about unwatchable in its first 2-3 years. Fast-forward to 2017 and the skill and entertainment is well and truly at an elite level.

I must admit I was slightly sceptical on the quality of the game leading up to it and given the hype surrounding it all I was worried it may not live up to expectations.

Well, I was wrong.

I was entertained from the first ball-up to the final siren.

I feel privileged to have been able to watch the birth of a new generation of stars who girls and women can look up to.

AFLW is here to stay, and will only get bigger and better.

In the end the Blues were too good for an overwhelmed Collingwood team, who at times played like a bunch of blokes, and I’m pretty sure their dads wear army boots.

Carlton fans enjoy their win. Picture: Rob Leeson