AFLW season opener between Richmond and Carlton tipped to draw bumper crowd
Excitement is building ahead of the start of the 2020 AFL Women’s season with the league bracing for a full house at Princes Park to watch Richmond’s first game against Carlton.
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The AFL is bracing for a near-capacity crowd for the opening game of AFL Women’s at Ikon Park next Friday.
Richmond will play its first-ever AFLW game on February 7 against the Blues and league women’s football boss Nicole Livingstone said plans were in place for crowd numbers that could mirror those seen at the competition opener in 2017.
“We don’t talk about lockouts — we would like to get to capacity,” Livingstone said.
“We are preparing for capacity and everything’s in place for that. We’ll have a screen on the northern lawn, in case the overflow needs to go out there.
“What we hope is that the Tiger Army does march down Royal Parade and really gets behind them.
“They had a win against West Coast in their practice match, and they looked good. To see Katie (Brennan) flying and Sabs (Frederick) was great … it looks good for the Tigers.
“Hopefully with Carlton’s huge support network, we get a lot of people coming to Ikon Park.”
The match will not be ticketed, with the only matches to be ticketed this season being the bushfire relief match, the derby between West Coast and Fremantle in Round 2 and three double-headers with Marsh Cup games.
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The AFL has announced that female players will have access to dedicated development managers at every club under a landmark deal with BHP.
The three-year deal — understood to be worth in the ballpark of $5 million — is believed to be one of the biggest in women’s sport in Australia.
The arrangement – which was a specified element of the recent collective bargaining arrangement – will see all 14 AFLW clubs employ a dedicated women’s player development manager to specifically assist female players with their careers and development.
The BHP partnership also includes the AFLW umpiring and coaching academies.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan described the partnership as a “genuine game changer” for women’s football.
Livingstone said it endeavoured to “release the pressure valve” for players.
“We’re constantly looking at how do we actually release the pressure valve that little bit for our players while they’re pursuing what they love and what they’re being paid to do,” she said.
“To actually have those resources in there, it’s not actually looking at the craft of the game and the skills of the game, or even the mental health part of it.
“This is specifically about trying to ensure that players are thriving. From a workplace point of view away from the clubs, whether they need assistance from an education point of view. I acknowledge that all of the players want to be full-time, but while we’re working our way to eventually one day getting there, we need to make sure that we’re still focusing on what life looks like.”