Josh Jenkins’ tweet about AFLW and NFL seasons doesn’t go well

ADELAIDE forward Josh Jenkins has walked into a Twitter firestorm by weighing in on the length of the AFLW season with a misguided parallel to American sport.

ADELAIDE forward Josh Jenkins has walked into a Twitter firestorm by weighing in on the length of the AFLW season.

The Crows goalkicker, who was aplauded for his honesty last weekend when he admitted his matchwinning goal against Port Adelaide might have hit the post, has turned into an online villain with a misguided tweet.

VICTIM SPEAKS: BRAYSHAW SAYS GAFF IS ‘A GOOD BLOKE’

ROUND 21: HERALD SUN EXPERT FOOTY TIPS

Current AFLW stars and former AFL players were among those lining up to smash Jenkins for comparing the two-year old women’s competition to America’s giant National Football League.

They also have 32 teams... https://t.co/2dGPEC9RlX

— Chloe Molloy (@chloemollloy) August 9, 2018

Jenkins tweeted in response to a comment by Daisy Pearce on radio that every AFLW team should play at each other once during the season, even after the competition expands to 10 teams next year.

Jenkins tweeted: “The NFL do not play everyone else once and it’s a pretty meaningful competition.”

He quickly received a string of replies pointing out that it was an unusual parallel to draw given the NFL has 32 teams divided into eight conferences.

Each NFL team plays 16 regular season games before playoffs featuring 12 teams over four weeks. The competition is also almost a century old and its top players can earn more than $100 million in a season.

Jenkins responded to the furore by tweeting “The Twittersphere loves to jump to conclusions!” but it failed to dampen the outrage.

That you've had a shocker?

— Lloyd Perris (@LloydPerris) August 9, 2018

A following retweet indicated Jenkins wasn’t taking sides in the current debate about the length of the AFLW season, but former Swan Brandon Jack replied that perhaps Jenkins would be better off supporting AFLW players “instead of seeming to insinuate they should be content with what’s happened”.

The length of the 2019 AFLW season is yet to be decided but a widespread backlash has forced the AFL to back away from a possible six-round season plus finals.

Players are pushing for nine home-and-away rounds.

Jenkins should have learnt from AFL boss Gillon McLachlan’s roasting after he said on radio a week ago: “The (FIFA) World Cup goes for four weeks, you wouldn’t call that a Mickey Mouse tournament.”

Just wondering if you’d be happy to do all of your preseason training and play 6 games @JoshJenkins24 ? https://t.co/Xtg4TPZfKp

— Kate McCarthy (@kateemac9) August 9, 2018

MORE AFLW NEWS

Originally published as Josh Jenkins’ tweet about AFLW and NFL seasons doesn’t go well