AFLW 2022: Coaches join drive to kick off future seasons in August

Two AFLW coaches have thrown their weight behind future seasons starting in August, even if it means some initial pain with potentially only four months between campaigns.

An August start date is garnering support. Picture: Getty Images

North Melbourne AFLW coach Darren Crocker and his West Coast counterpart Michael Prior are both in favour of future seasons starting in August.

The first six seasons of the AFLW have started in either January or February, but strong speculation this week suggested that 2022 would feature two AFLW seasons, with the next women’s campaign potentially starting just four months after April’s grand final.

And while Crocker conceded a four-month turnaround for his players this year before a new season began wouldn’t be ideal, especially considering their potential of going deep in the finals, he agreed that the competition as a whole had to bite the bullet to ensure AFLW seasons would always start in winter from 2022 onwards.

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Emma Kearney and her North Melbourne Kangaroos could find themselves looking down the barrel of a quick turnaround if next season kicks off in August.

“The (mooted) timing of the season is far better than what we’ve actually had to endure this year,” Crocker said after his team beat the Eagles by 39 points on Saturday.

“I must admit I have felt for the players, and that’s across the whole competition, having to play in sometimes 35-degree heat as part-time athletes — that’s a big ask on anyone.

“I think it’s been evident even right throughout the Covid period how much clubs and teams have had to adapt and individuals have had to adapt and be quite flexible and with the AFL potentially wanting to start another season in August, it’ll just be the clubs again having to adapt to that.”

Prior echoed Crocker’s sentiments with regards to games sometimes being staged in extreme heat.

“Maybe we’ll get more people to the game because supporters don’t want to sit there in 37-degree heat to watch footy, let alone (players) playing in it,” he said.

“I think everyone is looking forward to it and certainly our players are.”

Both Crocker and Prior were also enthused by the proposed new timing of the season lending itself to more AFLW games serving as curtain raisers to AFL matches in front of bigger crowds and on better grounds.

“We played the last game of the year last year up at the Gabba before Round 1 of the men’s season,” Crocker said.

Darren Crocker hopes the proposed new timing of the season lends itself to more AFLW games serving as curtain-raisers to AFL matches.

“The second half was a great atmosphere, there was a big build-up obviously to the men’s game but the crowd was up and about for the second half of our game and I just know our players really enjoyed that aspect of playing in front of a really good crowd and at a really nice venue.”

Prior added: “I’d be surprised if they’re not looking at it … I know any larger crowds, the girls really get a buzz out of playing in front of.”

But Crocker envisaged a host of issues that the league would have to deal with in playing two seasons so close to each other this year.

“The broader question is all the peripheral things that come with that: players who have long-term injures all of a sudden might have to miss two seasons instead of one season; the draft – you’re drafting 18-year-olds, or year 12 students, halfway through their year 12 when they’ve still got SACs and exams to come up; the expansion teams (Essendon, Port Adelaide, Sydney and Hawthorn) – I don’t know where they fit (or) how well-advanced they are with pulling things together and now we’re bringing the season forward,” Crocker said.

More immediately, the Kangaroos are preparing for another finals series, starting with a cutthroat qualifying final against either Fremantle or Collingwood next week, and Crocker believes the premiership race is wide open.

“I think it’s pretty tight and I think this season so far has shown that anyone on their day can actually get up and knock someone else off,” he said.

Fresh from registering a record-breaking 42 disposals against West Coast, Ash Riddell looms as a key figure to the Kangaroos’ premiership hopes.

“Right from Round 1 all the way now to the last round, she’s been really, really important to us,” Crocker said.

Give us a break: Warning on AFLW season move

The AFL Players’ Association has urged the league to consider the “practical realities” of shifting the next AFL Women’s season forward to August, as fatigued players prepare to combat the short turnaround following the most gruelling season in the competition’s brief history.

The AFL commission indicated to club presidents on Wednesday that it had given provisional approval to moving the season from the height of summer to August, beginning in the bye weekend before the men’s finals series.

The proposed shift has support of players, but many were caught off-guard that preparations to implement it this year are in full swing.

AFLPA general manager of player and stakeholder Brett Murphy said wider consideration had to be given to the proposal given the part-time nature of player contracts and the fact that a new collective bargaining agreement is yet to be agreed upon.

“We have been consulting with players on a move of season timing and, while most players are conceptually supportive of the proposed changes, there are practical realities that need to be addressed before any changes to season timing can be made,” Murphy said.

“The 2022 season has been the most challenging season to date for players due to the number of matches needing to be rescheduled at short notice, many of which have been rescheduled into weekday timeslots that have impacted on player careers outside football. It has also taken a mental and physical toll on players because of the compressing of matches and, in many cases, players having suffered a period of illness through Covid.

“For this proposed change to become a reality, there are a number of critical issues that need to be worked through by the industry including rules for expansion clubs, particularly in relation to players, a new CBA, as well sign and trade period details.”

Chloe Molloy says players need more warning of a major season change. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Many players have already exhausted their annual leave entitlements from their employers in order to complete the season, which will end its home-and-away fixture this weekend, meaning many will be forced to either call in favours, enter a negative leave balance or even make a choice between work and football if the August start date is agreed upon.

Teams that make the grand final – set for early April – could face as little as just six weeks down time before the next pre-season begins.

The league is yet to finalise sign and trade period dates.

With four new teams entering the competition next season and building their playing list, many players also face the prospect of moving states and finding employment at short notice.

Collingwood star Chloe Molloy – who recently opened up on the debilitating back injury that has plagued her season – is one that is craving rest, and said to make the shift for 2023 would have been more appropriate.

“More warning would be nice,” she said.

“Not this August, but next August would be.”

It also raises a significant question mark over next season for Molloy’s teammate Ash Brazill, who will be competing for Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham from late July to early August.

An August start date – while widely supported in a recent survey of players – would also mean another season on the sidelines for a raft of players, including stars Bri Davey, Brit Bonnici and Isabel Huntington, who have suffered ACL injuries this season.

It could also force a rethink for Irish players who make the trip to Australia to play AFLW, given the premier Irish Gaelic competition is held in the northern hemisphere summer.

Murphy said time would be a key factor for any season shift.

“For the coming season to start in August, players and clubs must have enough time to prepare for any changes that are being considered,” he said.

“We look forward to working with the AFL to deliver this certainly for players and the industry as soon as possible.”

Shock new start date gaining traction

An August starting date has been nominated as the right timeslot for the coming AFL Women’s season.

The AFL Commission gave the concept its provisional approval during a meeting with club presidents in Melbourne on Wednesday.

The proposed change would see the season begin on the weekend of the men’s pre-finals bye.

Clubs would have to give their tick of approval but players are understood to be in favour of a shift away from the stifling summer conditions of the current season, which was originally slated to start in December but was pushed back to January because of the Covid-19 crisis.

An August start would move AFLW away from competing against the Australian Open and Test cricket.

In the Wednesday meeting with club presidents, AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan also raised the prospect of a 24-round season for future men’s competitions.

Following the recent competitive nature of the AAMI Community Series, an extra round would have potential to earn big money in extended TV rights.

North Melbourne AFLW skipper Emma Kearney voiced her displeasure at a season being played during summer, declaring “it’s too hot”.

An August start date is garnering support. Picture: Getty Images

With four teams set to join the competition next season, a date for the league’s trade and sign period is yet to be finalised.

While it would mean a quick turnaround for clubs, with this season’s grand final set for April and the four new teams, many consider that while things could be rushed, they could make it work.

The first week of the men’s finals series — typically the last weekend in August — sees four matches played before a fortnight of only two games each weekend before the Grand Final is staged on the last Saturday in September, meaning a number of match slots are available to the league to fixture home and away AFLW games.

Under such a structure, the AFLW finals could be played in the prime football weather of spring, potentially after the jam-packed spring racing carnival is over.

The league and players association are set to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement in coming months which would include season length, though a jump to a full 17-game season is considered unlikely this year.

For players who have suffered ACL injuries this season — including stars Bri Davey and Izzy Huntington — it could unfortunately mean another season on the sidelines given their lengthy recoveries.

Kearney said this week that she would firmly support a move to a cooler timeslot.

“Not in the middle of summer (should we play it). It’s hot,” she said at the launch of KFC SuperCoach 2022.

“It’s far too hot.

“We’ve had conditions where we’re playing in 35-plus degrees, when we’re part-time athletes.

“I think the perfect timeslot would be that September through to December, straight after the men’s season.”

Originally published as AFLW 2022: Coaches join drive to kick off future seasons in August