Four rounds into the AFLW season and things are beginning to pick up as we begin to approach the business end of what is such a short season. After just four weeks however, there have been a number of talking points already in the third season of the women's league. Today, I'm going to highlight what I believe are the four biggest points so far in the AFLW Season.
There will be a few things that I've missed out on. I'll be talking a bit about Fremantle's resurgence in the next match preview, and of course the improvement in scoring has been noticed, but I think these four are worth talking about today. 4. North Melbourne's Recruiting
It has been a big point of discussion since North Melbourne began their recruiting drive last year. Some believe it is unfair how this team could raid several clubs and get away from it. North took four quality players each from the Brisbane Lions and Collingwood, as well as taking two talented on-ballers in Emma Kearney and Jenna Bruton from the Western Bulldogs, as well as another talented youngster in Daria Bannister, as well as players from Carlton and trading in a couple of players from Melbourne.
This isn't the fault of North Melbourne as they have been abiding the rules that were set by the AFL – and those rules say that either expansion club can take up to four players. Maybe in hindsight it wasn't the right thing to do. Collingwood have been the worst side all year so far, losing four key players to North Melbourne, as well as losing Christina Bernardi and Millie Milane to rival clubs and Chloe Molloy to injury. The Bulldogs are struggling at the present time, losing two in a row in convincing fashion and the jury is still out on Brisbane, despite leading Conference B after four rounds.
Right now, North Melbourne are the only side out of the 10 teams that have remained unbeaten after four games this year. Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich went on the record last year to suggest that North Melbourne have disrespected the spirit of the competition. Again, I’ll reiterate – North Melbourne have done nothing wrong here. Is there a moral grey area here? Perhaps there is, depending on who you ask, but North were well within the rules when they signed on all these players. If they flopped and were at a record such as 0-4 or 1-3 at this stage, we wouldn't be batting an eyelid.
However, when Richmond, St. Kilda, West Coast and the Gold Coast come into the side next year, you'd want to hope that they change the recruiting rules as they current rules would destroy other sides in the same way Collingwood has this year. This leads me to the next point perfectly. 3. Is The League Ready For Four More Teams Next Year? This is a tough one, as in the space of two seasons, the AFLW is going to expand from an eight-team competition to 14, with the inclusion of the four teams above coming into the fold in 2020. Since the league came to fruition in 2017 with the first-ever season, the standard of play has improved and has come some way. However, there is more room for improvement and the women that play this game will know this, and there isn't a doubt in my mind that they will continue to improve as the AFLW continues to evolve.
There are approximately 30 or so players in an AFLW roster – give or take a couple. There are around 300 players currently playing at an AFLW club, a further 120 or so come in next year. I can understand that there will be people sceptical about whether or not the standard of play in the women's league will be strained to a degree. Maybe it will a fraction due to the difference between the best players and those that are currently on VFLW lists training to get a spot on an AFLW list in 2020.
But hear me out here – I think if anything, the league will be just fine with these four inclusions. Richmond and St. Kilda – as the Southern Saints – fielded their own VFLW sides in 2018, they'll field them again this year and you'd have to say that there will be a huge bulk of players in each side that will play AFLW in 2020. I reckon they'll recruit in a similar vein to Geelong – they'll most likely get the best talent in the Victorian draft pool and if they're lucky, they'll snare a couple of really good players each. In the cases of West Coast and Gold Coast – both Western Australia and Queensland have a good base of women footballers to field two AFLW sides in each state.
The next big thing we need is an extended season, because let's be honest, holding a seven-week home and away season for a 14-team league is just not enough to let these women develop and grow. 2. The Knee Injuries
It's been a bit of an issue for a couple of years and it is going to stay that way until there is somewhat of a solution. It is no secret that female athletes are more likely to sustain ruptured Anterior Cruciate Ligament injuries than men – that's straight facts talking here. Last year it was the knee injuries to Carlton captain Brianna Davey and Western Bulldogs young gun Izzy Huntington that brought the issue of knee injuries in women's football to light – Huntington's was the second ACL injury she's sustained in her career.
So far, there have been five season-ending knee injuries that have happened in 2019. There were the pre-season injuries to Adelaide's Rhiannon Metcalfe and Geelong's Elise Coventry. Shae Sloane – who is the sister of Adelaide co-captain Rory – injured her knee on debut in round one against North Melbourne. Not even a week after her incredible debut game, Nina Morrison became the second number one draft pick in as many years to go down with a ruptured ACL. The latest player to go down with a season-ending knee injury is first-year Fremantle player Brianna Moyes in her debut in round three.
For me and AFLW fans alike, it really does suck that we get robbed of watching someone as good a talent as Nina Morrison, because she showed in her first round game that she can seriously play. It was the same thing with Huntington last year – she was going on a small rampage, kicking two goals in quick succession last year against Brisbane before going down – she hasn't played since, but she's close to returning. The AFLW are doing all that they can to try and reduce ACL injuries in the league, but until they can, this is a problem that will fester with several clubs and could potentially rob us fans of watching promising talent properly flourish.
1. The Conference Debacle
I've been saying it since the 2019 fixture was released last year and I'm not afraid to say it again. This whole conference idea – splitting the competition into two groups of five teams – is a damn joke. The most obvious statistic is this: Before Brisbane defeated the Bulldogs on the weekend, there have been seven games where a team from conference A has faced a team from conference B and all seven times has a conference A team won.
Now there are a few things that I certainly wasn't expecting to come out of conference B. I certainly wasn't expecting GWS to be 1-3 after four rounds and I was bit less surprised to see Brisbane struggle with just one win from three games before completely blowing the Bulldogs off the park. But the proof is in the pudding here – Conference A is stacked with sides such as North Melbourne, Adelaide and Melbourne who have all proven to be elite sides. Even Fremantle has shocked many by winning their first three games this season.
This was put in place by the league as something different, but what the hell is wrong with just putting all 10 teams in just one group and having the seven games? Obviously I would've loved to have each team play each other once, but apparently we can't have that as it will cross over with either the cricket and/or tennis or it will clash with the men's league. This conference system is pure rubbish, now matter how much the league will want to justify it, because at the end of it all the best four teams get to the Finals – two from conference A and two from conference B – but the way I see it, the best four teams in the league are from conference A and it will be extremely stiff that two of those sides won't make it come the end of the season.