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\u2018PROBABLY DON\u2019T AGREE\u2019: SKIPPER SPEAKS ON FIXTURE AS DEBATE ROLLS ON<\/p>\n
Is the season being played at the right time of year, or should the fixture be moved \u2014 be it back to the summer or in line with the men\u2019s season?<\/p>\n
The debate continues as the AFL confirmed next season would run on the same timeline as last year. <\/p>\n
It means Round 1 will commence from the week starting Monday August 10, and the grand final to take place on Saturday, November 28. <\/p>\n
Herald Sun journalist Lauren Wood explained the AFL\u2019s scheduling call, noting the popular opinion. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been much conjecture about whether this is the right time of year to be playing AFLW. Now, the AFL certainly thinks so \u2014 they have this week locked in the 2026 season to sit in this time slot again,\u201d Wood began on Fox Footy\u2019s W Debrief. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the grand final to sit in the final week of November again, (and) start in that sort of couple of weeks before the men\u2019s season ends. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow, you talk to everyone across the industry, everyone naturally has an opinion on this. Most of the people I\u2019ve spoken to \u2014 players and club officials, and even people at AFL HQ \u2014 have been wondering whether this is the time for it, whether a return to summer should be a better option, whether it should be more in line with the men\u2019s season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlton captain Abbie McKay shared her preference, speaking in favour of the concept of more AFLW-AFL double-headers to draw in bigger audiences. <\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I mean, look, I probably don\u2019t agree with the summer side of things. I\u2019d prefer this time slot over that summer period, but I probably am also a big believer in the double-header suggestion,\u201d she told Fox Footy. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d love double-headers with the men\u2019s competition and (for the season to) kind of run throughout the men\u2019s competition. I just feel like it\u2019d draw more audience, a bit more engagement. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople that probably didn\u2019t mean to go but watched the last quarter (before the scheduled men\u2019s fixture) and thought \u2018oh, I\u2019ll come back for the women\u2019s game next week\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut I mean, we\u2019ve got to back the AFL if they think it\u2019s the right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Demons smash Swans at home in Melbourne | 02:01<\/p>\n
Wood shared her stance and explained the \u201cfooty fatigue\u201d aspect of why a tweak was needed, as well as an associated state-league issue. <\/p>\n
\u201cI, personally, would like to see it more in line with the men\u2019s season, whether they\u2019re at either end of the year,\u201d Wood said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think, particularly when we don\u2019t have the state-league competitions feeding in, we\u2019ve got players that are getting dropped and they can\u2019t play themselves into form \u2014 I feel like it is getting potentially a little bit lost at this time of year. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think there is a lot of footy fatigue around. I think (for) people that are really interested in AFLW, that (interest) is always going to be there. Summer was always very taxing, because pre-season would always fall over Christmas time, it was very, very hot. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think, Abbey, the suggestions of things like double-headers and more of that sort of drawing audience from all angles as you could do with footy \u2026 I think it could\u2019ve been at least tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fox Footy commentator Kelli Underwood gave her thoughts, later labelling the late-November scheduling of the grand final \u201cludicrous\u201d due to it clashing with the Ashes. <\/p>\n
\u201cHaving been involved in the competition right from the start and seeing them try this, I don\u2019t think January, February, March works as such,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s interesting they mention the metrics, and they won\u2019t broadcast obviously what the television ratings numbers are, but even just this weekend we had 4,000 (on Sunday) at Victoria Park, so that was the highest in five years. Arden Street had its biggest ever crowd, a record crowd yesterday which was about 3,300 I think \u2026 so, the crowds are there. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s way too many grounds, but I would like to see (the season) moved forward a month, so you get an extra month crossover with the men \u2014 the problem with that is the only clean air that you get is a Thursday night and a Friday night before the men\u2019s game starts. So, you\u2019re talking 5.30pm to 8pm sort of time, otherwise the ratings fall away when you\u2019re going head-to-head and the men take over. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut I love October because there\u2019s no other big sports on as such. Obviously, you\u2019ve got your horse racing, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily take away (from the women\u2019s game). I would love to see the grand final on cup weekend (the first week of November). <\/p>\n
\u201cI think long weekend, lock it in at Marvel and just say \u2018no matter what, it\u2019s going to be there\u2019 \u2026 I\u2019d love to see it on a Sunday night. This year it\u2019s sandwiched. The grand final, on November 29, is sandwiched between the opening two Ashes tests. That\u2019s ludicrous. That\u2019s way too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
AFLW Wrap: Lions and Tigers roar | 01:23<\/p>\n
TWO TASTY MOTY CONTENDERS FROM PIES-TIGERS<\/p>\n
We might have gotten a pair of genuine Mark of the Year contenders from the same game, and the panel of judges will have a torrid time making a final call if it comes down to the two. <\/p>\n
Richmond\u2019s narrow win over Collingwood on Sunday saw two absolute cracker grabs taken \u2014 both of which will surely come into calculations for the top prize come season\u2019s end. <\/p>\n
Tiger Sarah Hosking\u2019s courageous mark will be hard to beat after bravely going back with the flight of the ball to take a stellar mark and thwart a Collingwood forward foray. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe would have grown up watching the likes of Nick Riewoldt and Jonathan Brown doing their thing \u2014 incredible courage (going) back with the flight,\u201d Wood said in reaction. <\/p>\n
Abbie McKay added: \u201cOh absolutely. Very Sarah Hosking-esque, I would say. She\u2019s a very courageous player, has no fear, so I\u2019m not surprised she took that kind of mark.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Pies captain and Fox Footy\u2019s own Ruby Schleicher also put her name forward for the gong, flying high for an impressive grab over two Tigers. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe saw Sarah Hosking and said \u2018I raise you\u2019,\u201d said Underwood. <\/p>\n
But Blues sisters Abbie and Sophie McKay said it was Hosking\u2019s mark that they\u2019d pick out of the two. <\/p>\n
Mason Cox to leave Collingwood! | 00:29<\/p>\n
MAIDEN FINALS BIRTH LOOMS LARGE FOR SURGING RISER\u2026 BUT NOT BEFORE HUGE HEATCHECK<\/p>\n
A sixth straight win for St Kilda on the weekend has suddenly catapulted them into an unlikely top four finish, with their most recent victory coming over Abbie McKay\u2019s Carlton at the weekend. <\/p>\n
It now leaves them with one foot in a finals campaign for the first time in their club\u2019s history, led by coach Nick Dal Santo.<\/p>\n
\u201cDal Santo has got them on a six-game winning streak, which is quite extraordinary \u2014 they came bursting out of the blocks, they beat the Crows in that opening round, had a bit of a lull, but a big smile on Nick Dal Santo\u2019s face (now),\u201d Underwood said. <\/p>\n
McKay added: \u201cDisappointing night (from a Carlton perspective), definitely. We had control of the ball for a lot of the game but unfortunately couldn\u2019t score off the back of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
St Kilda now faces a massive challenge in North Melbourne on Sunday though, which has won a whopping 22-straight games.<\/p>\n
It goes without saying the Kangaroos sit well on top of the ladder with an eye-watering percentage of 317.7. Only once has Darren Crocker\u2019s side conceded more than five goals in a match this season, while they themselves have registered 50 or more points in every match.<\/p>\n
Should the Saints fall to North Melbourne on Sunday, they\u2019ll have one last chance to lock in a maiden finals birth against the Western Bulldogs, who themselves are hunting an unlikely top eight finish. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a \u201cludicrous\u201d AFLW fixturing issue that needs to be addressed. Plus, one game on Sunday produced two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[136886,638,136892,136874,64,63,689,55,639,136884,136896,135432,136885,136895,94870,136878,19099,136877,136881,11288,136891,23237,3231,19052,25043,136888,136887,15631,136875,647,13152,69018,677,136880,13214,136876,136883,8085,54243,85,1122,136882,136893,124751,136889,136890,136879,660,38790,3439,698,136894,3585],"class_list":["post-226275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-absolute-cracker-grabs","tag-afl","tag-american-mason-cox","tag-associated-state-league-issue","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-club-officials","tag-cup-weekend","tag-darren-crocker","tag-debrief-panel","tag-double-header-suggestion","tag-final-call","tag-finals-birth-looms","tag-finals-campaign","tag-fixture-issue","tag-footy-fatigue","tag-grand-final","tag-grand-final-date","tag-horse-racing","tag-jack-jovanovski","tag-jonathan-brown","tag-kelli-underwood","tag-key-winning-streak","tag-late-november-scheduling","tag-lauren-wood","tag-maiden-finals-birth","tag-melbourne","tag-nick-dal-santo","tag-nick-riewoldt","tag-oceania","tag-ratings-fall","tag-right-time","tag-scheduling-call","tag-season-scheduling","tag-six-game-winning-streak","tag-sophie-mckay","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-state-league-competitions","tag-television-ratings-numbers","tag-the-w","tag-tiger-sarah-hosking","tag-tigers-roaraflw","tag-time-slot","tag-victoria","tag-victoria-park","tag-western-australia","tag-western-bulldogs","tag-will-faulkner","tag-winning-streak"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}