{"id":812003,"date":"2026-07-20T10:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T10:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/812003\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T10:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T10:12:11","slug":"aflw-womens-game-australia-v-ireland-at-north-sydney-oval-not-scg-tickets-sold-out-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/812003\/","title":{"rendered":"AFLW women\u2019s game, Australia v Ireland at North sydney Oval. not SCG, tickets sold out, criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AFL<\/a> is refusing to move an international women\u2019s game to the Sydney Cricket Ground<\/a> despite widespread criticism over the choice of venue.<\/p>\n

Australia will take on Ireland in an historic international clash on August 1, with the game to be held at North Sydney Oval.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Blaithin Bogue of the Kangaroos poses with an Irish flag after winning the AFLW Grand Final.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

The capacity 9000 tickets were sold out quickly, leading to calls for the game to be moved to the SCG which could accommodate 48,000 fans.<\/p>\n

In 2019, the AFLW<\/a> grand final attracted 53,000 fans to the Adelaide Oval, suggesting there is enough appetite in the women\u2019s game to hold an international at a large stadium.<\/p>\n

But the AFL has refused to budge, and drew the ire of many over the weekend when a graphic was posted to social media with a list of Sydney pubs that will show the game on TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo advertise a list of pubs to go to and watch it instead baffles me,\u201d former player Lauren Arnell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re already telling people two weeks out, you can\u2019t come… I just feel like you\u2019re limiting the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ABC\u2019s panel on Offsiders on Sunday took aim at AFL House.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen is the AFL going to start backing the women\u2019s competition?\u201d host Abbey Gelmi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTelling them to go to pubs, honestly the way that they support the women\u2019s program is, by and large, being embarrassed by the NRL.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The NRL) support the women\u2019s program and give them a chance to be part of the big moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former NRL player Ryan Hoffman agreed the game should have been scheduled at the SCG to begin with.<\/p>\n

There are no AFL games scheduled to be played in Sydney on the weekend of August 1, leaving the larger venues free if needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you\u2019re going to do it, you go all out,\u201d Hoffman said on Offsiders.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou go the prestige of an international game and you put it at a prestigious ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

ABC journalist Marnie Vinall posted, \u201cFeels like a massive missed opportunity to go really big here\u201d, and many others took to social media to criticise the AFL.<\/p>\n

AFLW boss Laura Kane issued a statement to News Corp over the weekend deflecting from the furore.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sellout speaks to the excitement surrounding representative football on the AFLW stage, and we can\u2019t thank everyone who has got behind this historic clash enough,\u201d Kane said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled by the demand and can\u2019t wait for fans experience the atmosphere of a packed-out North Sydney Oval, but for those who missed out on tickets, the next best place to enjoy the action will be at one of our participating watch party venues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve worked with local venues to help extend the excitement beyond North Sydney Oval and give fans another way to come together and support their team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage fans to get along to one of the watch parties, wear their colours proudly and be part of what promises to be a special occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kane will front media on Tuesday at the AFLW launch, ahead of the season\u2019s first bounce on August 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The AFL is refusing to move an international women\u2019s game to the Sydney Cricket Ground despite widespread criticism…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-812003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812003","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=812003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}