The impact of the condensed fixture can be reeled off like movie credits and points to administrators taking their eyes off the ball.
They have failed the participants for too long with poor decision-making, and AFLW players and coaches are frustrated.The AFL doesn’t seem to know what to do except play into the hands of the competition’s critics with marketing gimmicks rather than supporting those involved with a clear vision, belief, investment and certainty.
The condensed fixture, which finished on Sunday, is just the latest in a line of knee-jerk decisions that reduce certainty for those playing, coaching and, importantly, watching the game as well as diminishing opportunities for player development – an essential need of a competition that expanded too quickly. The AFL agreed to extend the length of the season by one match for 2024, but was not prepared to start earlier, or push further into cricket season, hence the exhausting fixture crunch.
A low football department cap forcing clubs to appoint part-time assistant coaches who need time off their day jobs to be at mid-week matches and prepare for them. This makes such jobs unappealing. We all know the best clubs create an environment for their players to perform in. But the list above works against that objective.
But the fixture is hopelessly compromised because of the short season, and the Cats sit outside the eight with a percentage of 100.9, jostling for position with Carlton, which has a percentage of 47.5.and Melbourne’s Kate Hore, as well as excitement machines such as Hawthorn’s Aileen Gilroy, are as good to watch as most AFL players.
That might mean a reduction in the salary cap to allow more money in the football department cap, so clubs can attract coaches from the Coates Talent League . The lifestyle and pay for a Coates Talent League coach is significantly better than it is for an AFLW assistant coach, who needs to work a non-football job while being involved in games played all over the place at variable times and in schedules that are uncertain from year to year.
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