Daisy Pearce says the impact of AFLW can’t simply be measured by a dollar amount as the women’s competition enters a critical juncture of its existence.
The AFLW’s 10th season will begin on August 14 when Carlton face off against Collingwood at Ikon Park and West Coast host Gold Coast in Perth later that night.
But the 10-year celebrations come amidst worrying reports the AFLW is losing $50m a year, with slumping crowd attendances and falling broadcast numbers adding to the concerns.
Pearce, who captained Melbourne to premiership success and is about to enter her second year as West Coast coach, is one of the AFLW’s trailblazers.
The 37-year-old was quick to point out that while the women’s competition might not be raking in the big bucks itself, it’s playing a vital role in growing the overall AFL pie.
“It doesn’t concern me,” Pearce replied when asked about the $50m figure.
“I mean, as quickly as possible, us involved in it want to do what we can … to make it commercially viable and to be profitable.
“But in the meantime, I think it adds great value to the AFL landscape.
“If you look at things like the participation numbers in women’s footy since the advent of AFLW – there’s hundreds of thousands more AFL customers that are engaged and going to support the game at every level now that AFLW is here.
“So the number that’s being invested in AFLW is one thing, but if you look more broadly than that … the value it’s bringing back sometimes gets lost in the equation.
“And that’s not to mention the fact that any startup, if you compare it to that, it’s probably naive to think it’s going to be profitable straight away.”
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon insists the AFLW remains an investment worth making.
Pearce said it was critical for the league to continue investing in the pathways, using the example of West Coast’s first draft pick from last year – pick No.7 Lou Painter – as the perfect example.
“She’d be in the top five for our runners and our strength numbers, just given the exposure she’s had to high performance programs and the mindset of these kids that are now aspiring to play in an elite competition,” Pearce said.
“As opposed to someone like from my generation. I was playing because I loved it and I wanted to be better than my brother, and I wanted to be the best that I could be.
“But there wasn’t really something to chase, whereas they’ve got that now.”
Pearce also called for more investment in coaches, saying she was the only full-time coach in West Coast’s women’s program.
(AAP)
Daisy Pearce celebrates a goal during the 2022 S7 AFLW finals series. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Blues’ brutal Curnow blow as Pies stars return
Jordan De Goey is among a trio of flag heroes back to bolster Collingwood in their AFL blockbuster against the Brisbane Lions, while a knee injury will sideline Carlton spearhead Charlie Curnow for the rest of the season.
Curnow has been managing knee soreness and will undergo a clean-up procedure, ruling him out of the struggling Blues’ clash with Fremantle on Sunday.
It is expected the 28-year-old key forward will be fit to return for the start of pre-season training leading into the 2026 campaign.
De Goey will line up against Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday night in his first match since round eight, after being sidelined with achilles inflammation and then concussion.
Magpies veteran Scott Pendlebury returns after a week off and Bobby Hill is back after missing the last five matches because of personal reasons.
Norm Smith medallist Hill kicked three goals when he and De Goey featured in a rare VFL appearance last week.
“In the ideal world, they probably do both need a little bit more (match fitness),” Collingwood coach Craig McRae admitted on Wednesday.
“But we just weigh up what the team needs this week, and then what’s best for those guys longer-term.
“Are they fit and available to perform at a level that we’d like this week?”
Lachie Sullivan is out for Collingwood, sidelined for the rest of the season with a knee injury, while Ed Allan and Tom Mitchell have been dropped.
The Lions have managed ruckman Oscar McInerney, with Henry Smith and Bruce Reville named for the reigning premiers against the ladder leaders.
Finals-bound Gold Coast have regained experienced midfielder Touk Miller (hamstring) for their clash with Richmond at People First Stadium on Saturday.
Melbourne picked Jai Culley to make his club debut against bottom side West Coast, who axed him at the end of last season, at Marvel Stadium.
The Eagles have made four changes, with former first-round draft pick Campbell Chesser named for his first senior game of the season.
Young gun Harley Reid (ankle) is out for the rest of the year.
Sydney, who are out of finals contention, recall Oliver Florent and Tom McCartin (concussion) among their five inclusions for the encounter with injury-ravaged Essendon at the SCG.
The Bombers made four changes and picked a record 14th debutant of the season, calling up Category B rookie Jayden Nguyen.
North Melbourne have named spearhead Nick Larkey (knee) and George Wardlaw (concussion) to return in their meeting with St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
But the Kangaroos will be without captain Jy Simpkin (knee) against a Saints side buoyed by last week’s epic comeback win over Melbourne.
Port Adelaide have lost Miles Bergman (shoulder) and Jack Lukosius (calf) to injuries for their daunting assignment against high-flying Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.
The Dockers are likely to go in unchanged as they look to boost their finals prospects at Optus Stadium on Sunday against a Carlton side reeling from the loss of Curnow.
(AAP)
‘One down and a handful to go’: Dogs accept reality after massive win
The cold, hard facts are staring Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge right in the face.
A record 88-point thumping of a lacklustre GWS on Thursday night lifted the Bulldogs into the top eight ahead of the weekend’s games.
But there’s still plenty of work to be done if Beveridge’s men are to lock in a finals berth.
The Dogs face lowly Melbourne and West Coast over the next fortnight before a crucial last-round clash with fellow contenders Fremantle.
“We need to keep winning, so it’s one down and a handful to go,” Beveridge said after his side’s commanding 19.18 (132) to 6.8 (44) win over the Giants at Marvel Stadium.
The Bulldogs dominated their opponents at the coalface, winning one-sided contested possession (138-86) and clearance (41-24) counts.
They held the Giants to their second-lowest score of the season, and the third-lowest tally of any team under the Docklands roof this year.
“It was an improvement obviously to keep a pretty threatening forward line to that score, but also to limit our exposure there and keeping them out of their 50,” Beveridge said.
“It’s a pretty good way to play if you can do it.”
The Bulldogs extended their dominance of GWS to nine wins from their last 10 meetings and Beveridge said there was “nothing to be unhappy about” in the scintillating display.
He and Giants counterpart Adam Kingsley agreed the Dogs’ ability to win contested possession was the decisive factor.
“Sometimes where angels fear to tread, you can’t second-guess yourself in this game,” Beveridge said.
“Not that we have throughout the course of the year, but I felt that any disputed ball that needed to be won, there was a great commitment at ground level and in the air.”
The Bulldogs have a rare 10-day gap between games, facing Melbourne at the MCG on August 10.
Despite the cut-throat scenario facing his side, Beveridge didn’t build up the GWS clash like a final and appears unlikely to do so with the remaining home-and-away fixtures.
“We needed to strike a balance because we couldn’t tense up,” Beveridge said.
“We needed to make sure that the players played with freedom and it’s critical that we remind ourselves of what our strengths have been, and obviously one of those is our ability to hit the scoreboard.”
(AAP)
