Hadn't realised that the Swans had played many of their games at North Sydney Oval. Has to be the most beautiful ground in Australia by miles. Unfortunately this weekends match is at Henson Park in Marrickville. While well located it doesn't have the drop dead surroundings of North Sydney Oval.

Apparently Swans hold the cumulative attendance record this season. Good article about marketing your product.

Quince paste and hand-picked grapes have played a part in helping the Sydney Swans launch themselves to the top of the AFLW attendance charts, less than two years after their first match in the women’s league.

The Swans play their final home match of the regular season this weekend with an average attendance of 4,365 from four games so far – 124 more than the next best club Adelaide – and a marquee pride match against Collingwood at Henson Park to come on Sunday where a crowd in excess of 4,000 is expected.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/oct/27/craft-beer-and-cheese-boxes-swans-tap-in-something-uniquely-sydney-to-draw-aflw-crowds

PS: Williamstown would make a great venue

Happy for the ladies to take the majority of the $250K, if not all, available to all players.

They’ve represented our club with absolute aplomb. 

Quince paste and hand picked grapes... surely that is MFC marketing territory?!  What have we been doing?!  😂

Edit:  for clarity, I live in Sydney lol

Edited October 27, 20231 yr by DeelightfulPlay

Seeing the comments about women supporting AFLW.... I'm not a woman but I've spent a lot of time in the past few weeks telling people who asked me in Syd about "how am I still talking AFL?!" that I'm watching a vastly superior product of the AFLW MFC (compared to the AFLM MFC) 

  On 27/10/2023 at 06:55, Diamond_Jim said:

Hadn't realised that the Swans had played many of their games at North Sydney Oval. Has to be the most beautiful ground in Australia by miles. Unfortunately this weekends match is at Henson Park in Marrickville. While well located it doesn't have the drop dead surroundings of North Sydney Oval.

Apparently Swans hold the cumulative attendance record this season. Good article about marketing your product.

Quince paste and hand-picked grapes have played a part in helping the Sydney Swans launch themselves to the top of the AFLW attendance charts, less than two years after their first match in the women’s league.

The Swans play their final home match of the regular season this weekend with an average attendance of 4,365 from four games so far – 124 more than the next best club Adelaide – and a marquee pride match against Collingwood at Henson Park to come on Sunday where a crowd in excess of 4,000 is expected.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/oct/27/craft-beer-and-cheese-boxes-swans-tap-in-something-uniquely-sydney-to-draw-aflw-crowds

PS: Williamstown would make a great venue

You’re kidding  It’s has more wind than Casey and would be colder with the icy sea breeze.

Only advantage is it is closer to city. 

Whoever suggested Punt Rd is also way off the mark. No facilities and Tigers recognise that and don’t use it now.  

  On 26/10/2023 at 22:12, dpositive said:

I have said that AFLW was a defining cultural change and we have seen how bad we are at that. 

what was a grab for greater relevance by the AFL to attract a greater share of the market (females)  became a bit of a tsunami with free entry and family friendly additives. The standard with female bodies adapting to a sport designed for heavier stronger male bodies has been fantastic and as it has become more physical, mothers and women seem to have cooled in their support.

the sport does need to attract the cohorts female and families to grow their numbers and it needs females to engage with the game at the same vicarious level that AFL has achieved with the male game. Women need to talk of the women players around the water coolers and bbqs not the men players, steer the conversations about the game to women involvement, etc. In short a cultural change that needs support by women. Men have adopted the AFLW particularly fathers with daughters, taking their families to the games but in social contacts probably talk more of the males featured in the mainstream media.

It is a changing culture and it is happening  the AFL need to wary of the impact that Sam Kerr is having on its targetted market.

I have to say this list feels like a backhanded compliment but insulting at the same time. You’re implying women weren’t interested in football prior to AFLW’s introduction (which is demonstrably untrue) and that AFLW was only introduced to attract more women as spectators (also demonstrably untrue). I guess, though, my biggest issue I have with this post is your assertion it’s women’s fault was that AFLW doesn’t have the strong following AFL has is because women are still “talking the talk around BBQ’s” about male players and not female players. I’m sorry, but WTF? 
 

I’d hate to break it to you but football has always enjoyed support from female spectators since the beginning. Go look at footage of early 20th century games, you’ll see just as many women in the grandstands as you do men. As an example, my nana was born in 1910, she grew up around the corner from the Brunswick St oval, and she’d go every week with her parents and sister to Fitzroy games, as was the custom for many families, just like today. Even before AFLW sone clubs, including Melbourne, were having memberships showing equal representation of males and females. So the assertion you make that AFL needed to do more to attract women and families, and that’s the reason AFLW introduced, is wrong. It was introduced because women who were playing football wanted representation at a higher level. They wanted to be able to play football without people saying “you can’t do that, you’re a girl.” I was 1970s child, I used to love playing football in the backyard with my brother and his mates, we’d set up items in the yard to be goal posts, place the bins here, cricket stumps there, etc. I’d see the occasional girl in the little league in the G, or at my brother’s footy clinic, and I’d ask if I can join in, only to have my dad say, “no, you’re a girl.” It was demoralising to hear that as a kid. 

You implying AFLW doesn’t have a strong following because women need to stop talking about male players and start talking about women is absurd, sexist and contradictory. Contradictory because earlier in the post you made the assertion AFLW easily introduced to attract more female spectators, but then you state women spectators are only talking about the male players. Make your mind up, in your mind do we support footy or not? Sexist, because, well let’s face it, if I were to dissect your entire post on its levels of sexism I’d be here all day, and I’d much prefer to spend my day at Casey this afternoon supporting our AFLW team like I’ve been doing since the exhibition  matches. And absurd, because while you are implying women are at fault when we talk about male players, you make no mention that maybe, just maybe, men should perhaps talk more about female players. Why is it that women can be fans of both but men are only fans of the men? 
I’m a 52 year old woman who has supported my club since birth. I first became a member when my dad bought a family membership when I was 6 in 1977, and I’ve been a consecutive member since the age of 14 - next year will be my 39th year as a consecutive member. I‘be been in Redlegs since 1988, I’m a Demon Army member, a Ruby Demons committee member, a foundation AFLW member, I participated in forums last year run by David Rennick on the constitutional changes, I sponsor an AFLW player, and I volunteer my time for the football club. I’m an active participant and supporter of both men’s and women’s programs. And I’m a woman. I’d love it if more men showed as much support for the women in the club as they do for the men. Because we’re one club, that happens to pioneer representation of both men and women in the game. 

Edited October 27, 20231 yr by Katrina Dee Fan

  On 26/10/2023 at 23:06, Kick_It_To_Pickett said:

I would have thought that a Saturday afternoon game would have been perfect to be held at Punt Rd Oval or Princes Park. I know we have this silly arrangement with Casey, which gains us little local support in the region, but it's time we started making our women's games accessible. I did not attend the night fixture at Ikon, as I find night games annoying. People have other things to do on a saturday night, and it eliminates many families. Saturday arvo is ideal, but not 45kms FROM the CBD 

Been to Punt Rd lately? It’s pretty [censored]. Casey is far more comfortable as a spectator. Plus the capacity at Punt Rd is only about 2000, a 10th of Casey. 

  On 27/10/2023 at 20:28, Katrina Dee Fan said:

Been to Punt Rd lately? It’s pretty [censored]. Casey is far more comfortable as a spectator. Plus the capacity at Punt Rd is only about 2000, a 10th of Casey. 

Kat, I love you ‘n all but 20,000 peeps at Casey? Unless we’re all standing on the shoulders of someone who’s standing on the shoulders of someone else, we ain’t squeezing 20,000 into Casey. 😛

  On 27/10/2023 at 20:16, Katrina Dee Fan said:

but football has always enjoyed support from female spectators since the beginning.

In fact it’s one of the defining virtues of Australian Rules Football. Compared to other football codes worldwide, female attendance at games (and via membership) has always been close to parity with males. Which is but one of the reasons it was so frustrating we didn’t have a comparable women’s game until the last few years. So many willing participants, so little opportunity! No wonder when their chance came, at a participant level, the game just exploded. Girls want to play footy, and they want to continue playing as women. Well, duhrrr!!

At a personal level, it’s thrilling to be witnessing the evolution of the professional women’s game. I went to the first Dees vs Dogs game at the G - showcasing the best 40 players in the country - thinking, sadly, that the AFL probably wouldn’t commit to growing the game. It’s staggering now to think that a handful of years later, we have 18 teams, all of whom would thrash those first two teams. But I still worry about the AFL’s commitment. Never has there been a better reason to throw everything at a  competition, with an excited participant market of half the population. You know, like the men’s game. Fixturing however, in every respect (venues, times, number of games), is still problematic. It almost feels like the AFL is putting obstacles in the AFLW’s path. The old ‘if it fails, it wasn’t because we didn’t give it every chance’ notion, only with the the second bit being rubbish. Given the potential for continued growth (based on the game’s exponential evolution alone), things like needing crowd KPIs to trigger more rounds is just short term, commercially obsessed nonsense. To steal from an arts-cultural touchstone - build it, and they will come - if only cos they’ve been banging at the door for years. We’ve seen how women’s soccer has built what I believe to be a non-fail place in world (and Aus) sports culture, commercially and otherwise. I have no doubt that women’s Australian footy will leap-frog it, it just needs true, unwavering commitment from the guardians. 
 

[On a professional note, it was enormously concerning in the early years how prevalent ACL ruptures were in the women’s game (the order of 3:1 compared to men), and I was worried parents would literally stop their girls playing. Even this is now on the slide]

  On 27/10/2023 at 20:28, Katrina Dee Fan said:

Been to Punt Rd lately? It’s pretty [censored]. Casey is far more comfortable as a spectator. Plus the capacity at Punt Rd is only about 2000, a 10th of Casey. 

I'm not sure how safe I'd feel in 20,000 at Casey, K!

Still, the problem probably wouldn't arise: the ground would be emptying again by the time I arrived from my car park...

😄

Edited October 27, 20231 yr by Timothy Reddan-A'Blew
Oops, just saw WCW's better response!

  On 27/10/2023 at 20:16, Katrina Dee Fan said:

I have to say this list feels like a backhanded compliment but insulting at the same time. You’re implying women weren’t interested in football prior to AFLW’s introduction (which is demonstrably untrue) and that AFLW was only introduced to attract more women as spectators (also demonstrably untrue). I guess, though, my biggest issue I have with this post is your assertion it’s women’s fault was that AFLW doesn’t have the strong following AFL has is because women are still “talking the talk around BBQ’s” about male players and not female players. I’m sorry, but WTF? 
 

I’d hate to break it to you but football has always enjoyed support from female spectators since the beginning. Go look at footage of early 20th century games, you’ll see just as many women in the grandstands as you do men. As an example, my nana was born in 1910, she grew up around the corner from the Brunswick St oval, and she’d go every week with her parents and sister to Fitzroy games, as was the custom for many families, just like today. Even before AFLW sone clubs, including Melbourne, were having memberships showing equal representation of males and females. So the assertion you make that AFL needed to do more to attract women and families, and that’s the reason AFLW introduced, is wrong. It was introduced because women who were playing football wanted representation at a higher level. They wanted to be able to play football without people saying “you can’t do that, you’re a girl.” I was 1970s child, I used to love playing football in the backyard with my brother and his mates, we’d set up items in the yard to be goal posts, place the bins here, cricket stumps there, etc. I’d see the occasional girl in the little league in the G, or at my brother’s footy clinic, and I’d ask if I can join in, only to have my dad say, “no, you’re a girl.” It was demoralising to hear that as a kid. 

You implying AFLW doesn’t have a strong following because women need to stop talking about male players and start talking about women is absurd, sexist and contradictory. Contradictory because earlier in the post you made the assertion AFLW easily introduced to attract more female spectators, but then you state women spectators are only talking about the male players. Make your mind up, in your mind do we support footy or not? Sexist, because, well let’s face it, if I were to dissect your entire post on its levels of sexism I’d be here all day, and I’d much prefer to spend my day at Casey this afternoon supporting our AFLW team like I’ve been doing since the exhibition  matches. And absurd, because while you are implying women are at fault when we talk about male players, you make no mention that maybe, just maybe, men should perhaps talk more about female players. Why is it that women can be fans of both but men are only fans of the men? 
I’m a 52 year old woman who has supported my club since birth. I first became a member when my dad bought a family membership when I was 6 in 1977, and I’ve been a consecutive member since the age of 14 - next year will be my 39th year as a consecutive member. I‘be been in Redlegs since 1988, I’m a Demon Army member, a Ruby Demons committee member, a foundation AFLW member, I participated in forums last year run by David Rennick on the constitutional changes, I sponsor an AFLW player, and I volunteer my time for the football club. I’m an active participant and supporter of both men’s and women’s programs. And I’m a woman. I’d love it if more men showed as much support for the women in the club as they do for the men. Because we’re one club, that happens to pioneer representation of both men and women in the game. 

Just want to say thank you for calling this out. Some real old age thinking that unfortunately still exists. I would like to think that you're in the majority of views. 

Women needing to talk about women? Why is it up to the women to promote women's sport? Not that it should matter (but apparently it does) but as a man, I'm loving watching the women play this year. They seem to have a great team spirit and a lot more cohesive as a team than the men's team. 

It's a joy to watch as a supporter. 

Saints getting the job done over the Lions. If I'm not mistaken, saints winning all but guarantees us to take out the McClelland trophy.

Edited October 28, 20231 yr by Nascent

Go Sainters. They could give us $1M if they keep going. 20 points up!

  On 28/10/2023 at 05:12, Nascent said:

Saints getting the job done over the Lions. If I'm not mistaken, saints winning all but gaurentees us to take out the McClelland trophy.

Correct me if I'm wrong but we would need to get polaxed next week to still not finish on top?

  On 28/10/2023 at 05:12, Nascent said:

If I'm not mistaken, saints winning all but guarantees us to take out the McClelland trophy.

If the Saints win then Brisbane can't catch us no matter what. Collingwood would need to win both of their next two games and have us lose next week to tie us up on points at which point I think it comes down to percentage, which we're well ahead on.

 

...I think.

  On 28/10/2023 at 05:22, george_on_the_outer said:

Go Sainters. They could give us $1M if they keep going. 20 points up!

A comfortable win for us at windy old Casey.

Come on Saints!

Looking good for that $1M

One quarter to go

Saints 31... Lions 10

  On 28/10/2023 at 05:26, deva5610 said:

If the Saints win then Brisbane can't catch us no matter what. Collingwood would need to win both of their next two games and have us lose next week to tie us up on points at which point I think it comes down to percentage, which we're well ahead on.

 

...I think.

Think this is correct. 

Saints showing plenty of ticker so far today. 

Lions give away the double 50. Saints extend lead. Lions up against it now. Come on Saints

27 points welcome to MFC 1million dollars 

You bloody beauty!!!!!

  On 28/10/2023 at 05:33, brendan said:

27 points welcome to MFC 1million dollars 

Not quite, but oh so close.

Jesse Wardlaw busting a gut against her old team. Must not have been an amicable parting of the ways when she left

  On 28/10/2023 at 05:25, Demonland said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but we would need to get polaxed next week to still not finish on top?

With the Saints win we finish top of the McClelland ladder and get the $1million!!

We can lose top spot on the H&A ladder depending on how the WCE and MFC games play out tomorrow and next week.   Hopefully, we are the Minor Premiers which puts us in the box seat for a Home GF!!

Edited October 28, 20231 yr by Lucifers Hero

All ours now!

Thanks Saints.