Lance Franklin’s 1,000th goal milestone made Australian sporting history on Friday night. Images of the crowd rushing the field and the subsequent wholesome and quirky stories of post-goal mayhem will never be erased from sports folklore. And rightly so. This was a beautiful and well handled celebration. There was no downside. A joyous, much needed moment for us all.
I would be lying, however, if I said I wasn’t a little jealous of the milestones celebrated in men’s football. It’s the jealousy of a sports fan who knows no achievement of a woman in sport that isn’t accompanied by the cynicism or grumbling of a disapproving commentariat. Buddy was roundly celebrated, and those least interested were at least silent. No such respect is afforded to women and non-binary folk in football.
Despite fighting a hundred years or so for legitimacy in organised sport, when women and non-binary athletes in football reach incredible milestones there is still consistent questioning of their very existence. While most champions of women’s football are accustomed to tuning out the negativity, one does wonder why they even have to? If they were to tune in, what would be made clear to them is that for some, women’s sport is still surprising, illegitimate, unwanted. When women’s football milestones are celebrated, like Darcy Vescio’s first-to-50-goals mark earlier this year, for many the conversation quickly turns to dismissive sniggering about the quality of play. It seems the expectation is that women’s sport must build the competition at the same time it competes with the already established and supported men’s counterparts.
The irony however is that as far as milestones go, women in football are achieving them at a significant pace. Though not officially launched by the AFL, Caroline Wilson reported recently that nine AFL clubs are poised to appoint female assistant football coaches to their men’s coaching departments. This program is funded both by the clubs and the AFL, and is accounted for outside the salary cap. It is a significant move for the AFL given it has funded opportunities for diverse talent in the past, with this talent only to be overlooked in key roles and relegated to much more junior opportunities. This more targeted approach is expected to achieve better outcomes – and produce more milestones to celebrate.
One of the most exciting recent advancements is that for the first time an AFLW game will be played on the sacred turf of the MCG. Having confidently defeated a wavering Collingwood on Sunday, the Brisbane Lions will meet a well-rested Melbourne in a preliminary final this Saturday. That this game will be played at the MCG is yet another of those recent AFLW milestones that feels like a moment of real evolution. With more women in coaching positions and commentary boxes, and the final four AFLW teams set to join the league, there is a feeling that the days of breaking through, fighting for space and the idea of women’s footy as a “novelty” offering are coming to an end. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end for AFLW: The Fledgling Years.
The AFL – as is their wont – now have a neat litmus test for their own future planning. While the announcement of the game at the ‘G was deployed in classic marketing “surprise and delight” fashion, the AFL will be closely monitoring how fans support, turn up and talk about this game. So too will broadcasters and editors, with an eye on viewership, clicks and the potential for advertising dollars.
In a post-Covid, economically fraught sport and media landscape, executives may be discouraged by the disparity that continues when it comes to viewership, readership and ticket sales between men’s and women’s sport. The financial bottom line will drive decision makers who perhaps lack bravery and insight. Committing to servicing men’s and women’s sports 50:50 requires faith in the decision (and growing research) that if you build it they will come. The loud celebration of achievement is a crucial part of how interest, emotional connection and support of the game is built. The act itself of celebrating heroics etches those heroes into sporting folklore.
The dictionary definition of a milestone is “a significant stage or event in the development of something”. In this light, the achievements of the AFLW and its stars glisten. In scheduling this final at the home of football, competition organisers have posed the question: what could an AFLW season, alongside the men’s, look like? In answering this question, fans have one clear job – to turn up and celebrate this most important milestone.
