Women’s Footy Rewind: Fans Reflect on 2022
WITH less women’s footy over the summer months than fans have become used to, Rookie Me Central takes you down memory lane and look back at key moments in women’s footy history from the past few years.
Today’s edition of the Women’s Footy Rewind is a little different – we are hearing from the AFLW fans themselves today.
As everyone gets settled into a new calendar year, we here at Rookie Me Central thought it might be fun to survey some of the AFLW fan community, and get them to reflect on the huge year for AFLW that was 2022.
2022 was a monumental year for the AFLW, with two different, separate seasons happening within a 12 month window.
Many fans enjoyed having more AFLW last year, but they were also well aware of the toll that was taking on players and staff, and many also felt like the extra season was a little rushed and lacking planning but also realised it was an inevitable move with the season start change.
Many of the respondents’ thoughts can be summed up by the thoughts of Western Bulldogs fan Andy, who said “It felt very rushed but I do understand they are still hammering out what the competition will look like in the long term.”
With the respondents barracking for a wide range of clubs (with the only clubs not having a fan respond being Adelaide, Gold Coast and West Coast), the moments of the calendar year listed as the respondents favourite were just as varied.
While many (both Melbourne and non Melbourne fans) listed the Dees winning the flag in Season 7, other moments included:
- The Bulldogs’ win over Adelaide in Season 6 to end their undefeated run
- The Pride Game in Ballarat
- Geelong’s win over St Kilda in Season 7
- Crucial goals from the likes of Ellie Blackburn, Jo Lin and Eliza James
- Richmond making finals
- The last four teams coming and the competition being “whole”
The answers for who had had a breakout season were just as varied. While a number of people named Melbourne defender Tahlia Gillard, other names to pop up multiple times included:
There has been much talk recently about the return of special games such as an International Rules or State of Origin Series.
While many fans are in favour of the return of these games, many also want to see a full season implanted before such games are included in the schedule.
St Kilda and Bulldogs fan Jomo Kigotho put it in a way that sums up how many thought.
“I would like more AFLW but it just needs to be organised. Announcing season’s a couple of weeks out doesn’t give the competition or anyone involved with it any respect. International rules would be great if it can happen before Cora and Daisy retire seeing as they played against each other in a similar game so many years ago”.
The bold predictions for 2023 of many of the fans responding included their teams winning the flag unsurprisingly, but there was optimism amongst many of the fans of the teams who missed out on finals in season 7, especially for competition newcomers Essendon and Hawthorn.
Time will tell how many of those fans have their dreams and predictions come true as we head into another jam packed year of women’s footy.
Women’s Footy Rewind: Fans Reflect on 2022
WITH less women’s footy over the summer months than fans have become used to, Rookie Me Central takes you down memory lane and look back at key moments in women’s footy history from the past few years. Today’s edition of the Women’s Footy Rewind is a little different – we are hearing from the AFLW […]
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