In todayโs AFL Briefing, your wrap of footy news:
- Laura Kane has defended the AFLโs call to host the Australia v Ireland womenโs clash at North Sydney Oval.
- Craig McRae has opened up about premiership-winning small forward Bobby Hill.
- Chris Scott has heaped praise on assistant coach Nathan Buckley, who lost out on the Tasmania Devils coaching role to Ken Hinkley.
AFLW boss Laura Kane has defended a decision not to shift the competitionโs looming international match to a bigger stadium, despite the gameโs boutique venue, North Sydney Oval, selling out.
The league has come under fire from fans and past players for not opening up the first-ever Irish-Australia womenโs clash on August 1 to a larger live audience by relocating it to the SCG.
The intimate North Sydney Oval holds fewer than 10,000 people.
But Kane said the league had monitored ticket sales and waiting lists to inform their decision.
โWhen we announced this game, we wanted to create an amazing atmosphere, and so a sellout is incredible,โ Kane said on Tuesday.
โDo I want to be, you know, in future talking about the MCG, the SCG or Marvel Stadium? Absolutely, I do, and we will get there.
โBut for now, our priority is making sure that we have a packed-out stadium, and we are going to get that with North Sydney Oval.
โItโs such a great place to play footy, and really, it comes down to the data. What does the data tell us around what our fans want to do? When it tells us that we can fill the SCG, weโll play there.โ
Instead of seeking a bigger venue, the league opted to work with Sydney pubs to set up fan zones for the cityโs large Irish ex-pat community to watch the game.
There are no AFL matches fixtured in Sydney that weekend.
Former Carlton and Brisbane Lions star Lauren Arnell called the decision โbafflingโ.
โYouโre already telling people two weeks out, โYou canโt comeโ,โ the former Port Adelaide coach told the ABC. โI just feel like you are limiting the game.โ
But Kane, the AFLโs executive general manager of AFLW, health and football operations said the league had turned its attention towards attracting a larger TV audience once the stadium sold out.
โWe want people watching it in their lounge rooms. We want people watching it at restaurants, at pubs, at venues all over the country โ not just in Sydney,โ she said.
The AFLW season starts on August 9 when St Kilda and Carlton clash as part of an AFL double-header at Marvel Stadium, which coincides with โSpudโs Gameโ, held in memory of Saints great Danny Frawley and to raise money for and awareness of mental health.
Kane said the AFL was continually looking to reduce the number of AFLW venues, having already cut ground numbers from 38 to 27, and had done away with computer chips for ball-tracking technology.
โWe want to make sure that we have the best technology available for both of our competitions, AFL and AFLW โฆ and we felt that the time was right to evolve to vision and video review,โ she said.
โBoth Greg Swann and I are looking at, โWhat does optical tracking look like?โ, in the context of all venues that we play at, notwithstanding that thereโs a few extra W venues that we play footy at.
โWhat is the long-term solution? At the moment, the best technology that we feel [is] available for score review is video and the video review system, but itโs always something that weโre looking at improving.โ
– Danny Russell
โA lot of love and careโ: McRaeโs heartfelt message to premiership star
Jon Pierik
An emotional Craig McRae says Bobby Hill will forever be a beloved Magpie, as Collingwood and the Norm Smith medallist prepare to split.
McRae said on Tuesday he had not seen Hill for some time, the star small forward and father of three dealing with personal issues.
Hill has spent significant time away from the club over the past year, managing only three VFL games this season, and appears certain to part ways with the club.
โ[I] havenโt seen Bobby in the building for a while, which itโs always something, as a coach, you go, โ[I] hope the young ladโs going OKโ,โ McRae said, his eyes almost welling up.
โIf youโre out there, Bobby, weโve got a lot of love and care for you, and still do, and [we] never, never change, [and] never waver in our love and support for the young man.
โWeโre always trying to remain connected, and sometimes [itโs] a bit harder than other times.โ
Hill is contracted until the end of 2030 on a deal worth about $750,000 per season, league sources say.
McRae said he had attempted to contact Hill, who has played 108 games across eight seasons with GWS and the Magpies.
โThere is an emotion attached to it … thereโs the playing part, the high performance of what heโs capable of doing for our team and for our supporter base, and then thereโs the other personal part of, as a father, [you] get emotional thinking about a young man with three kids,โ McRae said.
โWe want the best for all our players [who have] come into our environment, [to] be good humans, and be a good father and a good husband. Those things that weโre trying to instil, but yeah, environments change and shift, and so [weโve got] lots of love and care for them [Hill and his family].โ
The eighth-placed Magpies head to Adelaide for Thursday nightโs clash against the Crows on a roll, having won five straight in a stretch of games they had targeted. Now comes a refresh with a new theme, but the Magpies may be without Scott Pendlebury, who could be rested.
โHoweyโs [Jeremy Howe is] back and someone has to go out โ [there are] lots of [players in] good form, and players deserve to keep their spot … I anticipate that โPendlesโ plays. Thatโs probably where itโs going to land,โ McRae said.
Josh Daicos (ankle) did not train on Tuesday, McRae adding a final call on his fitness could be as late as game time. Howe, the premiership backman, trained strongly and will return. Fellow defender Isaac Quaynor, who had a minor wrist issue in the last quarter against Carlton, is also expected to play.
The Magpies will celebrate Jordan De Goeyโs 200th game, McRae saying the robust midfielder was in the best form he had been in during his coaching tenure. De Goey, pushing for All-Australian selection, is contracted until the end of 2027, and is keen on a multi-year extension, league sources say.
The Crows, without the suspended Izak Rankine, won by 14 points when the two clubs met at the MCG in round one.
โHe would have been a great Tasmanian coachโ: Scottโs praise for Buckley
Danny Russell
Chris Scott says his decorated assistant Nathan Buckley will escape any negative perception that is usually associated with applicants missing out on senior coaching jobs.
Buckley joined the Geelong coaching panel at the start of this season to enhance his chances of landing the Tasmania Devils role.
But the fledgling club announced this week it had overlooked the Collingwood great for Ken Hinkley.
โI suspect if Tassie get the opportunity to talk publicly about him, they would say similar things to me, โHe was an outstanding candidate and would have been a great Tasmanian coach, but the fit wasnโt quite as good as the other guyโ, who just happens to be one who coached for 15 years in the AFL, or thereaboutsโ Scott said.
โThereโs no shame in running, I donโt know whether he ran second, but letโs assume he ran second to Ken Hinkley โ thereโs no shame in that.โ
The Geelong coach said Buckleyโs willingness to publicly announce his interest in the Tasmanian position spoke to โhow secure he is in his ability, and his position in the gameโ.
โIt seems to me that it is quite rare that a coach puts their hand up and says, โThis is something that I want, and Iโm prepared to go through the processโ,โ Scott said.
โHe didnโt only go through the process, he went back to work, which, obviously, has been a real positive for us.
โI suspect it wonโt happen that much, so if you like his way of going about it, make the most of it now because I donโt think you will see it too often.โ
Scott said it was less likely younger candidates would put themselves on the line in the same manner as Buckley.
โThe likelihood for all the candidates for these positions is that you are probably going to miss, irrespective of how good a job you do,โ he said.
โInevitably, the kind of perception could be, โWell, there must have been a good reason why someone didnโt get the jobโ.
โI think the reality is more likely that you could actually be a fantastic candidate, you are just not the right fit for that point in time.
โBut again, the perception of that can hurt, in particular young coaches. In that context, I am certain that the negative perception wonโt apply to โBucksโ.โ
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Jon Pierik is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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