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The AFLW’s condensed fixture has again come under fire as pressure mounts on the women’s competition, following a ghastly Friday night match between the Western Bulldogs and Essendon.
With both teams opting to stack numbers behind a ball, scoring proved next to impossible to turn the marquee slot into a borderline farcical spectacle that must rank as one of the AFLW’s worst ever matches.
Combined, the Bulldogs and Bombers mustered just one goal in the first three quarters, with Essendon leading 1.6 (12) to 0.2 (2) at the final break before kicking two last-quarter goals to win by 23 points.
Speaking at half time, former player and AFLW expert Kate McCarthy laid the blame at the feet of coaches Tamara Hyett (Bulldogs) and Natalie Wood (Essendon) for their overly defensive tactics.
“It’s a little bit disappointing, to be honest – we’ve got two coaches that are happy to just have either two or one spare behind the ball,” she said.
“They’re just happy to turn the ball over, intercept it and go back. It’s sort of like ‘which coach is going to blink first?’
“No one’s equalised ahead of the ball so far. It’s just making it a really scrappy game… at times there’s been two or three spare players in the opposition defence.
“I want to see a change in this second half… Essendon need to win this game, so by constantly having a spare behind the ball…
“Equalise numbers – I back them in one on one. They’re a team that has more experience, their players have more experience. Go one on one around the ground, back your players in and let them show what they’re good at.”
AFL reporter Ronny Lerner was more brusque, writing on X that the contest was ‘absolutely putrid’ and that Hyett and Wood ‘owe an apology’ to fans who attended the match, as well as the game in general.
“Essendon coach Natalie Wood and Bulldogs coach Tamara Hyatt owe an apology to supporters of their club, supporters of the AFLW and women’s football in general for these tactics,” Lerner wrote.
“This is a real black eye for the sport. Utterly deplorable spectacle.”
For the Bulldogs, who have lost a raft of stars to rival clubs amid the league’s controversial rapid expansion over the last five years, it was their second consecutive goalless match, having been restricted to just four behinds against flag favourites North Melbourne last week.
The Bombers have their own excuse: Friday night’s match was their fifth match in 19 days amid the league’s much-criticised condensed fixture, which has seen 11 matches for each club crammed into 10 weeks by virtue of consistent mid-week games.
“Four games in 14ish days equals this in prime time,” wrote Herald Sun journalist Lauren Wood on X.
“Extras behind, players exhausted. Big no thanks.”
Wood’s comment was echoed around the AFLW community, with the condensed fixture deemed a ‘failure’ and one which has left Bombers players ‘knackered’.
The match is the second in three days to be criticised for low-scoring, with powerhouse Adelaide – who have faced a similarly brutal fixture to the Bombers – losing to Melbourne by just two points on Wednesday night, 2.2 (14) to 2.4 (16).
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