Richmond AFLW team [merged]

[big tone]

I actually don’t know anyone who thinks it’s worth watching to be honest. So I think your stat of 10 to 1 is BS IN MY OPINION.

And the rest of your post is just excuses of why it is unwatchable.

I have no doubt it will improve and I will give it another go, but for now I would rather watch grass grow.

Each to their own though- I just found your comment in your original post a bit rich about people selling it short. I would love another sport to watch- but as I said it’s unwatchable.

So the people I go to games with or have met at games are figments of my imagination and don't exist? By calling BS, that is clearly what you are saying

People I work with who enjoy it don't count either?

I have many conversations with people who don't like it but more with people that do.

I've said many times I get that alot of people don't like, don't rate it and even hate it and that's fine but IMHO it is a comp that is growing and garnering more popularity every season and that is (again) IMHO a great thing

All good WP... it’s just not for me at the moment.

Merry Christmas 👍

[Rampsation]

The afl will regret the formation of this comp. Already a few of the womens players have been agitating. Its gonna cost clubs big time 5 to 10 years down the track.
Thats why the afl tried to reduce the season. Unfortunately they let the jeanie out of the bottle and its going to be hard keeping the girls under control of what is reasonable money wise and what isnt.

[one-eyed]

New Tiger itching to go after off-season surgery

Sarah Black
womens.afl
3 Jan 2020

SHE MAY be at her third club in four years, but Christina Bernardi's pre-season is different for another reason.

The Richmond recruit underwent right foot surgery to remove a bone spur after the conclusion to the 2019 AFLW season (where she kicked seven goals for Greater Western Sydney), and a subsequent stress fracture saw her miss the entire VFLW campaign.

She's now itching to get into running with the main group.

"With rehab, I've had to spend a lot of time in the gym and been doing a few new things like Pilates and gymnastics to try and get strong," Bernardi told womens.afl.

"I only hit the track for the first time in a few drills [in the first week of December], and it was so exciting to be back on the ground with the girls.

"It's been really challenging in that respect. No one wants to be in rehab, that's been very different and I've been trying to do everything right until after the Christmas break, where I can ramp up a bit.

"It's frustrating that I have to hold back, particularly at a new club where I want to be out there on the track and help new girls out. I wasn't as happy with my season up at the Giants, so not really being able to develop and work on my skills during the off-season has been really hard."

The Tigers allowed Bernardi, a secondary school PE teacher, to develop off-field skills by observing the club's AFL coaching group in action, as well as help on the interchange bench in VFLW games.

"I got to sit in coaches' meetings, watch training, and be in team meetings pre-training, and pre-match meetings as well," she said.

"I was really, really lucky to get those opportunities, particularly in a year where we won the premiership. I'm very thankful for that."

Bernardi started her AFLW career with Collingwood, playing two seasons and being named All Australian in 2018 after a breakout period.

She took up an offer to move north and play with the Giants, but has since returned to Victoria to the familiar territory of Punt Road, having previously played with the Tigers' VFLW side in 2018.

Up until the 2020 season, AFLW players could only sign one-year contracts, which allowed for greater movement during the expansion period. Bernardi has now signed a two-season deal with the Tigers.

"I was pretty nervous about playing for a third team and I didn't take the decision lightly. I don't want to go anywhere else now I'm back in Melbourne with friends and family," she said.

"I trusted a lot the people here and knew them quite well, so that's probably what got them over the line. I love the culture too, it's super."

The club's AFL side has been celebrated for embracing vulnerability and enjoyment in football in a marked change of mindset from the end of the 2016 season, where the team finished a disappointing 13th.

It has since won AFL flags in 2017 and 2019, and Bernardi said that sense of fun has permeated throughout all the Richmond sides.

"You're pretty open to be yourself here. What cemented it for me was not long after I had signed, I sat at a sponsor's breakfast and 'Dimma' (AFL coach Damien Hardwick) and Tim Livingstone (co-GM of football) spoke about what had changed for them and how having fun playing footy is now a big focus.

"That's exactly what I want to be doing. Hearing them talk was a lightbulb moment of 'I've made the right choice to come here'.

"One of the club's core focuses is celebrating; it's through the VFL, it's through the AFL and it's through our program."

https://womens.afl/news/40221/new-tiger-itching-to-go-after-off-season-surgery

[one-eyed]

AFLW Tigers punted from spiritual home

Lauren Wood,
Herald Sun
6 January 2020

In an unprecedented fixture shift on the eve of the AFLW season, Richmond’s plans to return top flight football to its spiritual home in its inaugural season in the competition have been put on ice due to crowd and logistics issues.

Just four weeks before the AFLW season is set to begin, the Tigers’ Round 3 and Round 7 clashes with the Kangaroos and Brisbane have been moved to Ikon Park to maximise attendance after it was deemed that the capacity of Punt Road would simply be too low.

Richmond confirmed the upheaval to the Herald Sun yesterday and club chief executive Brendon Gale said that while club wanted “nothing more than to host AFLW games at Punt Road in 2020”, the call had to be made.

“Given our enormous membership base and the large crowds we’re expecting, our facility isn’t suitable right now to host AFLW matches,” he said.

“We want our AFLW games to be more than just a football match. The club is planning family friendly activities and activations, and at present, we just don’t have the space for everything we want to do.

“We’ll now focus on creating a Richmond-like atmosphere at Ikon Park for our fans to enjoy.”

The starting time of the two matches will remain the same.

Punt Road Oval holds 5000 supporters at its highest capacity but recent construction and portable buildings erected after the club’s men’s premiership in September — in place at the northern end of the ground to house increasing numbers of staff — along with match-day compliance and broadcasting space had resulted in further hits to crowd capacity.

The powerhouse club notched more than 103,000 members in 2019, many of whom have signed up for the club’s AFLW membership.

When it announced the 2020 fixture in October, the AFL flagged the prospect of selling tickets to games at the ground for “operational purposes” in an effort to “make sure that people don’t miss out”.

The league said yesterday that as the season had grown closer, it had become evident that the response from Tigers fans combined with the construction works had resulted in the decision.

It was determined that it was better to make the call now to ensure adequate planning time for both football and other departments rather than have to rush any eleventh hour changes if required.

The AFL worked closely with Richmond and local council in reviewing the requirements for hosting AFLW games in recent months, with the hope being to play matches at the ground in coming years.

The club is planning a $60 million redevelopment of Punt Road Oval, which would include upgraded women’s facilities and spectator amenities.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/richmond-aflw-games-to-be-transferred-from-punt-road-oval-to-ikon-park/news-story/59c41647071b9a4abb5574807d6920b2

[one-eyed]

Players' survey: Which new team will be the best in 2020?

Sarah Black
afl.com.au
9 January 2020

THERE'S a growing rumble to the east of Melbourne, and it's originating from Punt Road.

Richmond is one of the premier teams in the AFL competition, and is now poised to take the NAB AFLW competition by storm in its first season, according to the AFLW players themselves.

The Tigers received six of 14 votes for "best new team" – with one player anonymously surveyed from each club – with West Coast hot on their heels with four. St Kilda was named by three players, while just one said Gold Coast.

List manager Kate Sheahan hit her first signing period with a vengeance, employing a slightly different approach to other expansion sides.

The Tigers brought in two former marquee players (Katie Brennan and Sabrina Frederick), the 2018 Grand Final best-on-ground winner (Monique Conti) and an All Australian forward (Christina Bernardi).

In total Richmond added just eight existing AFLW players during that period, filling up the rest of its list with its VFLW players and through the NAB AFLW Draft (nine of whom were 18-year-olds).

By contrast, the other expansion sides added a higher number of players from other AFLW clubs.

One surveyed player gave Richmond the nod on the back of its recruiting plan.

"Richmond, for its firepower and its mix of experience and youth," she said.

Voting results

6 – Richmond
4 – West Coast
3 – St Kilda
1 – Gold Coast

https://womens.afl/news/40280/players-survey-which-new-team-will-be-the-best-in-2020-

[one-eyed]

AFLW Practice Match

Richmond v West Coast Eagles
Sunday, January 26
Swinburne Centre, Punt Rd Oval
More details coming soon

https://www.richmondfc.com.au/football/open-training

[one-eyed]

Katie Brennan will captain Richmond’s inaugural AFLW team.

https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/553641/katie-brennan-becomes-richmond-s-inaugural-aflw-captain

[one-eyed]

AFLW Practice Match

Richmond v West Coast Eagles
Sunday, January 26
Swinburne Centre, Punt Rd Oval
More details coming soon

https://www.richmondfc.com.au/football/open-training

Our first AFLW practice match starts at 1pm.

Richmond v West Coast
Sunday 26 January
Punt Road Oval, 1pm

https://womens.afl/news/40956/practice-matches-when-and-where-your-club-is-playing

[one-eyed]

@RichmondWomens

First hit-out done and dusted!

We’ll host the Eagles next Sunday in our first official practice match 👊





https://twitter.com/RichmondWomens/status/1218440521544110080

It was more just match simulation rather than a practice match but the score was Bulldogs 57 Richmond 19.

[one-eyed]

RICHMOND v WESTERN BULLDOGS

Richmond came out firing early, but a mid-game fadeout in the second and third terms proved costly, losing to the Western Bulldogs 8.9 (57) to 3.1 (19) over five periods of game play.

The Dogs looked incredibly sharp, with clear structures and clean ball movement throughout the game.

Izzy Huntington spent some time behind the ball where her marking skills came to the fore, while Kirsten McLeod was a constant threat whether inside 50 or on the wing.

Key forward Deanna Berry looks set to take her game to another level in the absence of Katy Brennan. Talent has never been an issue for Berry, but it was her consistency and second efforts that stood out.

Issy Grant showed a clean pair of heels rotating between forward and the midfield, and No.1 draftee Gabby Newton made a few skill errors but found plenty of it playing in the centre.

For the Tigers, Courtney Wakefield will be a handful at full-forward, with very strong hands and a physical presence.

Sabrina Frederick took a few solid marks at centre half-forward, Alice Edmonds was a steady presence in the ruck and young midfielder Sophie Molan was busy throughout.

The issue for Richmond was clearing it out of its defensive half. When the Tigers got on a roll with fast game play (usually led by Akec Makur Chuot and Phoebe Monahan), they looked very dangerous, but those moments didn't happen as much as they would have liked.

Brennan played two of five terms on the ball and was rested around that, with Monique Conti not playing (basketball commitments).

https://womens.afl/news/41266/clubs-blow-off-the-cobwebs-in-first-hitouts-for-season

[Diocletian]

Duds, delist...

[one-eyed]

AFLW 2020 season preview: Richmond Tigers

Joel Shepherd
theRoar.com.au
20 January 2020

Richmond put a much-publicised effort into recruiting lots of big-name players.

Unfortunately three of the four big names are forwards, and there have been many cases of prestigious AFLW teams – Collingwood and Carlton, fore example – in previous seasons stacking their line-up with big-name forwards only to discover that without a midfield or a backline they can’t get those forwards the ball.

The big-name forwards in this case are Sabrina Frederick, Katie Brennan and Christina Bernardi. The only big name the Tigers recruited who isn’t a forward was star Bulldogs midfielder Monique Conti. No-one’s a bigger fan of Conti than me, but the biggest problem with her in this Richmond team is that there’s only one of her.

The Tigers also took Sophie Molan and Ella Wood from Greater Western Victoria in the draft, and Molan in particular will be a star – but that’s only two starring midfielders, both of them kids and neither big-bodied, in an AFLW competition where three is now the minimum to be successful, and preferably four or more.

And so comes the big move that Richmond’s AFLW coach Tom Hunter seems to be hanging his entire season upon – Katie Brennan to play in the midfield. I’ll admit to being sceptical when I first heard it, but Brennan averaged 22 possessions a game in the middle for the Tigers’ recent VFLW season, and while the VFLW and AFLW are very different things, those numbers are still hard to argue with.

Assuming it works, Brennan, Conti and Molan should be a strong combination and draw enough defensive attention away from the lesser midfielders to let them gain space and confidence.

The Tigers backline looks talented but inexperienced, with quality youngsters like Ilish Ross from Collingwood and Laura McClelland and Sara Sansonetti from the draft. There are also some experienced players, like Phoebe Monahan from GWS, but the rest of them – as is the story through most of the Tigers line-up – are VFLW players elevated to AFLW status. In a year or two some of these players will be very good, but right now there’s not a lot there that will make opposition forwards fret.

Still, this is what expansion clubs do – they fill in their spots on the team as best they can using whatever players they can get their hands on, and then some of those players will either perform or not. Next season the players who didn’t perform will be edged out by new players from the draft or elsewhere, and so the team will improve.

I can’t see much chance that a team with a solid midfield – depending entirely on the Brennan experiment – an inexperienced backline and a two-star forward line could win many games in their very first season, but this team looks as though it could make a solid start for the yellow and black in the AFLW.

The real test, as always with expansion teams, will be next year.

Prediction: 14th.

https://www.theroar.com.au/2020/01/20/aflw-2020-season-preview-richmond-tigers/

[WilliamPowell]

The above article clearly written by someone who watched very little VFLW and is making assumptions and hasn't clue about the ability of a number of players who we've bought in from our VFLW side

the Katie Brennan to the midfield worked and worked exceptionally well. This will be a win for the Tigers. Added benefit is in a pinch we can throw her up forward and every time that happens she will get the opposition's best defender

Across the back we have Akec Makur Chout and Rebecca Miller - two outstanding defenders. Akec has played AFLW for Freo before moving to Victoria. Miller is an incredibly strong overhead mark and extremely agile. Both of these give run off the backline.

Alicia Edmonds is going to give us alot of first use at centre clearances.

there's plenty of talent

Do I think we will win the flag? Nope but 14th, I don't think so 

[Rampsation]

We got flogged.

[one-eyed]

RICHMOND

Three line assistants will join senior coach Tom Hunter in Richmond's first AFLW season.

Senior assistant Jacob Thompson will be in charge of the midfield, having previously been head coach of Essendon's James Hird Academy and captaining Calder Cannons in 2009.

Forwards coach Jason Armistead has crossed from leading Geelong Falcons' girls side, while former Adelaide defender Sam Shaw (backline) is also head coach at Xavier College.

Nathan Chapman will take the role of specialist coach, focusing on skill acquisition, while VFLW assistant Liz Quinn is in charge of culture and leadership.

https://womens.afl/news/18633/who-s-helping-your-club-s-senior-coach-in-2020-