One of AFLW’s leading commentators has called on the AFL to bring forward the start of next season to the beginning of January even if it means clashes with tennis and cricket.
Fox Footy and ABC Grandstand’s Kelli Underwood believes the 2020 season should start on January 1 and that the League should not be fearful of going head to head with the Australian Open and the Big Bash.
“Why do you have to start off with a bang?” she said on The Four Hoarsemen podcast.
“I’d start it on New Year’s Day next year and roll out a 10-game season.
“Why not play it alongside the Australian Open and have games under lights at Punt Road and over the road at Olympic Park. Play them during school holidays.
“You can go to the tennis during the day and watch a footy game on the way home.”
Like many in the women’s game, she added her support for the Grand Final to be a standalone game to be played on the free weekend immediately before the men’s season started and that it could play a part in the AFL’s season launch activities.
“All the heavy hitters are in town and you’re sending a great message to the football community," Underwood added.
She added that while the AFL will laud the record crowd of 53,034 for the Adelaide-Carlton flag decider last Sunday and the large TV ratings, staging the game at the same time as a men’s game meant it was an opportunity lost.
“They deserve clean air but instead it went head to head with North Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions and 160,000 were watching that,” she said.
“Those 160,000 could have been watching the women’s Grand Final and at the end of the day, what the AFL should be trying to do is win over new eyeballs for the women’s game.
“They should be asking themselves at the end of every season how do we convert the yet-to-be-converted and that was a missed opportunity for them.”
You can listen to The Four Hoarsemen podcast HERE.
