Culture

The AFLW Is Expanding in 2019 And Tassie’s Getting A Team!

by Sam Langford  27 September 2017
AFLW

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Good news for AFLW fans — the sport’s set to expand from 2019!

AFL chief Gillon McLachlan dropped the good news today, announcing that new teams from North Melbourne and Geelong will join the existing 8 teams in 2019. But wait, there’s more — in 2020, another four teams will join the comp from the Gold Coast, West Coast, Richmond and St Kilda.

What’s more, the North Melbourne team is a joint venture with Tasmania, meaning Tassie’s got its first team in the comp. They’re still finalising the exact details of the partnership, but it’s looking likely it’ll be called the Tasmanian Kangaroos, and will split its games between Melbourne and Tassie.

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North Melbourne managing director Carl Dilena said the club was stoked at the news it would be getting a team, saying it reflected their commitment to women’s footy.

“We take our role with respect to the growth of women’s football very seriously and have been influencers in this space since 2010 when we formed a partnership with the Melbourne University Women’s Football Club – an initiative no other club had undertaken at that point,” he said.

Dilena also noted the club’s commitment to including Tassie in the AFL, saying their submission to be considered for a licence “focused on participation and player development at a grassroots level and involved the state of Tasmania in a meaningful way, while also maintaining an equally strong connection to our home in North Melbourne.”

As for the teams who’ll have to wait until 2020, a few are a bit salty at missing out on a 2019 run. The West Coast Eagles, for instance, released a statement saying they were “bitterly disappointed” at having their entry postponed, but that they’ll “use the additional 12 months to build an even stronger connection with female football”.

Anyway, it’s fucking sick that clubs are fighting over who gets to be involved in this hectic sport. How good is women’s AFL??