AFL National Women's League

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. T.T. Ngo:

That this council—

1. Congratulates the AFL for establishing the National Women's League;

2. Wishes the players all the best for the inaugural 2017 season; and

3. Recognises the important role that providing elite sporting pathways for women plays to encourage girls to participate in sport.

(Continued from 19 October 2016.)

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (18:09): I rise to speak to the motion of the Hon. Mr Ngo. I do congratulate the AFL on this achievement. The league has been a great success and the AFL were extremely clever to schedule it just prior to the men's season, ensuring maximum attention from the media and spectators alike. This has been at the forefront of the women's format. It will survive as a viable competition, and to ensure that it does, it will not compete directly with the men's game, at least in its formative years.

A great initiative has been to ensure that all Adelaide Crows games had free admission during the season. This guaranteed that fan curiosity could be satisfied, and it gave fans a chance to witness what women's football is all about. I am sure it gained a number of new supporters as a result.

Whilst parts of this motion are now outdated, we all wished the ladies the best of luck for the season and now we congratulate them on a very successful season. Players, coaches and administrators are always quick to point out that no comparisons can and should be made between the women's and men's games, and this is true. The women's game needs to be celebrated in its uniqueness and as a stand-alone. Any comparisons to the men's game are unhelpful.

The AFLW is different. We have seen certain innovations, such as the removal of the wings as positions on the field, meaning that only 16 players are on the field from each side. This quickens up the game and reduces congestion. There are many other nuances which I will not go into here, but I am sure there will be many more in the future. Just as there are many differences between women and men, so there should be in their respective codes of Australian Rules football.

The one area of criticism, if I can call it that, that I will touch on is the lack of grassroots options for girls. Unfortunately, by establishing the elite version of the sport without first establishing a pathway of competition for girls, it will be difficult for the AFL to capitalise on the immediate popularity of the sport among young girls. I would like to see resources funnelled into the establishment of grassroots community programs and competitions by the AFL, the SANFL, the Adelaide Footy League and other relevant stakeholders. In fact, this is something that the Minister for Recreation and Sport may want to pay some attention to, rather than rhetorical flourishes on symbolism, such as the renaming of the stands at Adelaide Oval.

Finally, I want to make a comment on my team, the Adelaide Crows. The Crows ladies began the season as favourites for the wooden spoon but ended up premiers and champions. It was an amazing effort by a team that was written off by pundits before a game had even been played. A lot of credit needs to go to coach Bec Goddard and co-captain Erin Phillips, who can now add AFLW premiership captain to her long list of sporting accolades.

Ms Phillips has had a truly amazing year, dominating the individual awards. In addition to being premiership captain, she was also best on ground in the grand final, AFLWPA most valuable player and competition best and fairest (currently known as the W award). She kicked goal of the year, which was a 60-metre bomb against Carlton at the Thebarton Oval, and is All-Australian vice-captain and half-forward. Ms Phillips is expected to be voted as the club's best and fairest as well.

The Crows, domination does not end there, with fellow co-captain Chelsea Randall voted most courageous player by her peers, as well as All-Australian halfback. Ebony Marinoff was the AFLW rising star for best player under the age of 22. Other honours included Courtney Cramey as All-Australian fullback and Sarah Perkins as All-Australian full-forward.

The remaining premiership players were Heather Anderson, Georgia Bevan, Talia Radan, Anne Hatchard, Denni Varnhagen, Angela Foley who was vice-captain, Dayna Cox, Stevie-Lee Thompson, Kellie Gibson, Sarah Allan, Justine Mules, Sally Riley, Rachael Killian, Abbey Holmes, Rhiannon Metcalfe, Jenna McCormick and Jessica Sedunary. I congratulate every single one of them on their groundbreaking achievement, as well as all the support staff and management on a successful maiden season. I commend the motion to the council.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (18:13): I rise to support the motion of the Hon. Tung Ngo and commend him for bringing it to this place. Indeed, over the weekend, we reached a milestone in Australian sporting history. For the first time, we had two women's teams competing in an AFL grand final. It was a close game and the Crows stepped up to the challenge and won by six points against the Brisbane Lions—Adelaide 4.11 (35) to Brisbane 4.5 (29)—at the Gold Coast stadium.

Footy allegiances aside, you cannot deny that these mighty young women from the Brisbane Lions, Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Giants, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs have paved the way for girls in Australia who have a real desire to pursue a professional football career. The first AFL women's game was moved from Olympic Park because the game was tipped to be bigger in terms of a crowd than 7,000 people, and that tip was right.

The match between Carlton and Collingwood saw hundreds of fans lining up outside as more than 24,000 sat or stood anywhere they could inside to witness that historic match. The TV ratings have also reflected that this is a game whose time has come, with almost one million viewers tuning in, proving that not only is professional football something that women want to play, it is something that Australians want to watch.

Crows board member Kate Gould has pointed out that girls used to stop playing football by the age of 12 because that was when the AFL Auskick ended. Adelaide star Erin Phillips has said, 'I was 13 years old and I was told I wasn't allowed to play footy anymore with the boys.' Last night, she was the first woman to win the AFL's best and fairest award—what an inspiration! Here now in 2017, she and her teammates have proven that girls can play not just past 12 but go on to become legends of football and solid role models, not just for girls but for boys, men and women alike.

Icons of the until now male-dominated game, including commentator and formerly further involved Graham Cornes, were somewhat sceptical about how women's football would go. I, like many others in this place and no doubt in the community, remember his opinion piece, when he seemed to be worried that women's breasts might get in the way. How ridiculous! To paraphrase the fantastic Erin Brockovich, they are called boobs, Graham, and they did not get in the way of the great Erin Phillips as she led her team to victory on the weekend.

Mr Cornes continued in his op-ed that women players 'can't fill their heads with a false expectation that they can become professional footballers'. Yes, they can, Cornesy, and yes, they did on the weekend. Mr Cornes, unlike the girls now, has been left behind. They are now on an even playing field, and we can look forward to seeing women in the AFL Hall of Fame as we can look forward to seeing positive change in the culture of Australia's most loved and indeed my most loved game. I hope we see that into the future, whether or not their boobs are supposedly getting in the way.

Before the first game, the AFL's first female premiership coach, Adelaide's own Bec Goddard, said, 'After 32 years as a player, umpire and coach, I never thought this day would come.' The day came and Bec's team won, and what a beautiful moment it was to pull out The Advertiser's souvenir grand final poster today with the all-star female line-up.

All these milestones, I think, change the way we see society and change the way girls see society. I remember girls of my daughter's age crying when Julia Gillard was no longer prime minister, because they had not realised that a man could be prime minister. I think the day has come when we will see those historic constraints placed upon women and girls forgotten and consigned to the dustbin of history where they belong. With that, I commend this motion, and I look forward to many more seasons of women's football, no matter who your team is.

The Hon. T.T. NGO (18:18): I would like to thank the Hon. Terry Stephens and the Hon. Tammy Franks for their contributions. I would also like to congratulate the Adelaide Crows women's team for winning the first AFL women's premiership. No-one gave them a chance before the season started. As the Hon. Terry Stephens said, many pundits predicted that the Crows would finish last; however, the Port Adelaide Football Club lent Erin Phillips to the Crows to help them move from predicted bottom to top and eventually win the cup.

Once again, I would like to congratulate Erin for winning the best-on-ground medal and all the other awards she has won since then. I also predict that she will end up winning the Crows' best and fairest award tonight as well. With that, thanks everyone, and I commend the motion to the chamber.

Motion carried.