Australian Football League execs met on Sunday to "consider how to manage crowds after more than 50,000 fans flocked to see the opening weekend of women’s football," according to Langmaid, Williams & Galloway of the HERALD SUN. It comes as "thousands were turned away from the inaugural match at Ikon Park on Friday night and hundreds more lined up early" for the clash between Melbourne and Brisbane at Casey Fields on Saturday. Execs are expected to "weigh up options for a potential venue shift for this Saturday’s round two clash between Collingwood and Melbourne" but pundits are "already speculating about how the league will cope with the crowds long term." AFL Game Development Manager Simon Lethlean said after Friday’s game that the league was "eager" to maximize crowd attendance for the game. Lethlean: "It's a possibility now that we know the (Ikon Park) ground’s got a good capacity, people can get here OK and the lights work well" (HERALD SUN, 2/5).
BIGGER VENUES NEEDED: In Sydney, Greg Denham reported the AFL on Sunday said that a decision would be made on Monday "whether to transfer this weekend’s Collingwood-Melbourne game." While that shift "seems a formality," a push for a Melbourne Cricket Ground grand final "will be determined early next month." That move -- "a curtain-raiser" before the round one match between Essendon and Hawthorn -- could "become a reality" if the two grand finalists are Melbourne-based clubs. The AFL said that it could "still play the inaugural premiership decider at a community venue or outside Victoria." While the league said that it has "no immediate plans for expansion" in '18, five clubs -- Geelong, North Melbourne, Richmond, St. Kilda and West Coast -- "want to be part of the action next year." Geelong CEO Brian Cook said that his club "wanted to represent regional Australia next year." Cook: "The competition needs a regional team and we expect to be part of the expanded league in 2018" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 2/6).
ALBERTI BACKS EXPANSION: In Melbourne, McFarlane, Gardiner, Wood & Masanauskas reported women’s football "pioneer" and AFL adviser Susan Alberti said that she would "definitely" support a women’s league Melbourne Cricket Ground grand final, "and believes it will happen." Alberti also said that she believed that two more AFL teams "could be admitted to the women’s league, as early as next season." She said, "It's going to happen. In 2018, there should be a couple more teams. And I think within three to five years there’ll be teams at every club." AFL Fans Association President Gerry Eeman said of the AFLW grand final, "If it can get Etihad or the MCG that’s a great outcome. I think it would be great if it (the women’s league) stood firmly and proudly on its own" (HERALD SUN, 2/4). In Melbourne, Gleeson & Willingham reported the "big crowds" -- 45,000 attended the first three matches -- have not altered the AFL's decision to "make all but the few curtain-raisers to men's pre-season matches free entry." Premier Daniel Andrews backed an AFLW grand final at the MCG, saying the game should be played at a ground big enough for the crowds, "and that probably means the 'G.'" Andrews: "This is going to grow from strength to strength. I think men's football is going to have to share a few grounds to make this an even bigger success" (THE AGE, 2/5).
