Women take centre stage

By James Matthey

Women’s Round was celebrated in the best possible fashion last weekend, with players from the Melbourne Demons and Western Bulldogs getting the chance to display their skills on the game’s biggest stage.

The inaugural AFL Women’s Exhibition Game was played as a curtain-raiser to the men’s clash at the MCG on Saturday June 30, giving women from both sides the opportunity to experience the intensity and build-up of an elite AFL match.

Sydney University defender, Jennifer Lew, was one of two home-grown products to be selected in the Melbourne side, partnering UNSW-ES Stingrays player Courtney Gum, who was named in the 2013 All Australian side after starring in the recent National Women’s Championships held in Cairns.

Lew said the concept was a wonderful occasion for football fans to get a first-hand glimpse at the ability that exists in the women’s game.

“I think it was just a fabulous game for people to see the amount of talent that the girls have,” said Lew.

“I know a lot of the people I’ve been talking to appreciated, for example, Chelsea Randall on our team, she’s an incredible athlete, just the amount of clean marks and breaking packs that she did.

“There were so many contested balls, which at club level I guess you don’t see as much.

“It’s just clean, the kicking style at this level, I think it was great that a crowd got to see that we’re actually footballers.”

While the Melbourne players would have been happy with the result, having come out on top against a spirited Bulldogs outfit, it was far more special for them to be given the opportunity to show what they can do when given their place in the spotlight.

“It was pretty incredible I think, after the game I still had to pinch myself, I didn’t want it to end,” said Lew.

“It was just an absolute privilege and an honour to be able to be part of something that will go down in history and hopefully can pave the way for girls behind us.

“It was incredible to have that kind of crowd, and be in that kind of arena surrounded by people who love the sport as much as Courtney and I do.”

To go with the on-field experience, the women were also treated to much of what the men do in preparation for a game.

Despite only having a couple of days in camp together, the Melbourne team certainly squeezed a lot into a tight time-frame, gaining access to the club’s inner sanctum, and even benefitting from the expertise of some of the men’s coaches.

“We turned up there on the day and we met a couple of the key people in the Melbourne Football Club, the coaches, the volunteers, a couple of the admin people and we had a meeting as soon as we got there,” said Lew.

“Then we came back and had a look at some of the facilities, which are amazing, after training going and using the ice baths and a general pool session and having a team dinner. They have a dietician there who cooks most of their meals for the men, so that was quite interesting.

“There were a lot of meetings we went to, learning about the history of the club, we watched the induction tapes that the men watch about the history and the relationship with war heroes that they have.

“There were three different coaches which was different…the forwards had a men’s coach, we had another lady take care of the backs and Michelle was doing a lot of work with the mids.

“It was just a greater intensity, obviously with the shorter amount of time.”

Lew said that while nerves were running high at different stages throughout the day, the teams eventually settled into a rhythm and acquitted themselves well in unique circumstances.

“I think getting to the ground was the most nerve-wracking part and then when we started getting warmed up in the change rooms everyone calmed down a bit and we just remembered we were here for football.

“We got to go out onto the field before the crowd got there to have a bit of a kick so it was still OK, but as soon as we went out onto the field with the crowd it got a bit quiet again, I think everyone’s nerves kicked back in again and it took about five minutes before people calmed down.

“You could see that across the field, it was very quiet for the first part of the game and then as it continued the normal talk built up around the ground and it was more like a football game.

“I think we were pretty surprised at the end of the game because they had about seven-and-a-half thousand people watching by three quarter time, it was awesome.”

With this match such a great step forward for women’s football, Lew said she hopes it will inspire other girls to take up the sport from a young age, and perhaps allow women to one day reach the heights of the men’s game.

“I hope it builds it up, I hope it inspires other people to get into it from a younger age.

“If you start younger I guess the skill level just skyrockets by the time you get to our age.

“Speaking with some of the Victorian girls and the girls from WA, they start at a younger age and hopefully that will happen in NSW.

“The men came and chatted with us and they were right behind it, they said they couldn’t see a reason why women shouldn’t be playing on these arenas.

“They said ‘we’ve seen your skill level, we saw you train over the last couple of days, there’s no reason why women shouldn’t be out there playing on the stages that we do,’ so that was really encouraging.

“It was great, I still can’t believe it actually happened, it went so quickly.”