The AFL’s much anticipated announcement on Thursday regarding the future of AFLW has been met with largely positive reviews.

News of an earlier, 10-round season, independent of the AFL men’s competition and a 2023 deadline for the inclusion of teams from all 18 AFL clubs are amongst the positive announcements.

With the new AFLW season due to begin in December of this year, North Melbourne AFLW captain Emma Kearney says the earlier start bodes well not just for players, but for fans of women’s sport as well.

“I think having an earlier start, having free air-space separate from the men’s competition is a really good thing. We’ve seen how successful it’s been in the BBL (Women’s Big Bash League), so I’m really excited for that to come in,” Kearney told SEN.

“We have the longest off-season. I guess for me being able to start pre-season [earlier] … it’s a bit of a blessing rather than having to wait until November.

“It might actually lead us into a really nice segue, having the Big Bash [first] and having that flow on effect on women’s sport … in Victoria we’re a footy loving state so I’m pretty confident the viewership will continue to grow.”

The 2020 season was the first time there was any kind of alignment between VFLW and AFLW, with the rescheduling of the VFLW competition allowing unselected AFLW players the opportunity to prove themselves at reserve level.

Kearney says the VFLW and AFLW seasons must be aligned in order to allow players to develop faster and prove themselves to their AFLW coaches.

“Those players who are on the fringe or the ones who are coming back from injury, it just allows them to play some games of footy and prove themselves,” she said.

“In previous years we haven’t had an aligned VFL competition to the AFLW, which just means a lot of the girls who aren’t playing just have to do running on the weekend. It’s really hard for them to prove themselves.

“I think the SANFL have done it really well over the last four seasons or so, they’ve aligned their competition with AFLW and it’s been a proven success for Adelaide.”

One of the AFLW’s elite players since its conception, Kearney has been awarded All-Australian honours in every year of the competition’s existence.

She says the inclusion of an extra round, increased viewership and the improving player quality of the competition all point to exceptional growth for the competition.

“I was 21 when I first started playing. I wasn’t playing because I thought there was an elite competition, there was no way I thought that was a reality for me,” Kearney added.

“The young girls are starting to realise how fortunate they are coming through a pathway system and going into elite competition.

“Just to have more visible women role models for young boys and girls growing up is huge … we want to see more growth in the game.”