The AFL has underestimated the appeal of the AFLW competition if it goes ahead with its preference of Ikon Park as a grand final venue on Saturday March 24. On Tuesday, it was revealed the AFL “does not want a double header with a round-one men’s game, ruling out Etihad Stadium and the MCG as venues”.

Since the inception of the competition, the AFL has determined the AFLW grand final be hosted by the minor premier. In 2017, the Lions went through the season undefeated, but played home games at South Pine Sports Complex, a ground with a capacity of 3,000. The club has since told the AFL the ground is unsuitable for home and away games, let alone a grand final.

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As a result, the Lions requested their club’s home ground, the Gabba, but were told four days before the decider that they could not play there. Instead, they were offered Metricon Stadium, home of their rivals, the Gold Coast Suns, and over an hour’s drive from the CBD.

The AFL has had a year to ensure a similar debacle did not ensue this season, and yet seemingly no room has been made in its fixture to ensure the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne, one of which will after this weekend finish minor premiers, have access to their club’s home ground – Etihad Stadium and the MCG respectively.

The Bulldogs have played their AFLW games at Whitten Oval, while Melbourne nominated to play their women’s fixtures at Casey Fields. But Casey Fields is approximately an hour and a half drive from Melbourne (and 5km from the nearest station), with just 350 seats.

The Whitten Oval, meanwhile, has a capacity of 12,000, and has been near-full for each home and away fixture. Clearly, neither of these venues is appropriate for a league that drew 19,852 for its opening night and a record 41,975 (more than last week’s men’s NRL clash at the same venue) at Perth’s new stadium, the latter game ticketed for a nominal fee.

That the obvious solution to the AFL is Ikon Park makes little sense. Ikon Park has come under fire all season for its lack of professional lighting, and if the game is to be held in twilight or at night, it is simply unsuitable. One can only imagine the outrage if players are made to play in floodlights because – as CEO Nicole Livingstone has openly admitted – the AFL did not “budget” for lighting for the AFLW season. That statement came right after Peter Gordon let slip that the AFLW’s budget had been slashed to be redirected to AFLX.

The message this would send to girls and women aspiring to elite team sport is clear: your product is seen and treated as inferior – and if money is required to bridge equity-based gaps, there is an unwillingness to spend it.

If held during the day, Ikon Park’s capacity – at 24,568 – becomes an issue in the absence of tickets. The ground was locked out for game one of the inaugural season, meaning thousands of fans were turned away. While season two did not begin with another lockout, anecdotally many watched on TV, worried about the prospect of missing out on a seat on the night. If GWS or Adelaide – currently third and fourth on the ladder – line up in the decider, how many fans will travel to Melbourne for a game they might not get into?

For local fans, meanwhile, Etihad stadium offers far superior transport options, particularly important for those who are elderly or with mobility issues. Ticketing the game there would also allow those who have purchased AFLW memberships – and supported the women’s game financially – to be guaranteed seats.

To presume that the grand final – between the league’s two top sides – could not draw in excess of 24,568 if ticketed is a failure of imagination on the behalf of the AFL, and a serious underestimation of the league’s appeal. Livingstone has continually said that atmosphere will be the deciding factor in where the game is held. Reading between the lines, the league is worried about empty seats, and thinks a full Ikon Park is a better look than a less-full but professional stadium.

Compare this with Cricket Australia’s announcement earlier in the year that it will host the 2020 women’s world T20 final at the MCG as a stand-alone event – with the explicit intent of filling the ground, and shattering previous women’s sports attendance records. Ambitious as this goal may seem, Cricket Australia has aimed high, and backed its women’s game to draw those numbers. Presumably it also plans to boost attendance with appropriate marketing. This it can do because it has had the foresight to plan for growing its women’s game – something the AFL has consistently failed to show in season two of AFLW.

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With enough pre-planning and an understanding of the value of its product, there is no reason the AFLW could not fill Etihad, particularly with two Melbourne teams contesting the final.

The AFL does have a point in saying it does not want to stage the grand final as a double-header. A grand final deserves its own stage, and fans of the women’s game are often not the same as those of the men’s, meaning attempts to capitalise on audiences for men’s games by staging women’s games as ‘curtain-raisers’ often do not work. Look at the WBBL final this year, for example.

In that case, the solution is simple. Keep Etihad or the MCG free for the AFLW grand final, or stage the men’s game before, so that there can be no misconception that it is a curtain raiser. This won’t be easy with the way Saturday’s AFL fixtures have been scheduled, however, with St Kilda v Brisbane at 3:35pm at Etihad, and Hawthorn v Collingwood at 7:25pm at the MCG.

Moving into season three, the AFL will have yet more AFLW problems on its hands. With two new teams, and competition as fierce as it has been, there is an overwhelming case for a finals series – even more so than this year. This will mean further overlap with the men’s season, unless the AFL can work out a way to give both the stage they deserve.

Let’s hope that after two years of learnings, AFLW will be treated as a legitimate competition in its own right, deserving of respect and promotion by the organisation that should be its most ardent supporter.