It's 7:10pm on International Women's Day, and footy takes centre stage at Canberra's UNSW Oval. The Friday night clash between the Giants and Adelaide is broadcast around the nation on three major radio stations, while also screening on Fox Footy.

But this is not an AFL Women's fixture — it's a JLT men's practice match. That's right, on a day purpose-built for furthering gender equality, and in the middle of the AFLW season, the stage is instead set to showcase men.

It's howlers like these that infuriate fans and players alike (including, notably, former Collingwood AFLW player Meg Hutchins) and make one doubt the AFL's commitment to — and vision for — its national women's competition.

Indeed, it was precisely this issue that flared up earlier in the week at Susan Alberti's annual AFLW breakfast, where chief executive Nicole Livingstone was invited by host Shelley Ware to outline a vision for AFLW. Ware prefaced the request by noting that many fans and players had been distressed by the AFL's decision to restrict the AFLW fixture to seven weeks and introduce a controversial conference system, despite the introduction of two new teams.

In response, a defensive Livingstone responded that the AFL would not outline a vision for AFLW, given no organisation "in any industry" would go public with their "operational plan". Channel 7 journalist Sam Lane, on the panel with Livingstone alongside current players Katie Brennan and Sharni Layton, countered that, on the contrary, many organisations do indeed outline such a vision — including, close to home, the Richmond football club.

Livingstone's failure to outline a similar vision raises the fair and reasonable question: does the AFL have a vision for AFLW, and if so, what is it?

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AFLW 'on the fly'

According to Sam Lane, the AFL has "done a lot on the fly" when it comes to AFLW. Much of which it has done "well", but she told the ABC she does not believe the AFL has clearly articulated its "medium and long-term vision for the competition".

"From what I observe, and also what I hear from the inside at clubs, there is a growing frustration about a lack of articulated vision," Lane said.

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"That is now having an impact on clubs at the elite level, and also, importantly, the community level. They're being asked to plan without a roadmap."

The AFLW roadmap is lacking in a number of critical details. These include how many teams the AFL plans on introducing (and how soon), whether the failing conference system is here to stay, how many weeks of football head office would like to see played, and when in the year the AFL believes the AFLW is best staged.

One of the biggest issues with a lack of articulated vision is that this leaves those invested in the competition, and women's sport more broadly, to join the dots.

Next year, for example, the AFL will introduce four new women's teams in Gold Coast, Richmond, St Kilda and West Coast. If the AFL retains the existing conference system, that means seven teams per conference and six weeks of regular season competition.

In other words, the fixture would again be reduced by a week, despite the introduction of four new teams, continuing a worrying trend of more teams, but less football.

The power of 'extra eyes'

Inaugural AFLW best and fairest Erin Phillips returned this season after injury ruined 2018 for her. ( AAP: Sam Wundke )

As it stands, the timing of AFLW forces it into increasing competition with its own code and, as on International Women's Day, pits men's football uncomfortably (and unwittingly) against women's. Other internal competition includes the much-maligned AFLX, the preseason men's competition and, now, inevitable hype in the lead-up to the men's regular season.

Lane argues the current set-up isn't working.

Her vision for AFLW is that it would begin after the men's season, launching prior to or during the AFL men's finals series. She said this would ensure "extra eyes" by recruiting casual observers to the game.

"Footy lovers know that feeling of the next Friday, or the next Sunday week [after the men's grand final] — you literally don't know what do with yourself," she said.

"What better weekend to go, oh yeah, my Carlton team, or Richmond, or GWS … they're actually still playing."

In the long term, however, Lane says the AFL needs to take a "big, bold step" to ensure AFLW thrives. Her suggestion is to fix an inequitable men's fixture by shortening the men's competition to 17 rounds, so that each team plays each other once.

It may seem like a controversial idea, but Lane isn't the only one to have put the solution forward. Shortening the men's season is something men's AFL players and coaches have previously publicly requested.

It's also a sure-fire solution to making both men's and women's players happy. Practically, it would leave enough "fresh air" for the women's season to also be played in full (perhaps launching during men's finals, as Lane suggests).

Most crucially, however, it would be a trailblazing demonstration of the ethos of not only International Women's Day, but the AFL's genuine commitment to gender equity more broadly.

Kate O'Halloran is a sportswriter and former Victorian cricketer. She hosts AFLW radio show Kick Like a Girl 12-1pm Mondays on RRR and writes a Monday column on the AFLW for the ABC.