Georgie Parker: AFL is their own worst enemy when it comes to growing the women’s game

The AFL doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel here, it just needs to pay attention.

What the NRL has done with the NRLW, and especially with State of Origin, is deliberate, patient, and, most importantly, respectful of the product. They’ve treated women’s rugby league as something worth showcasing. Because it is something worth showcasing.

On Thursday night, the only rugby league match on TV was the women’s State of Origin. Not a second match of the night after a men’s, on a second channel.

Not buried in the off-season when people are tired and have footy fatigue. It was front and centre, in the middle of the footy calendar and on the main channel.

The message was clear: this matters. And the response followed. A really strong crowd in Newcastle, and television numbers that outperformed an AFL match-up between two heavyweight clubs Hawthorn and Collingwood.

This isn’t an accident. It’s the result of a strategy and making sure there is clear space for them. You’d don’t have to look deep in to the AFL to see they just don’t do this.

You compare this to how the AFL treat secondary men’s teams in their competition — let alone the women — doubling up the Crows and Port match on Friday night.

Arguably, the biggest rivalry outside of Victoria overlapped with two other teams, instead of letting them have a night for themselves.

The NRL, though, has gone about their women differently. it hasn’t rushed expansion. It hasn’t diluted the product. Instead, it’s identified its strongest asset — State of Origin — and elevated the women’s version into a genuine event, slingshotting off this.

They are not a novelty, not a curtain-raiser, but a genuine showcase. They’ve taken their best players, in their best environment and given them a stage.

And people are watching. A reported 52% year-on-year increase in viewership on 9Now underlines something that should no longer be up for debate: the audience is there.

The tired argument that “people don’t want to watch women’s sport” doesn’t hold up when the sport is presented properly and the numbers are there to prove it.

That’s what makes this both encouraging and frustrating. Encouraging, because it proves the ceiling is high. Frustrating, because it shows the gap between what’s possible by some and what’s currently being delivered elsewhere.

The AFLW, by comparison, still feels like it’s searching for their product to be ‘good enough’ to give them that platform.

The AFLW is scheduled when attention is waning. It’s late in the AFL season, when fans of struggling clubs have already checked out. The midseason is deep into September, when men’s finals dominate the conversation.

And the finals, well that’s the worst bit, their in October and November, when cricket pitches are being rolled out and the summer of cricket is front of mind.

Visibility matters, so the timing matters.

Showcase games like the state of origin are critical in growing any sport. This isn’t unique to women’s competitions. Fans are drawn to quality and want to see the best against the best. That’s what converts casual viewers into invested ones all over the world. It’s easy to sell excellence.

The NRL understands that. Women’s State of Origin isn’t just an introduction to female athletes; for many viewers, it’s an introduction — or reintroduction — to rugby league itself. Women’s sport audiences tend to be less tribal, more open and will watch sports out of their usual realm. If the product is compelling, they’ll follow it, regardless of code.

That’s an opportunity the AFL hasn’t fully grasped.

Imagine AFLW showcase matches — State of Origin, or something comparable — played mid-season, standalone, in prime time. Not competing with finals, not fighting for scraps of attention, but commanding it, and owning it.

Give it the best players, the best broadcast team, and a clear sense of occasion and my hope, that not only men’s fans will watch and enjoy, but a bunch of new fans to this great game.

Because right now, critics have an easy out. They can point to a low-quality match-up, 17th versus 18th, uneven contests, low scoring matches and developing lists, then dismiss the whole competition.

And if we’re being honest, even in the men’s game, those are the matches people skip. The difference is, the men’s competition has enough high-end product to balance it out.

The AFLW needs more moments that represent its ceiling, not its growing pains.

The NRL hasn’t just supported its women’s game, it has positioned it to succeed.

It has created an environment where success is possible, then visible and that’s the lesson. Shine the light on it, and it will be seen.