BY KAT CHRISOULIS

The NAB AFLW league will grow from 14 teams to 18 teams by the end of 2023, with all AFL teams having a female counterpart, the AFL announced on May 13, 2021.

Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Sydney have been invited to apply for a permit by July 9, for their proposed women’s teams.

Club proposals will be assessed by the AFL Commission based on the club’s economic and business strategies, corporate support and facilities.

Without official women’s teams, Port Adelaide and Sydney have been developing young female talent through their respective football academies.

AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan said that the well-earned expansion marked an exciting day for women's sport and football fans around the country.

"The NAB AFLW Competition has built a new audience base for the code with some 4.5m AFLW fans, 155,908 attendees, 6.1m viewers and an incredible 20 per cent of supporters who are new or first new time AFL attendees," Mr McLachlan said.

Hawthorn Chief Executive Jeff Kennett told 3AW the AFL's expansion timeline was "discrimination of the worst kind" towards female athletes and the Hawthorn Football Club.

Hawthorn initially chose not to form an AFLW side in the league's inaugural season and have since been denied opportunities to join.

Former VFLW Collingwood premiership coach, and current Williamstown coach, Penny Cula-Reid said she was wary about the financial implications of the league's development.

"I would hate to see the brand of women's football not be as strong as it possibly could be because we tried to bite off more than we could possibly chew," she said.

Ms Cula-Reid did however appreciate Mr Kennett's non-tokenistic efforts.

"I think it’s great that he is working diligently to want Hawthorn to have an AFL team within the next couple of years, but I'm not sure if he's going about it the right way," she said.

Western Bulldogs player Isabelle Pritchard, 19, said the AFL’s timeline will allow for an improved brand of women’s football, denying claims that the talent pool is unsubstantial.

“Women's football is something that is exponentially growing, and the talent pool is going to exponentially grow along with that,” Pritchard said.

“There’s girls who are starting to play football now who are the same age as the boys when they start, at six years old … they’ll have been playing for 10 more years, which is great for the competition, and it’s great for women in sport.”

Jeff Kennett similarly praised the standard of Victoria’s local and state leagues.

"Every year that passes, the talent is getting better and better,” Mr Kennett said.

However, Ms Cula-Reid expressed concern for the standard of AFLW if the league were to rush expansion.

"If we were to continue to expand too soon then we would dilute the talent pool, especially because not having a season last year impacted this year in terms allowing those younger girls to grow and develop with another year of football under their belts," she said.

"If we were to add a couple more teams to that, I'm not sure if the talent is ready for it yet".