Melbourne AFLW captain Daisy Pearce has commented on the conference system set to be introduced for the 2019 season.
Two conferences of five teams will be brought in for the AFL Women’s competition next year with each side to play seven games – despite there being 10 teams.
Pearce said she can see how the conferences could make the season more interesting, but also feels it compromises the competition further.
“I think we should get the opportunity to play every team once as a minimum and then a finals series – that’s how football fixtures work, generally speaking,” Pearce told SEN’s Whateley.
“The fixture is already compromised so to do this doesn’t compromise it much further, but I’m open to that innovation.
“It compromises it slightly more because how do you come up with those conferences and how are they evenly distributed, when you look at it being a competition that’s in its infancy and it’s hard to get a line of form on a team?
The two-time club Best and Fairest pointed out a few of the positives a conference system could bring as well.
“It will keep more teams alive in the competition for longer,” Pearce said.
“Rather than there potentially being a distribution of the teams where you get a couple of strong teams finishing in the top four from Round 4 onwards and then it being hard for the teams below to push in, with the conference system it means you just have to finish in the top two of your five team conference.
“As you’re playing your games, one week you might play one from your conference, the next week you might play someone from the other conference so if you’ve got a couple of conference games in the back end of the fixture, you’ve got a big opportunity to move up rapidly.
Pearce herself will not play in the upcoming season as she is pregnant with twins.