Die Macht » at Allianz Stadium on Friday into next year.dddddd

Sue Alberti played Australian football as a girl, but around 15 years of age her father decided it was too dangerous for her. In any event, she was quickly running out of places to play. It is a story that is all too familiar.Albertis love of the game never diminished, and she became a central figure within the push for more womens football. Success in business followed, and there is a story of her attending a womens game, learning the clubs finances were threadbare, and writing a cheque for $Aus250,000 on the spot. Needless to say, the players and staff were stunned; like so many they had belted their heads against the brick wall of indifference about womens footy for so long.She became vice-president of Western Bulldogs in the AFL, not to mention her roles as managing director of the Dansu Group, chair of her own medical research foundation, and director of various other organisations. It is for people such as Alberti for whom this weekend, devoid of AFL finals as the league trials a post-season bye, is important.Thats because Melbourne and the Bulldogs are playing an exhibition womens game at Whitten Oval on Saturday night that is the teaser before the AFLs brand new national womens league starts in March, 2017. The teams are not relevant -- both Melbourne and the Bulldogs have drawn in some of the best players from around the country in an all-star concept -- but the Demons and Dogs have been front-runners in the push for a national womens league.Channel Seven, the AFLs broadcast partner, is showing the game live and it will be live-streamed, too, which will provide another sample of the publics appetite for the womens game. Previous experience suggests there is substantial interest: When Seven showed last years exhibition game between the same teams it out-rated the Adelaide vs. Essendon AFL match shown the previous day, with about 300,000 viewers nationally. It was the first ever live broadcast of a womens match but certainly not the last.Within a few months, the likes of Alberti were at the MCG to hail the announcement of the new national league to start next year, including teams from Adelaide, Brisbane Lions, Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Greater Western Sydney, Melbourne and Western Bulldogs. The AFL has the financial muscle to make it work, of course, and other sports with many women participants ought to be fearful; already there are indications of young, athletic women crossing over to the indigenous game. The fact there will be payment of players and in particular, two marquee players for each club, only adds to that feeling.Interestingly it is a fix done from the top, rather than beneath. The AFL is starting the project by building a high-level league for players to aspire to play in; yet surely there needs to be much work done at the grassroots to offer opportunities for players in the first place. This is a work in progress.But in a short time the momentum has gathered, and the likes of Daisy Pearce, Melbournes brilliant on-ball player, and Moana Hope, the champion full-forward from St Kilda Sharks who kicked more than a century of goals this season and recently signed to play with Collingwood in the national league, have grown profiles. The new league will only add to this.Fifty percent of AFL crowds are women and girls. Plainly the game has been loved by females for as long as it has been played. The formation of a high-end national league is not only welcome but overdue; frankly, it makes you wonder why it took so long to happen. John Collins Hawks Jersey .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St. Dikembe Mutombo Jersey . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. 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Coach Paul Green believes North Queensland dealt well with the pressure of being NRL premiers.But they are the latest side to discover how hard it is to win back-to-back premierships after they were dumped out of the title race by Cronulla.The Cowboys made their way through to the grand final last year after losing in the first week of the playoffs.However, they couldnt repeat that feat this year after losing to Melbourne in week on and defeating Brisbane last week.No team has won successive titles in the NRL era. Brisbane were the last side to manage the feat in a united competition in 1992-93.We felt how hard that was at different times through the year, Green saidTeams rarely played poorly against us. That takes a fair bit out of you. Its not just the 17 or 19 players, you need a few more than that to play consistently well throughout the year.I thought we coped pretty well with that. We certainly gave ourselves a shot, making the preliminary final tonight. When youve been through it and youve achieved it you know what it takes. Weve got to wait 12 months for it too. Thats pretty tough.Green said the Cowboys will take motivatioon from their preliminary finals exit, 32-20 to the Sharks at Allianz Stadium on Friday into next year.ddddddddddddhis year was probably an opportunity lost, Green saidYouve got to work so hard to give yourself a chance that we had tonight. Thats probably the tough thing.The disappointment were feeling at the moment were going to need to hang on to that and keep the fire in the belly for next week.Cowboys prop James Tamou said staying hungry for another title against teams that hadnt won was a challenge.The fire burns a lot more with teams that havent been there yet or might have got kicked out last year, Tamou said.They come with a bit more energy and that Im guessing. We wanted to be in it, but execution has let us down.We knew from the start we would have a target on our heads and it was up to us to step it up. Some patches it was a bit of a rollercoaster up and down through the air. It was up to us to do what we wanted to do. To come this far is obviously a great achievement but not what we wanted. ' ' '