Former AFLW player and coach Lauren Arnell has slammed the standard of Collingwood, while emphasising the responsibility of coaches to “put on a show” to grow the game.
The Magpies slumped to a new low on Friday night after failing to kick a single goal against Port Adelaide.
The 48-point defeat to the Power was the club’s 10th loss this season out of 11 games. Under head coach Sam Wright, the Magpies have won just five games since the start of 2024.
“Overall, it was not the best standard of AFLW football that we would expect to see at this point of season 11,” Arnell said on ABC Radio.
“Ash Centra was one of the first to walk off the ground in tears right in front of us. Totally fair. I would probably be about the same level.”
Sam Wright took over as head coach at the end of 2023 and has struggled to get wins on the board since. (Getty: Mark Brake)
The pioneer of women’s football and former captain of Carlton said while the AFLW continued to play 16 a side in venues open to conditions, unlike protected stadiums the MCG, Perth Stadium and Docklands in the men’s game, if teams did not have high skill levels or offensive systems, they would not be able to put goals on the board.
“If you’re Sam Wright, you’ve made some clear decisions where you want to play plus two behind the ball for a lot of the game. And my personal belief is that if you do that in AFLW, you’re giving up score, and that’s what we saw again tonight,” Arnell said.
“And having coached against Collingwood in 2024, we beat them here at Alberton, and it was quite frustrating as a coach and someone who’s been invested in women’s sport and AFLW for a period of time, [as] you know that broadcast relies on high scoring.
“People who forever criticise AFLW as a sport, or a league, will always point to the lack of score and short quarters … and I’m a firm non-believer in heavy defensive systems for all of those reasons, not just because you can’t score, but because we have a responsibility if you’re coaching to grow the game and put on a show.”
Ruby Schleicher, captain of Collingwood, will leave the Magpies at the end of the AFLW season. (Getty: Martin Keep)
Last week, Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly fronted the AFLW playing group after media reports of player unrest and concerns with the operation of the women’s program.
Kelly told News Corp that when AFLW was to be introduced in 2017, Collingwood put its hand up to be an inaugural club, but now he often wondered if the Magpies would have been better off waiting to enter the women’s competition at a later date.
He conceded being a foundation AFLW club might have been a mistake, while ruling out any prospect of an independent review into the women’s program, which other struggling clubs have done, such as Carlton in 2023, Richmond in 2025 and St Kilda following this season.
Former player and coach Lauren Arnell slams non-offensive styles of play in the AFLW. (Getty: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos)
To Arnell, those remarks from Kelly screamed a lack of understanding between the executive and the playing cohort.
“That statement just immediately tells me you have never sat down with enough of your women’s players and even asked them questions of their perspective and where they’ve come from,” Arnell said.
“Like you’ve got no understanding of your playing group and potentially your coaching group.”
Despite being one of the biggest sporting clubs in Victoria, Collingwood players are reported to feel behind local rivals in Melbourne, North Melbourne and Carlton, and are unhappy with multiple aspects of the program, including coaching, high performance and list management.
Collingwood is not alone down the bottom of the ladder, with St Kilda and Essendon also entering round 11 having won only one game this season.
Essendon players have looked frustrated and dejected after losses this season. (Getty: Michael Willson/AFL Photos)
“And I’ll guarantee you, off the back of that, there’s going to be a lot of movement in the trade period coming up in the next month and a half,” Arnell said.
There is an expected player exodus from Collingwood at the season’s end, with captain Ruby Schleicher already announcing she’ll be leaving to head back to Western Australia. It is reported the West Coast Eagles offered her a four-year deal, while the Magpies’ initial offer was a one-year contract extension, then upped to two.
On top of Schleicher, the high-profile players such as Tarni White, Brianna Davey, Sarah Rowe and Lauren Butler are all out of contract at season’s end. Vice-captain Jordy Allen tried to exit last trade period for Brisbane but Collingwood blocked her attempts.
“I think the washout of this whole storyline will be well beyond Collingwood, and we’re going to see evidence of it across the trade period coming in December, and it will be really clear which players feel like their club’s not invested in the environment,” Arnell said.
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