With Karen Lyons hosting, Channel 7 AFL presenter and journalist Sam Lane was joined by ABC Grandstand’s Angela Pippos to chew the fat on a season that delivered dizzying highs, crashing lows and a lot more controversy than the first iteration.

Drawing on their knowledge of the women’s game from well before the AFLW started, Lane was quick to point out that despite the perception of a “rushed” onset of the league (brought forward to 2017 from 2020), the opposite was true.

“AFLW should have happened earlier, it was late, hence Gil (McLachlan) brought it forward," she said

“The game changer was that a commercial opportunity was going missing.

“In August 2015, the exhibition game rated the house down, beating the Adelaide v Essendon men’s game.

“It was at that moment that the penny dropped.”

Harking back to before even exhibition games were broadcast, Lyons added.

“Often women were met with indifference; ‘We understand that it’s important, but it’s just not as important as the blokes’".

In firm agreement, Lane also noted more of a “nuanced sexism” at the AFL.

“Lots of lifted eyebrows; discrimination took many forms...in the days when Sam Mostyn was first announced as a commissioner, a $65,000 salary for a Women’s Development position was deemed a ‘luxury’ that the AFL couldn’t justify paying.”

Pippos, who has recently returned to the ABC’s Grandstand team offered this sage advice to all sporting codes.

“If your sport doesn’t see sport as a matter of equality then you’ll be left behind. If you don’t get it, you won’t attract the kids and families.”

Turning to the season in question, Pippos and Lane acknowledged the hurdles that had arisen, Angela speculated on the farcical Katie Brennan suspension and appeals drama before the Grand Final.

“When it the MRP was devised, the Brennan incident wasn’t envisioned," she said.

“Why was pro-rata so hard to figure out?”

Lane raised an important point that the AFLPA should also cop some of the blame, having signed up to the agreement before the season started.

On the topic of a ‘tonal change’ in 2018, in Lyons’ view.

“Celebration was replaced by debate and I liked the passion and anger; it showed how much they care.”

Pippos saw it a little differently.

“There was a different tone to season 2; the airwaves were given to petty grievances and misogynists.”

Lane agreed, citing the AFL itself as an enabler for the change.

“That tone was set after Round 1 with ‘the memo’.

“It was wrong, it made players feel vulnerable, unsure if they’d be liked, they collectively felt shame.”

No fan of the memo herself, Lyons had this to add.

“I’ve lost count of the number of bad games I’ve witnessed. If I issued a memo each time, there’d be no more trees left," she said.

“Each other game was brilliant.”

She then went on to talk about the recently announced charter for the AFLW, which will be drawn from a ‘super panel’ of players, coaches, officials and AFL representatives, at the behest of AFL football operations manager, Steve Hocking.

“Is he a control freak? Or have they built the AFLW and now not know what to do with it?”

Pippos was guarded in her praise for the idea.

“A ‘Super panel’ of women appeals to me, but I worry if it’s segregated...to quote Simone de Beauvoir you become ‘the Other’”.

Lane was on board with the planned overhaul.

“As long as the right people are at the table, it’s the perfect time."

Reflecting on these words, Pippos couched Lane’s enthusiasm with a want to safeguard the league from external forces.

“The last thing I want to see is decisions made with no player input. You want it to go on forever, then it needs to grow sustainably.”

Shining a light on their personal positives for the year, Adelaide Crows tragic Pippos that she enjoyed watching GWS play and the “chaos” of the final round of the season.

The Giant’s AFLPA MVP and mum Courtney Gum was a favourite of both guests, while Lyons was in awe of gun Pies netballer/footballer Ash Brazill.

Lane also relished the final round, which “gifted us a finals series, even though we didn’t have one” and the output level of the players whose “skills went up enormously” going on to state

“These players are modern day leaders”.

So too are the women who shared the stage at the Wheeler Centre on Tuesday night.