AFLW round four: Few knew there was a double-header on. That’s a real problem

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

Kennelly, H. (2026, September 5). AFLW round four: Few knew there was a double-header on. That’s a real problem. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/aflw-round-four-st-kilda-gear-up-for-reigning-premiers-20260905-p60uox.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-09-05 · by Hannah Kennelly

Quick Summary

AFLW fans failed to fill seats at Ikon Park on Sunday due to lack of advertising. A crowd of 1931 watched the Richmond game, while 3892 attended the second game between Carlton and Collingwood. Despite a 50% increase in attendances over the first three rounds, driven by successful double-headers, many fans were unaware that there was a double-header on Sunday, citing inadequate advertising as the reason. Longtime AFLW fan Amy Stephens expressed frustration at the lack of promotion for the event, suggesting more advertising and activities are needed to encourage attendance.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-06, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On Sunday, 1931 fans attended the Richmond game at 12:30 PM at *Ikon Park* as part of Indigenous Round, while 3892 people watched the subsequent clash between Carlton and Collingwood at 3 PM. However, it's notable that many fans were unaware there was a double-header on, with some long-time supporters claiming they didn't see sufficient advertising for the event. The attendance figures suggest a missed opportunity to draw more spectators to the match, particularly in light of Mother's Day coinciding with the men's finals season, which may have led to fan fatigue or distraction from the women's league.

Written for “AFL Women's League” on 2026-10-21, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 AFL Women's League
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
20%
5 of 25 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-06 · source text last changed 2026-09-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 4405 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Hannah Kennelly
25 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Hannah Kennelly
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 25 articles by Hannah Kennelly →

Topics

AFLW Carlton Collingwood Fremantle Richmond

Subjects

Carlton ORG · 4× AFLW ORG · 3× Collingwood ORG · 3× Richmond GPE · 3× AFL ORG · 2× Marvel ORG · 2× Stephens PERSON · 2× Amy Stephens PERSON · 1× Fremantle ORG · 1× Pies ORG · 1×

Narrative

Longtime AFLW fan Amy Stephens has only missed two Collingwood games since 2018 and was cheering for the Pies from the boundary line on Sunday. However, the supporter said she had no idea there was a double-header on today, citing the lack of advertising around the event.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-06
🔮 The Carlton versus Collingwood clash at 3pm had an attendance of 3892 (an accumulative figure that counts fans who came for the first game, but might not have stayed for the second).
2026-09-06 · The Sydney Morning Herald
AFLW round four: Few knew there was a double-header on. That’s a real problem · assertive framing

Claims (25 extracted, 5 hedged)

Sunday at Ikon Park showcased an action-packed day of footy with a double-header that saw Fremantle triumph over Richmond, and Carlton continue their winning streak with a resounding victory over Collingwood. asserted
Carlton → showcase → Collingwood
It’s a shame more people weren’t there to see it. asserted
people → ’ → it
A crowd of 1931 fans showed up to watch the Richmond game at 12.30 at Ikon Park for the second week of Indigenous Round. asserted
crowd → show → Round
The Carlton versus Collingwood clash at 3pm had an attendance of 3892 (an accumulative figure that counts fans who came for the first game, but might not have stayed for the second). uncertain
who → have → second
Mother’s Day has traditionally been a dead fixture for AFL men’s with significantly lower attendance records, so it makes sense the women’s league would experience a similar decrease for Father’s Day. asserted
league → make → Day
It’s also important to note we’re in the middle of the men’s finals season – a time when many fans could be experiencing footy fatigue or aren’t paying attention to the women’s league. uncertain
fans → ’ → league
But walking around Ikon Park, you couldn’t help feel this weekend was a missed opportunity. asserted
weekend → walk → Park
A double-header typically means you want to encourage fans to stay at the stadium for both games, which means the following need to be on offer: music, entertainment, activation stands and numerous food options and stalls. asserted
following → mean → offer
Longtime AFLW fan Amy Stephens has only missed two Collingwood games since 2018 and was cheering for the Pies from the boundary line on Sunday. However, the supporter said she had no idea there was a double-header on today, citing the lack of advertising around the event. asserted
she → miss → event
Stephens said only realised there was a double-header when she checked the fine print on her Ticketmaster account, but she’d already left home and missed the game. asserted
she → say → game
“I think there needs to be more advertising for AFLW in general, let alone a double-header,” she said. asserted
she → think → AFLW
Stephens said it would be good to have activities or entertainment between the two games, to “break up the day” and encourage people to stay. asserted
it → say → people
She also wanted to see a bigger advertising push on social media and on television, so fans could actually know a double-header was on. uncertain
header → want → television
Several other fans this masthead spoke said they had no idea a double-header was on today. asserted
header → speak → idea
Sunday’s attendance at Ikon Park is made more bleak by the fact double-headers – when advertised and publicised properly – do really well. asserted
headers → make → fact
Footy fans have voted with their feet over the first three rounds, with AFLW attendances up by more than 50 per cent compared with the same stage last season. asserted
attendances → vote → stage
The growth has been driven largely by five double-headers, with the men’s game, which have drawn crowds as big 20,000, in tier one stadiums. asserted
which → drive → stadiums
Carlton coach Matthew Buck reiterated his support for the double-header concept after the Blues won by 39 points – their fourth consecutive win this season. asserted
Blues → reiterate → points
When asked if he was hoping for more advertisement around the double-header, Buck didn’t specify his thoughts, but said he thought there was “a great vibe within the crowd”. asserted
he → ask → crowd
“I’m all for it [the double-headers],” he said. asserted
he → ’m → it
“I think we could take those to Marvel as well, and fill Marvel up with them, it’d be fantastic. uncertain
it → think → them
“But what we know is when we play at Ikon Park and our Carlton fans turn up, that it’s a great place to be. asserted
it → know → Park
And I think Freo, Richmond might have felt a little bit of that towards the end of their game.” uncertain
Richmond → think → game
Double-header are proven to work. asserted
header → prove → ?
But if the AFL want to meet their attendance benchmarks and fill stadiums for W games, they need to make sure fans actually know when the games are on. asserted
games → want → games
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