AFLW 2023: Collingwood captain Brianna Davey responds to CEO Craig Kelly’s comments

Davey, who played for the Matildas before switching codes to Aussie Rules, meanwhile said she hoped Australia’s landmark semi-final run at the recently concluded FIFA Women’s World Cup would push the AFL and other sporting bodies to up the ante on investment in women’s sport.

Speaking on Monday at Marvel Stadium ahead of a season launch event, Pies star Davey addressed a report that some players had been left upset by comments Kelly made at a meeting of AFLW players and staff earlier this year.

Kelly had also been involved in an at-times tense ABC radio interview late in July in which the 1990 premiership defender and former TLA boss sought to quash suggestions that the AFL could afford to spend more money investing in the women’s league, which runs at a loss.

While opting not to delve deeply into the nature of dealings with Kelly, Davey said she believed the entire Pies squad would feel supported by the club’s hierarchy.

“Look at the moment. I think, as a playing group, we‘re sort of staying pretty tight knit in terms of focusing on what we’re doing. And I think, you know, when Craig’s spoken to us, he’s spoken more so to the commercial side of AFLW and where that’s at, and I guess the arrangements there,” Davey told CODE Sports of the Nine report.

“I wouldn’t think that any of the girls would come out and say that they didn’t feel supported. I think in the past, we’ve had numerous people come through the doors and added something new to the club. And I think that yeah, we’re all feeling supported and ready to sort of go into round one.”

Kelly had in the ABC interview suggested that Collingwood had wound up its Super Netball team because it “couldn’t afford to do everything and we had to make a decision,” with Davey acknowledging too that the call was “sad for them (the netballers)”, some of whom she had developed relationships with at the club.

But while she witnessed one sporting entity falter, Davey has beamed from afar with how the national football side – whom she represented as a goalkeeper before swapping sports in 2015 – had captivated the nation. And at a time when the AFL’s collective bargaining agreements remains unresolved, and female players push resolutely for a longer season, Davey said other sports had to keep pushing or risk being left behind.

“Just super proud really,” Davey said.

“A lot of them I grew up with spent, spent more time with them than my own family at stages so it’s sort of a weird feeling. I definitely don’t regret my decision to come to AFL. I absolutely love the sport and I’m loving what I’m doing and there’s no regret from that end but yeah, watching the girls, it’s just a feeling of pride and to see them do so well and see them impact Australia the way they have is really inspiring. So it’s been good.

“I think that’s the power of other women’s sports doing well, I don’t see it as a negative, I see it as a real positive and that it’ll hopefully push other sports to sort of go and meet the same level and get to that level and I think that’s what we’re aspiring to do here at AFLW, is inspire people like the Matildas have, and hopefully as the seasons go on, we’ll continue to do that.

“Just seeing a slight increment in the (number of AFLW) games would be nice, but yeah, obviously that’s all CBA stuff. As players we, it’s out of our control. And we just want to again, we want to be able to inspire and play good footy. So that’s where we’ll be sort of focusing.”

Having missed the Pies’ practice match on the weekend with a mild hamstring complaint, Davey declared herself ready to go for the round one clash against reigning premiers Melbourne, having missed all of AFLW season seven following a knee reconstruction.