NORTH MELBOURNE champion Emma Kearney concedes mid-week footy has "had its challenges" as the first instalment of the League's innovation comes to a close.
The eight-time All-Australian, who suffered a high-grade hamstring injury in the Kangaroos' round five win over Richmond, said it had become hard for teams to implement coaching strategies and for non-selected players to press their cases during the footy bonanza.
"The condensed fixtures have had its challenges. Probably the biggest one is not being able to train, it's not so much for the players that are playing but the ones that aren't selected and aren't being able to play," Kearney told AFL.com.au.
"You're not able to implement any sort of game strategies that you might want to either going into the next opposition, it's definitely had its challenges."
But despite the challenges associated with the first trial of mid-week footy, Kearney said it may still have a purpose moving forward.
"I think mid-week footy might have a little purpose in there, but as long as we're having proper breaks so players can recover properly," she said.
"I'd love to know the stats in terms of scoring and things, whether that's going down in that condensed period.
"I think it can potentially have a little window there, as long as we're getting enough time to recover through our games."
Kearney was unsure if mid-week footy had provided fans and stakeholders with the best possible version of AFLW footy, something that she said was integral in growing the game.
"I think we want to try to grow the game, and I think we want to try and get the best product out there. I'm not sure if the condensed fixture has been able to highlight the quality of the games," Kearney said.
"There's a number of really quality players that have missed large chunks of the season, but that wasn't necessarily during the condensed fixture. I'm sure the AFLW will do plenty of research in terms of whether it's had an impact on clubs, but I think the most important thing is that players are getting time to train so we can further enhance our product. We want to grow the game as best possible."
Richmond forward Sarah Hosking's views differed to Kearney's however, telling AFL.com.au's Tagged that players were loving mid-week footy.
"There's so many players that have actually loved this condensed period, because most of it is just footy. You know when you’ve got the quick turnaround, you talk about highs and lows and whether you’re winning or losing, you can't ride the highs and lows for too long because within four or five days you've got another game," Hosking said.
Hosking's Tagged co-host Sarah Rowe agreed.
"I was thinking to myself, I'm going to have withdrawals when the condensed fixture ends, I'm loving the fact we're doing less training. You have to get over things pretty quickly," she said.
Kearney has now missed two games with the hamstring injury she suffered in the first term against Richmond and remains about a month away from returning.
"It's not ideal, but I'm in really good hands," she said.
"The medical staff have done an amazing job to make sure that I'm tracking in the right direction and hopefully I'm back on the field very soon."
Kearney pointed to the quick recoveries of new recruit Libby Birch and midfielder Jenna Bruton as something she would like to emulate.
"We've had a really good track record with our medical team in terms of getting players back. We had Libby Birch with an MCL in pre-season and Jenna Bruton with an Achilles, I'm in really good hands. They're really happy with how things are progressing," Kearney said.
"It's a little bit frustrating, I'd rather be out there playing. But our team is in a really good position where I can sit back and let them do their thing, it's good growth for the group and hopefully we can finish somewhere in the top four to set ourselves up really nicely."
The Kangaroos take on Essendon on Sunday afternoon at Windy Hill.
