Women score a golden pay deal

GEELONG’S AFLW side will begin pre-season training in less than a month after a “life changing” pay deal between the players and the AFL was locked in on Thursday.

Players on Thursday were united in their support for the one-year collective bargaining agreement that sees paid hours and salary almost double with the new season to start in August.

“It is a great day for AFLW players,” league boss Gillon McLachlan said on Thursday.

“It is a deal that reinforces our commitment to AFLW players to be the best-paid domestic sportswomen in the country by 2030.”

Pay across all four tiers of contracts has risen by 94 per cent, with players to be contracted for 12 months. List sizes will remain at 30 players.

The home-and-away season will remain at 10 games with the finals series extended by one week.

Tier 1 players will now earn $71,935, up from $37,155, while Tier 4 players will receive $39,184 after previously taking home $20,239.

The sign and trade period will begin on May 24 with the expansion club signing period and the pre-season will begin on June 13.

The AFLW draft will be held on Wednesday, June 29.

“This is a huge step forward,” AFL Players’ Association boss Paul Marsh said.

“We see our AFLW players as being full-time footballers by 2026, and I think this is a huge step towards that.”

He said that one player had commented “this is life-changing for me”.

“That’s the sentiment that has come through from the players today,” Marsh said.

McLachlan said it was also estimated that more than 40 of the game’s top players will earn more than $100,000 in the coming season and that the league’s total pay investment of $25.6m was four times that of any other professional women’s sporting league in Australia.

Players’ contracted hours will also increase from 15 to 20 a week, which North Melbourne skipper Emma Kearney said was an acknowledgment of players’ dedication to their craft.

“We’re really competitive and we want to be growing the game, and a lot of the work that we were doing was when we weren’t getting paid,” she said.

“Our off-seasons would be six months long and we’d be given running and gym sessions outside of the club hours.

“We’d just do it because we love it, but now to be recognised and getting paid for it is a huge relief for us.”

The league and AFLPA remain at odds on season length, with the league having pushed to keep the home-and-away fixture at 10 games for the next three years.