AFL Women’s players will be collectively paid $500,000 more next year under a new deal designed to more accurately reflect the hours they put in.
The AFL Players Association says the competition’s 240 players for 2018 will be contracted to train an average of 13 hours a week during the pre-season and 10 hours per week throughout the in-season period.
That’s up from their contracted nine hours per week, not including games, in the inaugural 2017 season.
The league struck a two-year pay deal before the first AFLW season kicked off, but AFLPA chief executive Paul Marsh said it quickly became apparent that greater demands were being placed on players.
“Whilst we did a two-year deal with the AFL around player payments what became obvious was that the girls trained a lot more hours than what we had agreed to initially,” Marsh told reporters from the AFLW induction day in Melbourne on Friday.
“The AFL, to their credit, recognised that, we’ve adjusted their pay and I think it’s a fair deal for this year.
“We’ll look to do a more expansive CBA deal going into 2019.”
North Melbourne and Geelong will join the AFLW will in 2019, with Gold Coast, West Coast, Richmond and St Kilda to make it a 14-team competition in 2020.
The AFLPA are keen to secure a fair slice of the revenue pie, which could grow with increased sponsorship, potential television rights and charging for admission to games from 2019.
Under the changed deal agreed to this week there will be a revised tiered payment system, with the minimum wage of a senior listed player lifted from $8500 to $10,500.
Tier 1 players will be paid $20,000 (up from $17,000), tier 2 players will get $14,500 (up from $12,000) and rookie list players $8,500.
Clubs will also be able to spend up to $40,000 on two or more ambassador contracts worth between $5000 and $10,000.
Total payments will increase from $2,275,000 in 2018 to $2,752,000 next year.
“It’s really pleasing for the women’s competition,” AFL football boss Steve Hocking said.
“It’s still a start-up phase that we’re in, but it’s excellent that there’s been this type of increase for them.
“We’re pleased with where the competition sits, but there’s obviously a lot of growth still to go with it.
“From here it’s just about building a sustainable model.”
Sixty first-year players attended an induction day at Etihad Stadium on Friday where they were taken through a range of issues including player behaviour, anti-doping codes, integrity and player development.
By Marnie Banger and Jason Phelan
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