A HOST of clubs are growing restless around the uncertainty in re-contracting the AFLW’s best players beyond 2027, leading to yet more calls for the competition to introduce a salary cap system as soon as possible.
Currently, the AFLW operates under a tiered payment structure – as opposed to the salary cap system used in the men’s competition – though the League has recently stated its openness to adopting a similar model for the women’s format.
The tiered payment system is built into the AFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which runs through until 2027, meaning any AFLW contracts signed beyond that date are verbal understandings and not binding due to the possibility of a change.
Stars of the competition like Greater Western Sydney’s Alyce Parker, Melbourne’s Eden Zanker and the Western Bulldogs’ former No.1 pick Kristie-Lee Weston-Turner are uncontracted beyond this season and would otherwise be looking to lock in long-term contracts if not for the uncertainty.
A series of the League’s best players signed long-term deals running through until 2027 when the last CBA was agreed, but clubs believe there are no AFLW players that have signed officially beyond that point in the years since.
Adelaide’s reigning League best and fairest Ebony Marinoff, Richmond spearhead Monique Conti and gun Prespakis sisters Maddy and Georgie were among the stars to sign through until 2027 in the aftermath of the last CBA being negotiated.
Monique Conti during the AFLW Round one match between Sydney and Richmond at North Sydney Oval, August 15, 2025. Picture: Getty Images
The majority of men’s contracts have Total Player Payment (TPP) uplifts built into them, meaning a player’s wage increases relative to the rise in salary cap whenever a new and more lucrative CBA is signed.
However, given the women’s competition operates under a tiered payment structure and the ongoing uncertainty around whether that will move to a salary cap system in 2027, built-in TPP uplifts have not been possible in AFLW contracts.
It’s meant that a handful of clubs, but more significantly the League’s best players, have been unwilling to sign contracts extending beyond the next CBA in 2027 due to the risk of them having to be ripped up and re-negotiated in two years’ time.
Clubs believe it is hurting equalisation measures within the AFLW, as teams have been unable to offer rival talent guaranteed deals longer than two years due to the ongoing uncertainty.
In the men’s competition, long-term contracts have proved the best and most successful way of trading in and retaining the League’s best players. Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett currently holds the longest deal, running through until 2034.
The AFLW’s four-tier payment structure increased under the CBA this year with ‘Tier 1’ contracts now worth $109,760, ‘Tier 2’ contracts worth $89,559, ‘Tier 3’ contracts worth $76,091 and ‘Tier 4’ contracts worth $67,337.
The overwhelming majority of clubs have two players on ‘Tier 1’ deals, six players on ‘Tier 2’, six players on ‘Tier 3’ and 16 players on ‘Tier 4’ contracts. There is also an additional $127,693 worth of Additional Services Agreement (ASA) payments that each club can spend.
Speaking earlier this month, the League’s executive general manager of football operations Laura Kane said there had been considerations to moving to a salary cap system in AFLW in the future.
“Our men’s competition is the only competition in the world that has all three levers of competitive balance … salary cap, soft cap and a cyclical draft,” Kane told AFL.com.au on August 8.
“In women’s, we have a soft cap, we introduced a national draft last year, and we don’t currently have a salary cap. So, we’ve got some levers that are available to us when we’re ready to introduce them.”
