THE AFL is open to introducing a salary cap to the NAB AFLW competition as the fledgling league evolves.
While the standard of play has increased across the board, and the competitive balance between most of the teams has stabilised, the constant presence of the “big four” of Brisbane, Adelaide, North Melbourne and Melbourne at the pointy end of the year remains an issue.
Currently, pay is divided into four tiers, designed in somewhat of a pyramid structure. Two players sit in tier one, then six in each of tiers two and three, and 16 in tier four.
Payment then is standardised across the 18 teams – a tier four player at premier North Melbourne will be paid $67,337 this year, the same as a tier four player at wooden spooner Collingwood.
The pay structure is written into the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, which expires at the end of the 2027 season.
“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,” AFL executive general manager of football operations Laura Kane told AFL.com.au.
“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.
“Brisbane has got basically a whole club worth of players playing at other clubs, and have been able to replenish their list, and in fact, win with that replenished list. North Melbourne had six or seven of their original list playing in its Grand Final side. They didn’t draft any other players from the top 10 – notwithstanding players that came through expansion that would otherwise be there.”
Kane said the AFL is working closely with clubs to ensure AFLW programs are being run as effectively as they can, with several of the same clubs having occupied the lower rungs of the ladder for quite a few years.
“A lot of this is also about the program that our clubs are running, and the development opportunities that those players are afforded. We’re spending a lot of time looking at that, even if it is a centralised skill development model,” Kane said.
Laura Kane at the NAB AFL Women’s Season Launch at CIEL on August 05, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos
“We think there’s a big piece in that we have a natural moment in time with the expansion of the competition to Tasmania, where we (will) have an opportunity to make decisions.
“But in the short term, we’re going to focus on ensuring that all of the programs are being run as well as they possibly can be, and forming a view on the introduction of something like a salary cap.
“We’ve got levers, we have practical program operation, and then we (also) have expansion coming. We also need to also be patient with the talent that’s coming through, because they’re unbelievable.
