AFLW could soon down tools and strike over a disagreement regarding the length of the league's season, as well as complaints regarding future payment.
The potential for strike action comes in the wake of the league's decision to maintain a 10-game Women's home-and-away schedule, a figure deemed inadequate by the players.
As reported by Newscorp, the AFL Player's Association is continuing to press for the regular season to expand to 12 games, however, negotiations with powerbrokers at AFL House have reached yet another impasse.
The AFLPA is also said to be pressing for all of its players, both male and female, to be full-time professional athletes by the year 2026.
Speaking on ABC radio on Saturday, former St Kilda champion and current Western Bulldogs AFLW coach Nathan Burke raised the notion of strike action, claiming that players throughout the competition would no longer stand for being seen as a side act.
โThe first negotiating point with the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) was 10 games for the next nine years,โ Burke stated.
โThe players will not take that, they will use the โS' word (strike).
โNo one wants to play 10. Give them a pathway to a proper league rather than an exhibition of women's football tagged on to the men's season.โ
Since the competition's birth in the summer of 2017, the AFLW has expanded at several junctures, moving from six teams during the inaugural year to becoming a fully-represented 18-team league by 2022.
While the current impasse could lead to a delay in resumption, AFL administrators have shown a willingness to concede on flawed plans in the past, such as the abolishment of the unpopular and impractical conference system after just two seasons.
The 2023 AFLW season is currently scheduled to commence on the first weekend of September.
