When I signed my first AFLW contract, I called my mum straight away. “I can’t believe it,” I told her. “I’m getting paid to play footy.” It was $8,000 for the season. I was stoked.
Ten seasons later, I look back on that version of myself with fondness and frustration. Back then, we were pioneers – making history just by running out onto the field. We trained at night after work, in borrowed changerooms or demountables, and iced our injuries on our kitchen floors. We didn’t ask for much. We didn’t feel like we could.
Now, the league looks and feels different. It’s more professional. Draftees can focus on footy full time. We have access to proper facilitiies (most of the time). The game is faster, stronger, more skilled, more confident. There’s a growing sense of pride and of identity in what AFLW is becoming. But we have to be honest about what it takes from us.
