The exhaustion AFLW players are suffering this COVID-affected season is obvious.
Fixture crunches, a lack of match preparation, coronavirus breakouts and travel hubs have all taken a toll on the playing group, most of whom also have to work a regular job.
AFL Players' Association (AFLPA) chief executive Paul Marsh — who has been conducting club visits all season — said the exhaustion experienced by some players had reached a dangerous level.
"We've had players talking about — on their way home from the airport at one or two o'clock in the morning after a game — falling asleep on the freeway and having to pull over," Marsh told The W with Sharni and Sam podcast.
"We've had a player … doing it really tough in a club visit and a few days later [she] did an ACL.
"I think when you throw work and football together … it's too much.
The looming prospect of the next season starting in August this year casts a shadow over all of the AFLPA's concerns.
Collingwood star Chloe Molloy is at least one AFLW player who does not support an August start later this year.
Are the players going to be able to back up so quickly after such a draining season?
"Ourselves and the AFL both have a view that that's the right time to play the AFLW competition," Marsh said.
"There's a lot of work to be done between now and then for us to be comfortable with it being this season.
"A lot of the players now are as tired as I've seen any athletes … I'm sure there are players making their decision about this based on how they're feeling at the moment.
"I think if we can get certainty around what this next season looks like — from a pay perspective, from an hours perspective, from a fixture perspective — and give the players as much notice [as possible], then I'm really comfortable that this can work for 2022."
When asked if the AFLPA could see the players refusing to play if they were not happy with the conditions under a new deal, Marsh was diplomatic, but he did not rule out strike-style action.
"I don't like hypothetical questions," Marsh said.
"Our goal is to get a deal in place … that allows us to play in August, but obviously we'll plan for eventualities that sit outside of that.
"You never rule out those types of actions, but what we want here is to get a deal done."
"It's time now that the industry invests'
A fully professional women's league would mean players are not burning the candle at both ends.
Marsh said the AFLPA was clear on when it should be achieved.
"We'd like to see this competition get to [full-time] professionalism by 2026," he said.
"It's time now that the industry invests in this competition.
Marsh said AFLW players had told him what landmarks they want to see on the road to a full-time league.
These include 12-month contracts, a salary that allows them to choose whether they work outside of football, more time training with dedicated support staff at the club to develop as players, and sufficient off-field support for things like mental health and well-being.
"We've got a CBA (collective bargaining agreement) that we'll be negotiating on behalf of the players this year," Marsh said.
"That's the first stepping stone … roughly a two-year deal, and then by 2026 we are looking for professionalism."
Marsh rejected the idea that the only way for AFLW salaries to go up is for the male AFL players to give up a piece of the financial pie.
"What we're trying to do here is get a significant increase for the AFLW players, right?" he said.
"The male players are 28 per cent of a defined pool of revenue.
"There's 72 per cent that sits outside of that, that the AFL takes for its people, that the clubs take for its people.
"It doesn't actually make any sense."
AFLPA chasing equal representation
Marsh said the development of the AFLW meant the AFLPA's board would soon have a healthy split of both male and female voices.
"We've come from a position historically where we haven't had females on the board," he said.
"We changed our constitution a few years ago and we've now had up to two [female board members].
"What I can tell you is we are putting to our AGM (annual general meeting) in May that we will have equal representation of both male and female players on our board from May."
Mr Marsh said securing the future of AFLW players' careers was the AFLPA's top priority.
"We need to look at the AFLW competition as a huge opportunity, not as an expense, or something that we're doing just because it's a good corporate citizen thing to do," he said.
