The widespread lack of full-time AFLW medicos and physios was among talking points when club captains met members of the league's executive for lunch after Tuesday's season launch at the University of Melbourne.

While last year's protracted and at times tense collective bargaining agreement negotiations resulted in a new three-year deal for female players - which included the promise of incremental increases to season length - the national women's league continues to experience growing pains as it enters a fourth instalment.

AFLW boss Nicole Livingstone at the 2020 fixture launch last year. Credit:AAP

That Brisbane Lions star Jess Wuetschner was struck by lightning last month, while working in the wee hours of the morning, performing her "day job" as a stevedore, was a reminder of the challenges faced by the game's top elite players, not faced by their full-time male counterparts.

The AFL is keen to keep reducing inequalities between male and female players. One of the key selling points of BHP's lucrative sponsorship deal for AFLW unveiled last week was a commitment to dedicated female player development managers being hired at all 14 AFLW clubs.