You would be excused for thinking women’s football only started 15-20 years ago. However, women have been playing Australian rules football for more than 100 years. Word has it that during the 1950s, the legendary Teddy Whitten, Charlie Sutton and Richmond captain-coach Jack Dyer were just a few who were drivers in creating opportunities for women to play, with Dyer even offering to umpire women’s games.

Football has certainly changed from those days. No longer are we playing on muddy paddocks in soggy woollen jumpers. And we definitely don’t have games umpired by one of the men’s captain-coaches.

The players running out in the 2020 season will be faced with slightly different situations and challenges. Summery conditions, televised games, Instagram followers and, of course, payment for players.

The pay issue is a tricky topic for a new league and was discussed at length while our new Collective Bargaining Agreement was being negotiated in late 2019. After heading to a player vote and having 30 per cent vote no to the original agreement, it was back to the drawing board for the AFL Players Association.