The AFLW is facing a split with the AFL Players Association as the level of disenchantment with the structure of the 2020 competition and beyond reaches flashpoint.

Football sources suggest key player delegates representing the majority of the 14 clubs, who have refused to sign the three-year collective bargaining agreement put to them by the players' union, are seeking independent legal advice regarding their workplace equality rights.

The 2018 AFLW grand final attracted a crowd of 58,000. AAP

Some senior players believe the AFLW could be better served by establishing their own players' association.

The level of frustration and disappointment was underlined on Thursday by the resignation of gender workplace advocate Prue Gilbert from the AFLPA's women's football advisory group.

Gilbert is understood to have told players chief Paul Marsh she could no longer serve on the advisory group after the players' union had failed over four years to deliver a level playing field for the national women's competition.

The women's key grievance is that the AFLW premiership cup and the integrity of their competition as it enters its fourth year has been devalued by the AFL's refusal to stage an even competition. The majority of players remain determined to play every team once. There is a fear that the AFLW season could be accused as more akin to an exhibition tournament.

With the pre-season just two months away and no start date for the AFLW season announced, key delegates told Marsh they felt they were being pressured into signing an agreement. They were also disenchanted at the lack of consultation, believing the AFL had largely ignored the recommendations of the players and the clubs.

While there are some divisions in the playing ranks along state lines, players were also disappointed at being urged to remain publicly silent regarding the dispute.

The AFL-AFLPA proposed eight home-and-away games for the 2020 season - a proposal that increases to nine games in 2021 and a further nine in 2022. This is despite the competition increasing to 14 teams from next season and the resolve of the majority of clubs to ditch the conference system.

Sixty AFLW players held a teleconference last Sunday night to air their concerns about a CBA they felt was being forced upon them. The delegates met Marsh and his team on Monday night and postponed a vote but were warned not to speak publicly about the dispute.

Close to two-thirds of the 420 AFLW players are understood to have opposed the new deal, which still ties the players' basic hourly rate to that of a rookie-listed male footballer. The women's pay will increase 21 per cent in 2020 under the CBA proposal, with a 10 per cent increase in 2021 and 11 per cent in 2022.

The Brisbane Lions, Carlton, Collingwood, Geelong, Greater Western Sydney, North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs are all pushing for a 13-game competition and have challenged the integrity of the proposed 2020 fixture.

Adelaide, whose premiership win over Carlton attracted a crowd of 58,000 at the Adelaide Oval earlier this year, and Fremantle were prepared to support the spirit of the CBA while West Coast's position was not clear at time of publication.

The players, who generally loathe the conference system which was botched in 2019 after being pushed upon them last season, are also disenchanted by their lack of representation on the AFLPA board. Melbourne's Meg Downie is the sole AFLW player on the nine-member board that changed its constitution to four years ago to include a woman representative.

Although the AFLPA has said it has thrown its full resources into settling the dispute as the 2020 deadline looms, the view of some senior players is the the union is not sufficiently resourced to handle their unique issues. A potential split with the players' association looms as a disastrous scenario with no 2020 structure in place.

Senior Australian human rights figures have urged the women footballers to seek advice regarding their legal rights in terms of gender workplace fairness.

Gilbert, a lawyer and founding CEO of the Grace Papers, told players on Friday she could no longer work with the AFLPA when they could not create for the AFLW a competition that reflected the AFL.

An AFL-AFLPA joint vision statement for the AFLW shown to the players last week vowed to close the gender pay gap between men and women administrators but made no mention of a plan for footballers.

The AFL has suggested it would work towards a more even competition by 2030 but has repeatedly told the players the current broadcast rights agreement could not fund a 13-game competition. AFL chief Gillon McLachlan has said he would not stage games that were not broadcast on television.

With the competition costing a significant amount to run and losing money the AFL has told the players that their product must improve if it is to be profitable. The view of key delegates is that head office should prioritise a legitimate competition ahead of expansion and even the insistence upon televising all games.

In response to the issues raised by The Age, players boss Paul Marsh released the following statement: ''We strongly believe in a fair and progressive competition that moves the AFLW players towards being full-time professional athletes. In the three years of the AFLW competition, women’s football has moved forward exponentially.

''Currently we are negotiating a new CBA for our AFLW members that will continue the significant growth of the AFLW competition and women’s football more broadly.

''There is a lot of ongoing discussion with the playing group, which is part of the process to achieving a new CBA.

“Our vision is an AFLW competition where every team plays each other at least once, with full-time athletes, and the proposed deal allows us to build quickly towards this.

“We understand that there are some players who would like the competition to progress quicker than it is, but we are working hard and collaboratively with the industry to develop a sustainable

competition that allows current and future AFLW players to thrive.”