Arabic version: لاعبات دوري كرة القدم الأسترالية للسيدات يوازِنّ بين الكرة ووظائف نهارية أساسية

According to ABC News, many AFLW footballers continue working outside the sport because their playing income does not provide a sustainable living. Sydney Swans ruck Caitlin Reid combines training with her work as a surgical registrar at St Vincent’s Hospital, while GWS Giants winger Emily Pease balances football with a role at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

Reid, 29, begins typical days early at the SCG, working on her ruck craft before heading to the hospital after midday. She said she is usually working six or seven days a week. Reid discovered football halfway through her medical degree after COVID cancelled the NBL1 season for the Albury Wodonga Bandits, where she had played basketball. She joined an AFL Nines competition to maintain fitness and ultimately found she loved football more than basketball.

Pease, 24, starts her “double life” with Giants meetings, gym work and a field session, before moving to the zoo to greet visitors and interact with animals. She began playing Australian rules in Canberra and trained with the Giants academy before reaching the team. Pease said most of her zoo colleagues do not know she plays football, and she hopes eventually to work full-time as a zookeeper, preferably with primates.

AFL Players Association data shows 3 per cent of AFLW players work full-time outside football, down from 6 per cent a year earlier. Of the league’s 540 listed players, another 62 per cent have part-time or casual jobs. The average AFLW wage in the 2026 season is $79,414. From 2027, players will move from the current four-tier pay system to a salary-cap model similar to the men’s competition. The 11th AFLW season begins on Sunday when St Kilda plays Carlton at Docklands Stadium.