Essendon Bombers forward Sophie Alexander is a paramedic, while some AFLW players combine their careers

“When I’m playing football, football is my world. And when I’m not playing football, when I’m working, it’s work… But if I didn’t have a job, I would be at home thinking about football. I would be thinking about football no matter what I’m doing. You just go crazy.”

However, Alexander notes that it is difficult to find a career that is flexible enough to meet the demands of an elite football career.

Alexander’s teammate and Bombers co-captain Steph Cain, who has a dual career as a construction project engineer, said one of the next big challenges for the league was how players entering the system could balance their personal lives with work or study.

“Especially for these young 18-year-olds, it’s now possible to not have to work the same way I do,” said Cain, 28, one of the first AFLW players.

Cain pointed out that when players were called up, if they still lived at home, there was an option to devote all their time and energy to football with a significant basic salary.

“It’s like, how do we then get the balance in their lifestyle … so that when they come out of the system, or are still in the system, and they’re working through it, their mind isn’t completely immersed in football, because that can be a serious challenge mentally when you put everything into football and then, you know, it might not work out the way you want it to.”

Regan Bunny, who spoke to this press release when he was acting CEO of the AFLPA, said that as the league became a professional league, fewer and fewer players went to work and study because they were paid too much not to.

While this has its benefits, it also brings challenges as football is seen as more important than long-term career ambitions, rather than being aligned.

Bunny believes having a dual career and identity is something that is truly unique to the AFLW and something we should hold on to.

“It’s interesting to see a little bit of a shift in the AFL (men’s) players, particularly those who are later in their careers and saying, ‘Shit, you know, I’ve probably got a few more seasons left. What am I going to do?’” Bunny said.

“We’re thinking about how we can arrange that for them, so that they have some kind of career identity outside of football from the start.

“So I think it will be very, very important to maintain what we got through W.”

Essendon’s opening match in the AFLW is on Saturday August 31st against Fremantle at Windy Hill.