AFLW Collingwood Magpies star Sarah Rowe says league needs full time coaches

As AFL players continue their systemic summer preseasons, their female counterparts live the flip sides of their double lives — attending full-time jobs, studying, and raising families.

They do this while also independently keeping their footy skills in shape until they can access their coach’s intel.

While all 1,300 AFLW players are now compensated for the full 12 months of the year, the lack of structure around their six months away from their clubs leaves many floundering.

The current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) requires clubs to have no more than 12 weeks of official preseason training, meaning a player’s access to structured coaching is limited to that period as well as the regular season.

Maintaining fitness, advancing skills, and therefore perpetuating the overall quality of the game is down to the players as individuals until their preseason campaigns begin, something…