When the oval Sherrin ball is bounced up in the air at 10.15am Irish time tomorrow morning, it will signal the 10th season of AFLW with a record 39 Irish players set to feature across the next four months of keenly-contested action. That figure has risen from 34 players last year and has been creeping up steadily, all the time since the inaugural 2017 AFLW season - (two competitions were played in 2022) Over the coming days nine Irish players could make their Australian Rules debuts. More and more firsts are happening. Meath captain Aoibhín Cleary is Richmond’s first ever GAA signing, putting pen to paper on a two year deal, meaning there’s another club serious about scouting Irish talent. Donegal’s Niamh McLaughlin - the 2022 LGFA Player of the Year - is the first Irish recruit to skipper an AFLW side, after being appointed joint captain of the Gold Coast Suns. Another first is the number of regular season games increasing to 12 from 10 in 2023 and 11 in 2024. It may not sound like that big a deal but the turnover between this year’s All-Ireland finals and the first round of the AFLW season is now just 11 days, with an increasingly tight schedule for the top stars of both codes. While the more attractive climate in Australia and the chance to train as a professional athlete are variables that the LGFA can’t compete with, there is a wider LGFA and societal context to this ever evolving situation. But perhaps the biggest concern in LGFA circles should be the increasing salaries in the AFLW - another variable they can’t control. By the end of the 2027 season the average AFLW salary will be just under €50,000 - - €290,000 for men - with the AFLPA (Players’ Association) agreeing a joint pay deal with the League back in 2023. The average AFLW salary was €25,750 for the 2023 season, so it will have doubled inside four years. On top of this all international players are entitled to an agreed relocation fee of just over €9,000 in their first year. Flights home and back for the players and two family members are also part of the deal. The full average value of the package for a first year Irish player by the end of the 2027 season will be in the region of €65,000. There’s also a €3350 per annum relocation payment for international players that travel home and back in a given year. Here’s the kicker though for the LGFA and the top GAA stars. Under the current agreement the AFLW payment structure allows for two players on Tier 1 contracts, six players on Tier 2 deals, six players on Tier 3 contracts, and the remainder of the roster at Tier 4 level. The 36 Tier 1 players across the 18 sides currently earn a base salary of just under €61,500. By 2027 that figure will be almost €66,000. It is believed that some of the 39 Irish players are Tier 1, but this information is not in the public domain. A current Tier 4 salary is in the region of €37,500, but this will rise to in the region of €40,500 by the end of 2027 as part of a Collective Bargaining Agreement. An open-market salary cap - as operates in the men's game - has been mooted and could see the top AFLW players salaries soar to well above the 2027 mark of €66,000. Throw in potential endorsement deals and the package could prove very attractive to the top LGFA stars, many of whom are already in the AFLW. Fresh from the recent All-Ireland Senior final are Meath super star Vikki Wall, the North Melbourne player who has also represented Ireland in rugby sevens. Dublin’s Eilish O’Dowd (Great Western Sydney) and Sinead Goldrick (Melbourne) also jet in following their All-Ireland success, as does Meath skipper Aoibhín Cleary Like Cleary, last year’s All-Ireland Final player of the match, Kerry full back Kayleigh Cronin, is one of the new recruits. The others are Clare duo Síofra O’Connell and Aisling Reidy (both St. Joseph’s Doora-Barefield), Mayo’s Maria Cannon, Waterford’s Kellyanne Hogan, Dublin’s Grace Kos, Kildare’s Nease Dooley and Offaly’s Amy Gavin Mangan. With TG4 providing extensive live coverage and a highlights package, AFLW has a promotional window in Ireland. There’s even talk of an International Rules series. Losing top players like Sarah Rowe (Mayo) and Orlaith Lally (Meath) from counties outside Dublin inevitably damages the competitiveness of the senior series - with the capital side winning six of the last nine All-Ireland titles. Other factors at play are that the quality and promotional impact of ladies football is affected when the top stars go to Australia and don’t return to play inter-county GAA. The slow pace of integration is another. A fully integrated GAA would make the game more attractive and ladies players feel more valued than they currently are. Part of this is access to the same expenses, gear and medical teams as the men’s game. The ties ups between AFL men’s and ladies clubs means AFLW players have all of this - with salaries to boot. It may take a generation for ladies GAA (and AFLW) to gain the same level of respect as the men’s game and build attendances significantly, but this has to be the goal, where it will be achieved or not. They’re all pieces of the jigsaw with Vikki Wall recently suggesting rule changes could help the flow of players to AFLW. The GAA and LGFA can do nothing about housing prices. It’s not any better in Australia, but the fact that young people are finding it so difficult - and nearly impossible in some areas - to save for a deposit makes them more likely to go off and try something else. Young people are always going to want to travel too while the opportunity exists. The great leveller could ultimately come with the growing popularity of AFLW in Australia. More Australian players and better coaching will invariably mean the quality rises and the same volume of Irish players are not required - or able to compete. Currently there are 13 Irish men in the AFL, with only a handful playing regularly. AFLW may end up with similar numbers of Irish recruits. Ladies football has never been more popular, but for now though there’s a sweet spot there for the top ladies GAA players. And it’s difficult to see how the LGFA can compete with what's on offer - or what they can do about it.