The new CBA covers the 2020, 2021 and 2022 season. The AFLPA will meet with the players to determine why they did not support the deal. They will then negotiate with the AFL.

The current offer was for the 2020 season to have eight home-and-away games and three finals games, with 2021 extending to nine and three and 2022 to 10 and three. The 2019 season had seven rounds with two weeks of finals despite an expanded competition.

Players opposed to the more recent CBA offer wanted a 13-round home-and-away season, which would see all 14 teams play each other once. These players have expressed concern at how they are being represented by the union.

Those opposed said they felt pressured to sign the current deal, knew few details about it and are aggrieved there is only one seat for a women’s footy representative on the AFLPA board.

Loading

The aggrieved players are led by Carlton star Darcy Vescio and Geelong player Meg McDonald. They hired law firm Maurice Blackburn to help their push for a better deal, instead of aligning themselves with the player union.

The longer season means players will be contracted for over 23 weeks in a year by 2022, up from 17-and-a-half weeks.

Pay will be boosted by 21 per cent next season and then seven per cent in 2021 and 16 per cent in 2022, however this was already agreed in the last CBA.

MORE TO COME