The AFL Players Association says the competition’s 240 players for 2018 will be contracted to train an average of 13 hours a week during the pre-season and 10 hours per week throughout the in-season period.

That’s up from their contracted nine hours per week, not including games, in the inaugural 2017 season.

The change will be complemented by a revised tiered payment system, with the minimum wage of a senior listed player lifted from $8500 to $10,500.

Tier 1 players will be paid $20,000 (up from $17,000), tier 2 players will get $14,500 (up from $12,000) and rookie list players $8,500.

Clubs will also be able to spend up to $40,000 on two or more ambassador contracts worth between $5000 and $10,000.

Total payments will increase from $2,275,000 in 2018 to $2,752,000 next year.

AFL Players’ Association CEO Paul Marsh said it was clear all clubs had exceeded contracted training hours during the first AFLW season, and the AFL agreed with the association that players should be paid for the hours performed.

The AFLW season will again feature seven home-and-away rounds in 2018 with a grand final between the top two teams.

-AAP