Just a “Wharfie”, and an AFLW Superstar

A typical south-east Queensland storm rolled through as 27-year-old Brisbane Lions AFLW player Jessica "Woosha" Wuetschner was working on a ship at the Port of Brisbane. As a stevedore, more commonly known as a "wharfie", nightshift and making it to bed after 7am following tough manual labour is the norm.

At 2.57am, in the wee hours and just 19 days from the start of the AFLW season, Wuetschner was holding a steel pole when lightning struck. Rushed to hospital, she was fortunately released later that same day. Wuetschner described the moment, "I just saw the white bolts go up my arms and up the pole as well". It was a scary and unfortunate workplace accident and "Woosha" was very lucky.

Wuetschner was cleared to play the first round of the 2020 AFLW season against the Adelaide Crows, gathering 10 possessions as the Lions beat last year's Premiers, but will miss today's fixture against Geelong. Doctors say recovering from lightning strike is complicated. Ironically, the term lightning is employed by AFL commentators to describe the elite foot speed of an electric small forward, not the working conditions of an AFLW superstar.

Wuetschner is a 2018 All-Australian. She was the Brisbane Lions leading goal kicker in 2018 and 2019, was taken as a fifth-round selection (34th overall) in the 2016 NAB AFLW Draft, has played in two Grand Finals, and kicked 23 goals from 26 games.

AFLW CEO and Olympic bronze medallist, Nicole Livingstone OAM was unaware Wuetschner was toiling night shift at the waterfront so close to the opening round.

But Wuetschner must work. On its own, football doesn't make ends meet. Like many VFL/AFL, SANFL and WAFL players of years' past, AFLW players must supplement their sporting incomes to survive. That doesn't mean the fans and general public's expectations are lowered. Quite the contrary, the public's expectations are just as high; like they have been playing the game at this level for generations.

Wuetschner is a Tasmanian success story. She played for Clarence as a junior and then re-joined the club in 2009, winning four club best and fairests and three league best player awards in five seasons. The desire for a change took her to East Fremantle in 2013 before she was selected by Brisbane.

Through a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) signed in late 2019, the AFLW salary caps are as follows: two players at Tier 1 on a salary of $24,600 each, six players at $19,000 each, six players on $16,200, and 16 players on $13,400. Therefore, the majority of AFLW players earn about $357,600 less than their colleagues on an average AFL salary. Of course, arguments can be made about the length of season, duration of quarters, attendances, and money generation - but more than 26-times the average female salary when compared to their male counterparts? As armchair critics, we have little right to complain about the product, which, it must be remembered, is in its infancy.

Imagine 2019 Brownlow Medallist, Nat Fyfe stevedoring on the "Freo" docks just one month before the start of the season, or Jack Viney standing on the picket line at Port Melbourne fighting for safe working conditions and a fair wage before heading to the MCG, or Taylor "Tex" Walker finishing a day on the tools at Port Adelaide in February before heading to the Adelaide Oval to help prepare the Crows for Showdown 48 during March 2020.

But if you're like me, you don't need to imagine nor compare - just value the players for who they are, not what you think they should be. Watch Jessica "Woosha" Wuetschner or fellow Tasmanian (Wilmot) "wharfie" and North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos vice-captain Britt Gibson, or Melbourne Demons captain, midwife and AFL commentator Daisy Pearce who is performing at the elite level after giving birth to twins just 12 months ago.

I can't wait for Carlton to towel-up traditional rivals Collingwood this afternoon. And we should all feel a little fortunate that squaring-up against formidable Blues AFLW full-forward and undefeated professional boxing champion Tayla Harris is not on our Sunday jobs' list!

So, come on - show a bit, toughen up, have a spoonful of rapid set and barrack for your team!