Canberra United coach Rae Dower says cross-sport collaboration will be the key to the rise of multiple women's competitions, backing former skipper Ellie Brush to excel in her AFL career.
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Brush has signed a deal with the GWS Giants to play in the inaugural women's AFL competition at the start of next year after completing her W-League duties with Canberra.
Dower will share training information and schedules with Giants coach Tim Schmidt to give Brush the best possible opportunity to make an easy transition.
The W-League regular season finishes at the end of January and a finals campaign could overlap with the opening rounds of the AFL season.
The AFL season is a seven-game campaign and Brush, who is still in the US for a season with the Houston Dash, is keen to make the most of her opportunity.
"There's only a couple of weeks that cross over and ... certainly with collaboration and good old fashion communication between all parties I can't see a reason why it can't work," Dower said.
"When [Brush] sets her mind on something she can usually achieve it. She's a natural athlete, she's played [AFL] at school and dabbled at a young age.
"She'll be a star at whatever she does. Collaboration is the No.1 thing and if you've got happy athletes, they're performing athletes.
"If it means us having to make a few more phone calls or work the schedules out, I think it's a win-win."
Dower joked females "finally have a choice" of sports with netball, cricket and AFL continuing to raise the bar for athletes.
Players in the WNBL are demanding a minimum wage be set with some players enduring a six-month season for less than $2000 while the minimum wage in netball is $27,375.
Cricket is also setting a new standard, with some of their best players paid more than $100,000 per year and Cricket Australia doubling its commitment to the elite program from $2.36 million to $4.23 million.
Former Canberra Capitals captain Jess Bibby will join Brush at the Giants as the club's two pre-draft rookie selections.
Canberra United defender Catherine Brown was also training with the Giants, but dislocated her knee at a trial and has been ruled out for the rest of the W-League season.
Brush will return to Canberra in the coming weeks after completing her commitments in Houston and the W-League club has also signed Japan star Yukari Kinga for the season.
