A HOST OF Collingwood's best AFLW players aren't in any hurry to renew their contracts as they wait to see how the Magpies develop in 2026 after successive bottom-four finishes.

AFL.com.au's Riley Beveridge told The W Show that Collingwood's AFLW captain Ruby Schleicher had a two-year contract offer from the club but is yet to sign, while several other stars were out of contract at the end of the season.

The Magpies suffered an 18-point loss to Richmond in the opening round of the 2026 NAB AFLW season and Beveridge said the result wouldn't have helped the mood at Collingwood.

"I think there are some genuine concerns now starting to emanate from within the Collingwood playing group around the direction of the program," Beveridge said.

"I think that concern is being highlighted now by the fact that five or six of the club's best players remain out of contract and aren't in any real rush to renew as things stand, until they get some clarity on exactly where the direction of this program is heading.

"That's been led by captain Ruby Schleicher, who's out of contract, has a two-year deal on the table, but that's been on the table for some time now, and it's still yet to be signed.

"Vice-captain Jordy Allen, we know she tried desperately to move to Brisbane during last year's trade period. That was until Collingwood blocked those efforts on deadline day.

"Then you go through it – Tarni White, Bri Davey, Mattea Breed, Sarah Rowe, Lauren Butler, all among their best players, all still unsigned. And that's in addition to Mikala Cann, who wanted out last year and went to the Western Bulldogs, as we know."

Beveridge said the Magpies' three-goal loss to Richmond in round one, against a side that won one less game than Collingwood last year, sounded more alarm bells.

"The Tigers won two games last year; they went through an external review of their football program which led to their coach being sacked, their football boss being sacked, they had the No.1 pick in the draft,  their best player and co-captain Ellie McKenzie was out, and yet they still beat Collingwood pretty comfortably," he said.

"Internally, the sense I get from some of the playing group and around that football club at the moment is that you look at their men's team and it's one of the best and the biggest in the competition, if not the country.

"And I think a few of their AFLW players and the people around that program are wondering, 'how have we been allowed to be so disappointing for so long? And just exactly how and when is it going to get better?'"

AFLW expert and AFL.com.au reporter Sarah Black said clubs had often seen a leap in performance in their third year under a new coach but there was little evidence of that in Pies' round one performance, at the start of senior coach Sam Wright's third season in charge.

"The Pies were saying that they've built this list and this game plan around defence first, and this is the year that they're going to go, not all-out attack, but they're going to really bring in that attacking portion of the game.

"That's going to be a big watch. If that doesn't eventuate this year, I think that, yeah, there's serious questions that have to be asked.

"They've already got an assistance package in the form of a few extra list spots. They decided to go with a few netballers, which is a different way of doing things, and probably shows that there are serious holes on that list that they haven't been able to address because of previous issues with their drafting in the last four or five years. We're talking about girls who would now be entering their prime – that's the hole on their list.

"There's a lot of pieces of this puzzle that still need to be put in place."

Collingwood hosts Fremantle at Victoria Park on Sunday from 12.35pm AEST in round two of the 2026 NAB AFL season.