RELATED: Women set eyes on the big league
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WHEN Emily Doran moved to Bendigo from her former home in Wollongong in November 2014, one of the first things she did was sound out a few sporting clubs.
The 24-year-old had previously played rugby league and possessed a more than casual interest in Australian rules football as a Sydney Swans follower.
Her search led to her to the Bendigo Thunder - the city's representative in the Victorian Women's Football League.
It was a perfect match - a club looking to boost its playing stocks and an avid sportswomen keen for a new challenge.
"My brother plays and I had given it a crack in school," Emily said.
"I played league - there's no competition for AFL up there.
"It's always been a game I've been interested, so soon as I got down here I started looking for a team and Bendigo Thunder popped up."
It was no fairytale beginning for Emily, or 'Banksy' as she is known to teammates.
She sustained an ACL injury, about 20 minutes into the opening game of the 2015 season.
The injury sidelined her for the entire season.
Neither beaten or bowed, the setback did nothing to curb hers enthusiasm for the sport.
Last Wednesday, as a group of more than 30 Thunder and youth players were put through their paces at Weeroona Oval by their coach, Emily was among the most eager and enthusiastic on the training track - and with good reason.
"I was actually devastated when I got injured, I came to training and actually cried to the girls," she said.
"When I found I had to go through months of rehab I was gutted.
"But the girls rallied around me last year, the club was absolutely fantastic.
"There's not many clubs where you get this type of culture and you can't buy culture."
Emily's story is far from being isolated. Across the nation, female participation in Australian rules football is soaring.
AFL research showed a 46 per cent rise in the number of females playing football in 2015.
There were 163 new female football teams which began in 2015, with numbers playing the game reaching 284,501.
In an age where established men's football clubs and competition are encountering mergers, or in some cases disappearing, new women's teams are popping up weekly.
Less than a month ago, approval was granted for the establishment of a likely four team women's football league in Mildura.
Interest in the competition was sparked by an intensive social media campaign led by a local school teacher Jenny Donnelly.
It followed a 'one-off' game on Millewa league grand final day involving 47 women.
"In my wildest dreams I didn’t think we would get so much support and to think now we are only months away from having a full blown league," Donnelly said.
Plans are also well advanced for the introduction of a league in Shepparton, about 90 minutes from Bendigo.
And it's not just at senior level where player numbers are quickly escalating.
Golden Square and South Bendigo have become the latest clubs to field teams in the Bendigo Junior Football League youth girls league, swelling the ranks to 10.
Emma Grant is the Thunder's captain and their leading goalkicker, booting a career-high eight goals in the club's final minor round match last season.
Grant recalls the heartbreak of being told she could no longer play alongside the boys after her final year with the Gisborne under 12s, which coincided with a premiership.
She continued to pursue her "second love" of netball during her teens, before being reintroduced to football at the University Games in Bendigo.
A year later in 2011, she was part of the Thunder's inaugural squad and has remained an integral part of the club ever since.
Grant, whose passion for women's football runs furiously alongside her love for the Western Bulldogs, dreams of a day when all 18 AFL clubs have a stand-alone women's team.
It's a concept that might have sounded far-fetched as recently as two-or-three seasons ago, but with the AFL pushing ahead with plans for at least a six-team national league in 2017, it’s likely more a question now of when rather than if.
Grant – together with teammates Hayley Trevean, Jess Kennedy and Leah French, who is the Thunder’s reigning best and fairest – are part of a nine-month training program at the AFL Victoria Women's Football Academy.
It’s aim is to groom players for the launch of the national competition.
Grant, a local school teacher, has her own views on the explosion in popularity in the women's game.
"I think parents are now allowing their young daughters to play - things change with each new generation," Grant said.
"Some people too have seen the level of football and ability some girls have.
"It's good to see AFL Victoria and the AFL getting on board and supporting as we do work really hard, harder than some of the boys."
The Thunder skipper said the Bendigo community’s support for the club and women’s sport in general had been nothing short of amazing.
I think parents are now allowing their young daughters to play - things change with each new generation.
- Emma Grant
Craig Riddiford is the man entrusted with guiding the Thunder's on-field fortune as coach.
A policeman, who is the Central Victorian Crime Scene sergeant in charge, his introduction to Thunder came via chance meeting with the club's initial general manager Bianca Rinaldi, who was looking for someone to assist then coach Russell Jeffrey.
He hasn't left since, taking on the coaching role at the start of 2015.
Riddiford does not flinch when he says female football is growing quicker than any other sport in Australia.
He expects at least 40 girls to have a kick this year.
“What inspired me is, probably my very first training, just their absolute enthusiasm and their love of the game,” Riddiford said.
“It drew me in from the world go – five years later I’m still here.
“It’s becoming bigger and bigger and it’s becoming more professional by the day.
"Our grand final four years ago was livestreamed around the world, now with a national competition coming we are talking TV rights.
"It will just keep getting bigger - and its not just football - it's all women's sports."
Riddiford said with the profile of women's football at an all-time high, he was looking forward to the start of the new season.
So too is Emily Doran, who is looking forward to putting the disappointment of an injury-stricken 2015 behind her.
The girl from 'the Gong' said even in her short time in the game she had noted a growing acceptance on women playing football.
"I remember when I first said I was playing women's football there was a couple, of negative comments - 'what are girls playing that for'," she said.
"But as the AFL have committed more and more, people have really started to take notice more.
"Bendigo is quite supportive as a whole to women playing football."
Asked if she would like to see more women join her in taking up football, she offers just two words: "Hell yeah."