
Time moves a little differently in the AFLW. Between game length, shorter seasons, and a fixture with a history of moving about, timing is so often a point of contention.
Sometimes, however, the timing is exactly right.
This Sunday, Adelaide Crows captain, Ebony Marinoff, will lead her team out on to the Unley Oval turf. When she does, it will be her 100th time running out for an AFLW game – a personal marker never before reached in this competition, now 10 seasons old and nine years in. It’s a remarkable, hard-fought moment, and its significance is not lost on Marinoff. The milestone coincides with Adelaide’s 100th game in the league, meaning that Marinoff has featured in every single one of their games.
“It’s an awesome milestone to be a part of,” she says. “You’ve got to pinch yourself, but also soak it up because it’s pretty cool.”
Yet, remarkably, Marinoff and Adelaide won’t be alone in this achievement. Ally Anderson, the Brisbane Lions stalwart and fellow inaugural player, will also be hitting her 100-game milestone on Sunday – similarly coinciding with Brisbane’s 100th AFLW game.
Symmetry aside, it’s not something Anderson ever imagined for herself when she debuted. “After the first year, I took some photos in the change rooms because I was like, ‘Ah, [I’m] probably not going to play again, this was just a one-off thing,’” Anderson says. “The fact that I’m here nine years later is really crazy.”
In an inspired move from the league, Adelaide and Brisbane are scheduled to play in their separate games at 3.05pm AEST, ensuring that both players will be notching up their centuries at the very same moment, in front of their respective home crowds.
“We had a photo together a couple of weeks ago and we were both like, ‘oh, it’s a bit early,’” Anderson says. “To have this milestone with her is pretty special, and it’s cool that we get to do it together.”
Marinoff thinks the symbolism is fitting. “We’ve got kind of similar stories,” she says. “Well, very different stories, but the sustained success and the loyalty that we’ve both had to our clubs – it seems like a really nice story for us to both make history.”
Anderson admits there’s “a bit of luck involved” in avoiding major injury, especially in a competition so prone to it. However, she credits her club’s medical team – many also slated to hit 100 games across the coming rounds – for their elite work, further reflected in Brisbane captain Bre Koenen sitting on 97 games (alongside North Melbourne’s Libby Birch).
Adding to the poetry is the fact that Anderson and Marinoff are both one-club players, a pinnacle of consistency in a league perhaps better known for player movement. While much of this churn has been due to expansion-related list reshuffling, a smattering of high-profile players opt to move for more altruistic reasons, bolstering newer or struggling clubs to raise the standard of the competition. Both approaches, club-building and league-building alike, have been vital.
“I have a real understanding of what it’s taken to grow the game,” Marinoff says. “You see the influence that so many stars have had across the game if they’ve moved clubs … you thank them for that, because if those players hadn’t moved or taken up opportunities, I don’t think the league would be in the position that it is. So I think you have to respect that part of it. But for me, it’s been amazing to be at this footy club since day dot, and it’s something that I’m very proud of.”
Marinoff and Anderson have each embraced the opportunity afforded them, becoming instrumental in shaping club culture alongside other inaugural players. Their teams have never had to exist without them; they are woven into the very fabric of their clubs, and the passion and perseverance that got them this far is engrained into their clubs’ DNA. The results – premierships, finals appearances, and dozens of personal accolades – speak for themselves.
But for all the success on paper, their ultimate legacy may just lie in what they’ve built. “What’s been most impressive over the last few years is we’ve had a lot of young girls come in,” Marinoff explains. “And I feel like if you look at our group now, we’ve got so many important young leaders stepping up and creating a culture that they want to be a part of.”
Anderson reports the same at Brisbane. “You’ve got the younger girls who have come in after me … they’re incredible leaders in their own right,” she says. “I’m looking up to them even though they’re younger than me.”
Time may move a little differently in the AFLW, but it’s that very difference that allows for moments of brilliance like this. Never missing a game on the journey to 100 is an astonishing enough achievement; to not miss a game in 10 seasons is something else entirely, and it is well worth pausing to celebrate.
Come Sunday, however, there will be just one thing on their minds – the same thing that has driven their success for close to a decade.
“As soon as that siren goes, I’m fully focused on the game and getting the job done,” Anderson says.
Marinoff agrees: “Honestly? Just win.”
What a fairytale it will be if they do.