Behind the seven-year fight to bring the AFLW to life

When Suzie Miller watched the first AFLW grand final in 2017, she saw more than a football match. Women ran onto a green field beneath a blue sky while young girls cheered from the stands. Miller remembers an atmosphere of joy, with people crying and laughing. To her, it felt like "a generational shift."

The Melbourne-born playwright had grown up in a football-mad family, but the absence of girls from the AFL left her feeling excluded. She responded by boycotting the sport. The announcement of a women's league changed that. "When they finally announced there was going to be a women's league, I thought, 'oh my goodness this is something I never even imagined,'" Miller said.

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A generational shift.

After attending the inaugural grand final between the Brisbane Lions and Adelaide Crows on the Gold Coast, Miller interviewed people involved in creating the AFLW. Those conversations became the basis for Strong is the New Pretty, a fictional reimagining of the events that brought the league into existence. The production premiered at the Brisbane Festival during the AFLW's 11th season.

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When they finally announced there was going to be a women's league, I thought, 'oh my goodness this is something I never even imagined.'

The play follows a campaign that began with a 2010 AFL-commissioned report recommending a professional national women's competition by 2020. Ally Anderson, then a freshly drafted Brisbane Lions player, took part in the inaugural season. "In that first year I kept thinking this is a one-time thing," Anderson said. She photographed the change rooms, the Gabba and her teammates because she was unsure the opportunity would last.

Since then, Anderson has won two AFLW premierships, claimed the league's best and fairest award and become its games record holder. Miller later watched an under-9 girls' match in Sydney, where girls played alongside their brothers. The scene reinforced the wider change she wanted the play to capture.

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In that first year I kept thinking this is a one-time thing.