Eight years after first donning the Orange Tigers women's jersey, Kristy Mansell and Cat Lee are back.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
To go with it, Nita Noble has also returned after starting with the women in 2016.
As it usually goes, the desire to win is part of playing but for Mansell and Lee being around the group was the main motivation.
"The social part of it and the friendships," they both said.
"Along with the fitness. Fitness and friendships basically."
For Lee, Aussie Rules has always been in her blood after playing in Sydney and Victoria.
She can easily recall the fist pumps in 2015 when it was announced that Orange Tigers would field a women's side.
"I played when I was a kid and grew up with it so when I found out Orange had a women's side I was so excited," she said.
"I was like 'I'm there' so I signed up and met everyone."
With a host of new players during that first campaign, both women recall there wasn't a whole lot of Aussie Rules knowledge filtering throughout the team.
"We didn't have many players, a lot of us had no idea and a lot of us were the wives of some players in the men's team," they said.
"A few players ended up coming along which was really good and there was a lot of learning."
With Lee playing in 2015, '16, '17, '18 and '19 and Mansell featuring in the Tigers side from '15 to '17, the two have seen women's Aussie Rules progress exponentially.
They both believe an injection of youth into AFL Central West has been incredibly beneficial.
"(It's improved) big time," they said.
"A lot of younger girls are getting involved earlier particularly now we've got the youth girls (competition).
"The kicks (have improved), fitness is a lot better and because the young ones have come through the fitness standard is a lot higher."
Lee added that in comparison to when she started, the pathways system for women's Aussie Rules is significantly better.
"There's a lot more opportunities for girls now with the GIANTS academy - we never had that when I was young," she said.
This weekend, Orange Tigers women's side head to Dubbo, searching for its first win of the season with ball up at 12:30pm in Dubbo.
In the senior men Tier 1, the Tigers will look to continue its form at South Dubbo Oval after scoring their only for the season there in round two.
To read more stories, download the Central Western Daily news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
HAVE YOUR SAY
- Send a letter to the editor using the form below