Dubbo's Australian rules scene has women leading the way

But that is all about to change.

There is a changing of the guard at the Dubbo Demons and Dubbo Junior AFL Club, with the organisations both boasting a variety of strong female leaders.

Kaitlyn Waldie was recently elected as club president of the Demons, their first female leader since forming in 1981.

Merinda Roll has held the title of Dubbo Junior AFL president in the past and watched players like Molly Mayall come through the youth girls pathway.

Armour is one of the best coaches in the region and has already received higher honours in the past.

"We have breached the last point of women's AFL in Dubbo," Armour said.

"We've had our first female coach in 40 years, we've had our first youth girls team and we've transitioned our captain from that side and other players go on to play in the senior women's side.

"We've had a female president at the junior level and now we've got our first female president at the senior level.

"We are so committed to taking our female players all the way through."

Mayall is one of the perfect examples of what Armour is speaking about.

Having played all her junior footy in Dubbo, the star junior came through the grades before captaining the youth girls' side.

After graduating from juniors, Mayall made the move full-time into the Demons' senior women's team under the coaching of Peter Martinoli.

It was a successful season no doubt for the youngster but her crowning glory was in the competition's grand final when she kicked the premiership-winning goal.

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Leading the way for the juniors and showing the strength of the pathway system the club has, Mayall is someone Armour believes is beneficial to their growth.

"If you have influences and people you can look up to and who understand the specific development skills that girls need," she said.

"We clearly have that around our coaching, leadership and pathways."

Now with a youth girls side competing in the competition and providing a pathway through to seniors, Armour said there is a lot of engagement outside of the club as well.

"We've got players playing for their school and taking part in Paul Kelly Cup," she said.

"It's a really good bridge between contact and non-contact sport."

Participation in women's sport is expected to grow massively in Australia over the next 12 months off the back of the Matildas' success in the recent FIFA Women's World Cup.

Breaking all sorts of television records during the competition, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to think sports like Australian rules will benefit.

Firmly in Greater Western Sydney (GWS) Giants territory, players from Dubbo and the Central West often make development squads.

However, it's one area Armour believes they can improve going forward.

"We've done a great job at taking our junior boys through to the GWS development level, I think we've had five or six kids," she said.

"We've had one player go through to their academy and the only thing left now is to get a female player to do the same.

"We are so committed to developing our female talent. You've got presidents, you've got captains and you have coaches so we can take them all the way."

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