EMILY Bates will create AFLW history on Sunday, at the end of a week in which she's also fought to save her house from Queensland's devastating floods.

The 26-year-old Brisbane midfielder will run out alongside great mate Ally Anderson as the pair become the first players to crack the 50-game milestone, just hours before Adelaide's Ebony Marinoff joins them.

While this should be a week of celebration for Bates, it's been one of heartbreak.

After the Lions' record-breaking win against West Coast on Sunday, Bates and partner (and assistant coach) Emma Zielke returned home from Perth to wade through knee-deep water.

The couple are now living with Bates' mother in a nearby suburb after the bottom level of their two-storey house was inundated at the weekend.

"When we got home from Perth on Monday morning we still held hope our house would be ok," Bates told womens.afl.

"The hardest part was not being home to save anything down below.

"We got a photo of it completely flooded and it breaks your heart, you've put so much into it, it's your home.

"It wasn't until we got to the house and you're walking through your home and you're seeing things everywhere that it really hits.

"Sometimes there are bigger things than footy, and it was sad we weren't able to save anything because we were off playing a game."

Bates and Zielke – two of eight Lions still at the club since its 2016 inception – had their spirits lifted on Wednesday when a huge portion of the team showed up on their doorstep to help the clean-up.

Kate Lutkins, on crutches as she recovers from knee surgery, was there as a show of how tight-knit the premiers are.

"It made me feel better about everything," Bates said.

"We didn't have to ask at all. One by one and groups of them just rocked up and were sorting it for us so we didn't have to think about anything.

"Waves of them rocking up and you're walking around seeing them get their hands dirty, some girls were taking days off work to help. It was a moment I will definitely never forget."

Bates said although she hadn't thought about her milestone game to date, she was able to compartmentalise and would switch her footy brain on as the game against North Melbourne drew nearer.

Her and Anderson have shared a unique ride, knowing each other for a decade, as attending as many – if not more - centre bounces than any midfield duo in AFLW history.

Their friendship has developed from mere acquaintances to the closest of unions.

"I met her when she was 16 and I was 17," Anderson recalled.

"You'd heard of her in under-18s, she was always this amazing player … everyone knew of Emily Bates.

"She played for Yeronga and I played for Zillmere and she would single-handedly destroy us.

"I didn't become close with her until the Lions and even the first two or three years it was just "hey, how you going"?

"We weren't really close.

"But the last three years we grew really close. A lot of the club leaving and having to form new friendships with the girls that stayed, we became really close.

"I absolutely love her to death. We do Christmases all the time and birthdays, so I'd say she's one of my best mates now, which is a nice evolution."

Neither has missed a game in the six seasons to date, although it has been a lot more than good luck getting both to this point.

Bates and Anderson are perfectionists, never happy with what they've achieved. In fact, during a slow first season, Anderson was convinced she was on the chopping block, and put in a pre-season that lifted her from fringe player to automatic starter.

Bates, despite two All-Australian berths to her name, used the past off-season to dot every I and cross every T in her preparation, even changing her diet to eliminate desserts and sauces on the side.

"There were so many games in that first season when I was convinced I was being dropped," Anderson said.

"I thought "I've done nothing, I'm out", but he (coach Craig Starcevich) kept picking me.

"I had an average first season and didn't feel good about myself and knew I had a lot more to give footy-wise, so in the off season I worked hard, did a lot of swimming, a lot of running, did what I could to get in better shape.

"To think back I was at that stage where I wasn't playing good footy and to now be comfortable with my footy and keep improving … it's a weird feeling to think that used to be me."

Bates said they were "meticulous", competitive in every way and it was driving her to a career-best season – one in which she currently leads the AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year award.

"We couldn't bear to miss a game, so we do everything in our power - recover the best we can, do all our exercises, do everything we can. When seasons are so short, you don't want to miss," she said.

"I think I am enjoying my footy more than ever before, and I'm believing in myself more."

And the last word goes to Anderson, who arrived at the Lions as a quietly-spoken midfielder and has blossomed into a leader both within the team and the Indigenous community.

"It's still surreal. It is a pretty big deal and I feel privileged to play every single game and get to my 50th.

"It's crazy, goosebumps, especially when you think about all the amazing players in the league, the ones that have been there from the start, to be the first one through is really exciting."

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