CENTURY goalkicker Abbey Holmes is looking forward to supporter acceptance rather than intrigue at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.
No longer a sideshow, instead she will simply be part of the main event as the only woman in the All Stars team facing Victoria in the E J Whitten Legends game.
The AFL women's All-Stars game between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs at Whitten Oval the following night is the reason for that significant perception shift.
"The first Legends game I played in was in 2014. Everyone was shocked to see a girl running around on the football field and just two years later, it's normal. That's fantastic," Holmes said.
The gun forward, who booted 105 goals in 14 games in the Northern Territory women's league in the 20013-14 summer season, will be an expert commentator for Channel Seven when her elite peers from around Australia showcase the women's game at Whitten Oval on Saturday night.
"Obviously, I would love to be playing, but the next best thing is to be involved in the coverage," she said.
Fans found out about Holmes ' football skills after former Hawthorn captain Shane Crawford met her at a football clinic in Darwin and invited the Australian junior netball representative to play with his All Stars teams in the Whitten Legends game three years ago.
The 25-year-old has been commuting between Darwin and Melbourne since kicking three goals in Northern Territory's 36-point victory against Tasmania in an AFL women's exhibition game in Melbourne in April.
She has been flying south to be Seven's boundary rider at televised VFL games this season. More commentary duties at the VFL's elimination finals at Port Melbourne on Saturday and Sunday will round out a hectic few days for the blonde forward.
"This weekend's going to be crazy,” she said.
Holmes hopes to land a spot in one of the eight women’s teams set to play in the first season of the AFL’s women’s league.
"I was training with St Kilda (Sharks) and had an injury early in the season. I decided to head back up to Darwin to train with the ACTNT academy girls," she said.
Players must nominate this week for October's AFL women's draft and can declare a preferred state. Holmes has her heart set on playing for Adelaide.
"All I can do at the moment is control the controllable and keep up my skills and strength and conditioning to give myself the best opportunity to be drafted," she said.
"I'm a Crows' girl. I've supported them all my life and I'm a South Australian who has been living in the Territory for four years, so that would be a nice fit personally.
"I would love nothing more than to pull on the colours of the club I’ve supported forever."
Holmes heaped praise on Collingwood's marquee signing Moana Hope after the St Kilda Sharks spearhead joined her in the century club in the last home and away round of VFL women's league action.
"I was lucky enough to get to know ‘Mo’ when I trained at St Kilda and it's a fantastic story. She's an absolute workhorse and it's also a massive accolade for all the other girls at St Kilda because I know you can't do it without a fantastic team around you," she said.
