Ahead of the first season of AFLW in 2017, the AFL unveiled an aggressive campaign including a remake of the famous “I’d like to see that” commercials from the 1990s. Promotion continued last year, however it was more targeted to digital audiences, something AFL women’s chief Nicole Livingstone acknowledged may not have been enough. Loading “In year No.1 for AFLW, clearly we had a very public campaign, ‘see what we can create’. We had celebrity endorsements, so it really got a lot of traction,” Livingstone told The Age. “In year two we moved across to ‘dare to create’ and we were equally committed to that. [With] the progression from season one to season two, we focused more on breaking through into the digital side of things, because things are changing in terms of the way people consume.

“Then looking back from that, it was probably less publicly visual. So we recognised that for the growth of AFLW it’s also important to have this public campaign. So when we were thinking about that, we were also thinking about what we love about women’s football. Not just AFLW. And what we love about it is the fact it’s actually bringing men into the female side of things.” The new campaign focuses not only on AFLW players but also the broader impact of the introduction of the women’s league, particularly at the grassroots level where attitudes have changed and women are getting involved in positions at football clubs where they have not previously participated to the same extent. Ten clubs will be involved in this year's competition. Credit:AAP Livingstone cited the example of going to watch her 11-year-old son play a junior match and watching a girl’s game being played on the same day. The former Olympic swimmer said she had been impressed to see the guidance provided by the umpire, only to find out that it was former Melbourne and Geelong player Clint Bizzell officiating a match involving his daughter. Livingstone said the involvement of men in the changing face of the game should not be understated.