ON THE eve of the new AFLW season, Hawthorn coach Bec Goddard wants to see Australian women's sport rise to new levels on the back of the Matildas' World Cup success.

Sam Kerr's 'Tillies' inspired the nation on their run to a best-ever World Cup result, reaching a semi-final and ultimately finishing fourth.

The stunning result, along with record-breaking attendances and television audiences, caught the attention of rival sports.

Goddard believes now is the time for AFLW and other women's competitions to capitalise on the momentum created by the Matildas.

"We all watched Australia and it's just a really exciting time to be a woman in sport," Goddard said.

"So many people turned out to watch (the World Cup) and we're not going to pretend that we're anywhere near the level of the Matildas yet.

"But I hope what we're able to do is leverage off the back of that and help other women in sports - whether that's AFLW, Big Bash, WNBL.

"(I hope) we all make each other better by putting on a great show and highlighting that this part of sport has been underfunded and undervalued for a really long time, and now we're going places."

Goddard's Hawthorn hosts Essendon at Frankston Oval - also known as Kinetic Stadium - in their AFLW season-opener on Saturday and the former Adelaide premiership-winning coach has called on Hawks fans to pack out the 5000-capacity venue.

The Hawks and Bombers drew 12,092 fans to Marvel Stadium for the inaugural AFLW encounter between the expansion sides last season.

"Women's sport is measured by the metric of people coming through the gates and I know Hawks fans are going to come out in big numbers this weekend," Goddard said.

"Hopefully we fill that stadium because it's going to be a really great contest and a great opportunity to see women doing their best."