STEVIE-LEE Thompson didn't start playing footy until she was 23 years old. Now at 33, she is a three-time AFLW premiership player.

Moving from her birthplace of Brisbane to New Zealand, and eventually to Darwin, it was rugby that initially scratched Thompson's sporting itch. But it was footy that took her from a teacher's aide, who played sport on the side, to a fully-fledged professional athlete.

"I grew up playing touch football my whole entire life," Thompson said on The Inaugurals.

"And then I think 23, when I was living up in Darwin at the time, and just one of my friends was like 'Oh, come play'. I was playing rugby league up there, and they're like 'Oh come play, I feel like you can kick a footy'.

"I was like 'What is this sport?' I had no clue."

Her first game, playing at TIO Stadium, exposed just how little she knew about footy.

"I ankle tapped someone. Obviously, you can't trip, and I never knew that, so everyone was just laughing at me," Thompson said.

"And I was like 'What is going on?' because I (had) just come from a rugby union game where you can do all those things. And then, yeah, sure enough, the umpire was like 'Oh, you can't do that' and then my coach told me that I wasn't allowed to do that either … No one told me the rules, I just kind of like, winged it."

It didn't take long for Thompson to go from ankle tapping opponents, to becoming a real chance for the first AFLW draft back in 2016.

Andrew Hodges, who at the time was the Northern Territory's state academy development coach, focusing heavily on women's footy, put that seed in Thompson's mind. That sport could be something more to her than a weekend, or after work endeavour.

"He gave me an ultimatum. I was playing rugby league with my best mates up in Darwin and he said 'You have to choose. You're either going to play, do the same things that you've been doing since you were 18, or you can go and play an elite level of sport and actually take it somewhere'," Thompson said.

"I had to really go home and think about it, and I was like 'Do I really want to do this, or do I just want to keep enjoying life?' And I didn't really know what the difference was of enjoying life until I actually started playing footy and I put 100 per cent into it.

"Andrew Hodges was just like, 'You can do this, put your name in the draft'."

Hodges was right. Thompson was drafted to Adelaide with pick No.106. The Crows had access to Thompson – and her fellow Northern Territorians – by way of the connection the club had with the territory.

She spent the first season in the AFLW commuting from Darwin alongside a third of Adelaide's list, training away from the main group located in South Australia.

"There were about five of us that always commuted every week, and it was so much fun. I loved it," Thompson said.

"It's the weird thing about it, everyone's like 'Did you get tired?' and I was like it was the excitement, the joy of being able to go and play a game that, well, I've only just learned, but also be around the girls."

Thompson, and the other players who were based in the NT trained with Hodges and fellow Adelaide assistant coach Colleen Gwynne, aligning their sessions with those in Adelaide. They were also joined by some train-on players to make drills more effective.

"We were pretty much just doing ball drills and then a lot of conditioning just to catch up to the girls that were in Adelaide, because obviously playing a game and training with a lot more girls made it so much more different to only having nine girls up in Darwin," Thompson said.

"So, we married up the training sessions, and then we would fly the night before… and then we played and then we flew home. So, it was just like fly in, play, fly out. It was really fun."

One of those players who commuted alongside Thompson was Heather Anderson. A top selection in that inaugural draft, Anderson was a star defender who was forced into retirement due to injury after just one season at the top level.

Known for her bright pink helmet dashing out of defence, Anderson sadly passed away in late 2022, sending ripples through the club, and the AFLW community as a whole.

"Heather was a massive part of our club in 2017 and the premiership. She's just an amazing human and my heart hurts every time a memorial comes up, and every year that happens. But it goes to show that the little things matter and that we still need to support each other," Thompson said.

"She was one of our best defenders … she was a Darwin girl, so I was with her all the time, and I remember when we did our 2km time trial up in Darwin and she flogged it. She was like six minutes, and we were, I think I was like a minute and a half behind her, and she wasn't even puffing when we got back.

"That was just an easy run for her. Things that Heather did (were) just random. Like, she would go and do a marathon, or do massive treks. Just the memories I have of her continuously just putting herself out of her comfort zone being like 'I'm going to go and do this, it doesn't really matter what other people say, I will just do it'."

Anderson was part of Adelaide's 2017 premiership alongside Thompson. That weekend, flying to the Gold Coast to take on Brisbane in an historic match, holds a special place for the Crow.

After not being considered a threat for the flag ahead of the season, with the separation in the playing group a big concern for pundits, the Crows won five of their seven home and away games to finish second on the ladder and qualify for the Grand Final against Brisbane.

"We flew in on the Thursday and it was actually my birthday that day. So, it was really exciting … enjoyed the Friday together, we went to the movies and watched 'Boss Baby'. We just did some things that made it fun," Thompson said.

Running out onto the field for that Grand Final, Thompson had an overwhelming sense that it was a big step forward. She has been a key part of many big moments across the course of the AFLW's nine seasons.

An inaugural premiership player with the Crows, she was also there winning her second flag in front of a record 53,034 people who attended the 2019 Grand Final.

"You obviously do your pre-warm up and there were only, maybe 10,000 people and you don't expect anything more, right?" Thompson recalled of the 2019 decider.

"We could hear the roar when we were in the changing rooms, like, as we're stepping out, and I was like 'Wow', and then as we're running out into the banner, and I've just looked up and I've gone 'there's still so many people coming through those doors'.

"They had to open up the third level so that people could sit up there, and they ran out of food as well, so they weren't actually anticipating to have anything like that happen … the roar is something that I will never forget and I don't think anyone in our team will ever forget that sound, and every time we got a goal, I've never felt that feeling."

It was moments like that, being part of a movement, but also part of a club that developed such a strong culture that was built on success, that kept Thompson from taking one of the many offers thrown her way by other clubs during the three expansion phases.

In 2019 Geelong and North Melbourne joined the League, West Coast, Richmond, St Kilda, and Gold Coast came along in 2020, and then Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide, and Sydney completed the set in 2022.

"I did have offers, but at the same time, I've created so (many) friendships and so much stability here with the club, and they're amazing for me. They've done so much for me to this day, and they still continuously do that for me," Thompson said.

"There were offers, I thought about it, but I have three dogs and a cat at home, and I can't really just up and leave again. That makes it hard too."

Sticking fat with the Crows has turned Thompson from a shy newcomer to footy, into a confident leader both on and off the field.

Bonds with teammates like Chelsea Randall and Erin Phillips helped her come into herself, and playing in a variety of positions has helped her develop her skill as a footballer. No longer is Stevie-Lee Thompson a rugby convert who is ankle tapping opposition players.

"2017 I was a shy girl; I didn’t really talk much. Then in 2019 I was in a leadership forum … and that just allowed me to come out of my shell a lot more. But also, I have friendships here that have grown, like with Chelsea Randall, she's just seen the growth in me since say one," Thompson said.

"I couldn't ask for a better club to be at also, but I've also grown to be a better person, to care a lot more for a lot of the teammates, and just continue to do that. I don't want to change for anyone, but I also want to be able to help support and go through the ebbs and flows with every teammate, but also the club and the staff, who actually do so much for us."

And it takes a moment each time she is asked to remember that she has won three flags at the top level.

"I forget all the time, I'm not going to lie," Thompson laughed.

"Obviously I've got a lot of accolades behind me, and I'm very grateful for everything that I've been a part of, especially at this club, and also everything that I've been able to achieve. But yeah, (it) still doesn't sink in sometimes. Like, 'Oh, I'm actually a three-time premiership player."

Stevie-Lee Thompson is one of The Inaugurals.

The Inaugurals

REBECCA PRIVITELLI How 'crazy adventures' reignited stalwart's career
SARAH LAMPARD Reliable Dee goes from tagging Daisy to flag teammate
GEMMA HOUGHTON How Power gun turned rejection into reinvention
KATE DARBY How Cat's contract fight paved the way for motherhood in footy
DEANNA BERRY The 'confidence hit' that taught top Dog to sink or swim

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