BRONWYN Davey comes from a famous footy family. 

While it's been her brothers, Aaron and Alwyn, who have thrived in the limelight on the big stage, it's now her time to shine as the 2026 AFLW Indigenous Round honouree.

A proud Kokatha woman, Davey was born and raised in Darwin on Larrakia Country and has played a pivotal role in the development and growth of women's football. 

Some of Bronwyn Davey's favourite footy memories came growing up alongside her brothers. 

She remembers kicking the ball to them for 'marker's up' and having plenty of laughs as the boys went toe-to-toe in some ultra-competitive backyard battles.

"It was very competitive for them, but it was always a bit of a laugh for me. The competitiveness always won," Davey told AFL.com.au.

"I think it was more Alwyn and Aaron, they were very competitive. I'd just kick the football up for marker's up, but they were quite competitive. It still shows in the nephews to this day, if one beats the other there's a few backyard fights." 

While her brothers have been recognised as stars in their own right, Bronwyn's acknowledgement as this year's honouree is well deserved.

"I know it's a big recognition to be an honouree, but it still hasn’t really sunk in yet," she said.

She remembers watching her brothers throughout their junior careers. She was always surrounded by footy, but never had the same opportunities as they did.

"I was one of those late-comers to football. I never had the opportunity with women's football when I was young. The closest I could get to a football was playing touch football. That was my sport until I transitioned over to football when I was 27 years of age," she said.

"I never really had those high, elite opportunities - I did get to play in the exhibition match - but even thinking about playing AFL was never at the top of my head because it wasn't normal for women to play it back in the day and there weren’t many opportunities. 

"I'm forever grateful now that there’s all these pathways now and my daughters have an opportunity I never had and my nieces as well."

For the Davey family, everything revolved around footy. In the wet season it was Aussie Rules, in the dry season rugby. 

And while Bronwyn didn't have the same opportunities to play Aussie Rules as her brothers, that didn't mean she loved it any less.

"No opportunities back in those days for me, but there was always the opportunity to watch the game, our uncles, our cousins, our brothers. We grew to love both sports and still do to this day," she said.

While she never featured at AFLW level, that hasn't stopped Bronwyn from making a major impact in the women's footy space. 

Davey was a part of the AFLW exhibition match in 2013, playing alongside the likes of Daisy Pearce, Chelsea Randall, Emma Kearney and Jasmine Garner. 

It was brother Aaron who "pestered" her to nominate, but Bronwyn is so glad he did.

"It was pretty cool," she said.

"I was under the impression, 'I can’t do this, I'm a late comer. I've got no All-Australians or best and fairest or anything’' The majority of those girls had experienced some sort of high accolade in their career.

"It was so amazing, if I could turn back the clock I'd love to do it again.

"He obviously knew something that I didn't know. I put my hand up and said if it doesn't work out then you can't say I didn't send it through. He knew something I didn’t know and it paid off.

"I'm forever grateful, I never had the opportunity to play at the elite level, but for him to pester me into doing something like that and then to get selected was awesome."

But it's not her on-field exploits that Davey has become known for in the footy community. 

It's in the coaches box and as a mentor where she's really shone the most. 

Davey has worked extensively with both Adelaide and Port Adelaide's Indigenous Female Academies and as a Regional Manager for the STARS Foundation, supporting First Nations girls with skill development, confidence building and pathways.

"I think it's quite important … sharing my knowledge and mentoring those young ladies in regards to some of the things now that they’ve got all this opportunity for," Davey said.

"When I first started, my coaches were great and used a lot of football terminology that I didn’t really understand, but apparently I was doing the right thing by the sport. 

"I didn’t know, but they just expected that I knew it because I came from a football family. I think it’s important … breaking it down to get them to understand the game a little bit more and helping them become the best footballers they can be. 

"If I can share some of my experiences and help out, I’ll be happy."

The impact that Davey has had on the lives of many cannot be understated. She knows that there are plenty of super talented Indigenous girls playing the game, but saw an opportunity to help guide the next wave of talent.

"Getting to share my knowledge with these young ladies, after many years some of them still call me Aunty Bron. It's the relationship that we've built, they respected me and vice versa," she said.

While her off-field mentoring has helped to shape the footy world, her on-field exploits have been equally eye-catching.

Davey made history when she played alongside daughter Tesharna in a SANFLW match back in 2019, becoming the first mother-daughter duo to feature together in the competition. 

"I never thought that I'd have the opportunity to play with the three of my daughters, but that's one of the highlights of my career," she said.

"We play for the love of the sport but before we knew it, it was history-making. I don't know how many mums have had the opportunity to play with their daughters but it was an awesome feeling.

"We surprised some of our teammates, they didn't realise we were a mother-daughter duo. When it got announced that I was debuting, people were looking around thinking 'What is going on?' The majority of our teammates thought I was supporting this young girl, taking her to training and whatever else. 

"They didn't know she was my daughter. She's the only one of my three daughters who calls me 'Bron', my footy name. The other two when we play call me mum. It's a wonder people didn't pick it up, she would always shout 'Pass me the ball Bron!' and was like any other teammate."

Playing alongside her daughters has bought Davey so much joy. There's nothing better than doing what you love with the people you love. 

"When we played community or grassroots level there's been some special moments," she said.

"I say to my daughters that if you want a possession or easy goal, run past me because I'm not fast like I used to be, I'm slowing down, but I'm happy to hand off a disposal to you guys," she laughed.

Davey is so grateful that the pathways that have existed in the men's space are now also involved in the women’s space.

She's seen first hand the impact that those pathways can have on a player and person, having seen nephews Alwyn Davey jnr and Jayden Davey work through them before ending up at Essendon.

When her two nephews made it onto Essendon’s list, it was such a proud moment for the entire Davey family. 

Bronwyn's father, Alwyn Davey snr, died in a car accident in 1992. Bronwyn and her brothers were raised by mum, Lizzie. 

"It's a bit emotional for me to explain … for him to be around and see the success that he's created would have been an overwhelming thing. It's just a proud moment for us as a family given what we endured as a family when we were such young kids," she said.

Both Alwyn jnr and Jayden have experienced the highs and lows of the pathway programs and Bronwyn believes that more can be done to help all players, both men's and women's, with support before and after their footy careers.

"Making sure how we can keep supporting them to keep them coming back. It's a big thing if they're expecting to be drafted and they don't, it can be really disheartening," she said.

"We can't wrap wool around them all the time, but putting some structure in place for how we can support them moving forward and keep checking in is important."

Davey, who loves watching the likes of Zippy Fish, Jasmine Garner and Monique Conti in the women's game, also loves to watch Kysaiah Pickett strut his stuff in the No.36, just like brother Aaron.

"Kozzy Pickett wears my brother's number now. They're both different players, but they just light up the field when they do get the ball," she said.

Davey is looking forward to the Dreamtime in Darwin clash this season, which she believes always has a very positive impact on the community.

"There aren't many opportunities in Darwin for AFLW, so to have this as a regular thing is so good for the community and the Indigenous space as well," she said.

"There's a lot of Indigenous talent up there, if they can see this sort of thing happening, then there may be a possibility where they dream of playing in the Dreamtime game or for an AFLW team."

Davey may not have had the same opportunities as her brothers did growing up, but she's determined to continue to help create pathways now to let every girl shine.