IF YOU were to look up Emily Bates' name in the dictionary, two definitions would come up. 

One is that she's an absolute professional and competitive beast that gets the most out of herself. The other is that she's just a really good human being. 

Bates is one of the biggest names in the AFLW competition and has one of the most impressive footy resumes in the game. 

A League best-and-fairest winner, three-time All-Australian, premiership player and five-time club best and fairest, Bates' success didn't just happen overnight, it's as a result of many years toiling away in the background when no one is watching. 

AFL.com.au's Dylan Bolch spent a day with the Hawthorn captain, shadowing her ahead of her 100th AFLW match and finding out more about the superstar midfielder from those who know her best. 

Emily Bates' day begins when her alarm goes off at 6.45am. She likes to start her day by making herself and partner Rosie a coffee, which sets her up for a long day at the footy club. 

She then takes her Brussels Griffon dog, Tuck (named after Hawthorn legend Michael Tuck), for a 30-minute walk before digging into her go-to breakfast consisting of three Weet-Bix, a YoPro yoghurt taken from the footy club, blueberries and honey. 

Bates is a renowned "crazy dog lady" and can name any breed of dog when she sees it, even if it's niche. Outside of footy, she loves to spend time outdoors, keep active, try out new food spots and watch Rosie's hockey.

She has her creatine and collagen with some orange juice before having another coffee, getting ready for the day and heading out to Dingley. 

Bates arrives at the club at about 8.30am and it doesn't take long for her to have a footy in her hands. 

On this particular Thursday, the Hawks begin their day with a 'Power Hour', an hour for the players to use however they see fit. 

Some use the time to hone their craft, others chat to assistant coaches or get treatment from the club's physio staff. 

As always, Bates is the first one out in the Shed at Hawthorn's new facility in Dingley, with teammate and vice-captain Eliza West. 

The pair have already done some mobility work using foam rollers, now is the time to hone their craft. 

It's time to go to work. Bates and West begin with some touch work, focusing in particular on long handballs. It's a skill Bates believes can give them another option on game day when making a decision under pressure.

They believe there isn't a lot of point doing those two to three metre handballs, if you're on an AFLW list you've definitely got that under control by now. 

The 'Power Hour' is not only a great time for Bates to enhance her weapons, but a crucial part of the day for working on the parts of her game that need improvement. 

Today she's enlisted the help of assistant coach Cam McKinlay, wanting to focus on ground balls and stoppage craft. 

Bates picks up the ground ball, fends off McKinlay and kicks the ball towards the target on the netting lace out. 

They then introduce some agility poles, Bates dancing between them before hitting that same target once more. 

Her power, strength and speed are all on show, as eager teammates begin watching the master at work. 

But that's the beauty of Bates, she brings others along for the ride.

Within moments, she gathers a group of younger teammates and they begin to work on some stoppage craft, going both out the back and in front of the contest.

She helps with the setup, but also gives the youngsters the space to work things out for themselves. 

A rebound net is introduced, as Bates feeds balls for the likes of Jasmine Fleming, Mikaylah Antony, Laura Stone, Keely Coyne and Hayley McLaughlin.

The players then funnel into the lecture theatre for a team meeting before main training. They chat through the upcoming game, how they want to move the ball and what to expect from their opponents come game day. 

Bates is sitting next to defender Jenna Richardson and listens intently to what the coaches have to say, but chimes in when she thinks she can add some value to the discussion. 

Now it's time for main training, but not before a bowl of Rice Bubbles with honey, which brings Bates and her teammates back to their childhood. 

While the sun has been shining all day out at Dingley, the rain is now coming in sideways, not that that deters Bates in any way, shape or form. 

The group begins by doing some warm-ups, a bit of running work and then they break off into smaller focus groups. 

Endurance has always been a strength of Bates' and you can tell with how well she fares in the running drills led by high performance manager Aaron Kellett and strength and conditioning coach Emma Jones. 

Bates shines with the contest work, bringing the heat and intensity, which her teammates thrive off. In between drills she gives out plenty of high-fives, ensuring morale is high ahead of a big upcoming clash. 

Watching on from the sidelines, it's clear how important Bates is to this Hawthorn outfit. She's as vocal as any player out there, regularly directing traffic and hyping up her teammates. 

A key focus for the Hawks today is energy and Bates is a big driver of that. She provides positive and constructive feedback to her fellow onballers and gives almost a running commentary in another drill, which highlights just how vocal she is. In many ways, she's like another coach out there.

The players have some lunch before heading into a rotation of gym work and education. Bates' attitude in the gym is exactly like her one during this morning's craft session or main training. She wants to get the very best out of herself and her teammates. 

When young tall Elli Symonds rings the bell mounted on the wall after breaking a personal best, Bates is one of the first to get around her. Likewise when winger Keely Coyne does the same thing minutes later. That's just the sort of person Bates is. 

The final tasks of the day are both line meetings and a team preview. 

Sitting among the Hawthorn midfield group, it's clear just how important Bates is to the engine room.

Other than West, Bates is flanked by plenty of talented youth in this room. There's ruck Lucy Wales and the upcoming midfield trio of Fleming, Laura Stone and Daisy Flockart. Hayley McLaughlin, Mikayla Williamson, Bridie Hipwell and Keely Coyne have played on the wings for most of the year and are also present. It's a pretty inexperienced engine room with plenty of good footy ahead of them, which is why Bates' presence is so important.

Midfield coaches Cam Howat and McKinlay lead the meeting, but things are very much driven by the players when it comes to opposition analysis. 

Bates, having played over a decade at the top level, has plenty of helpful tips for her younger teammates when it comes to opposition players' biggest strengths. 

Having unpacked the upcoming engine room battle, players then file back into the lecture theatre for the team preview. 

Led by coach Daniel Webster, the team discusses how they want to play and their key focuses for the upcoming week. They can honour Bates by playing like her. Tough, uncompromising and for each other. 

Bates regularly chimes in with answers to questions, but she's also mindful of creating a space where her teammates can shine and speak up, too. 

The Hawks have celebrated Bates throughout the week and Webster, who's known Bates for several years from their time at Brisbane, takes the opportunity to discuss the impact she has had on him as well. 

While she's known for her exploits on the field, Bates certainly has a big impact on those she knows off it, too.

HOW AN 'ANNOYING LITTLE SIDEKICK' BECAME ONE OF THE GREATS

A large portion of Emily Bates' childhood was spent at the Yeronga Devils Football Club, shadowing her late father, Lloyd. 

Lloyd was the "jack of all trades". He was a coach, a team manager, a water carrier and a runner. If there was a job, Lloyd had probably done it at some point.

And Emily was his "annoying little sidekick" who followed him everywhere. 

Emily began playing when she was 11 years old, going against girls much older than her in the under-13s competition, one of the first of its kind in Queensland at the time.

That team was led by Lloyd. Having spent so much time involved in the men's program, Lloyd was one of the pioneers of the women's program and the players loved him, often calling him "super coach". 

"He was kind of the reason why girls footy really took off at the club. Given his involvement with the men's program, he kind of legitimised the girls' program given his experience," Bates tells AFL.com.au.

Throughout the pathways, Lloyd was Emily's coach. When Emily finished in the under-15s competition, Lloyd was a key driver in the establishment of an under-18s competition, because he didn't want Emily and her friends having to go straight into senior women's footy and play against women often double their age. 

Those pathways now have given every girl the chance to dream.

"There's so much talent there now, it used to be in all sorts but now it's really strong," Bates said.

Emily had wanted to become a footballer from a long way out. She'd written in her diary when she was younger that she wanted to captain a team at the top level one day. Professional sport was her calling.

"When I was growing up my email address was sportsstar@hotmail.com and my password was athlete. I was obsessed with athletes and seeing how professional they could be with their bodies. I was mind blown with the whole idea of elite sport, it was something I wanted to do no matter what," Bates said.

"It was my dream to be a professional athlete, let alone do it for 11 years now. Looking back now, the fact girls can watch us on TV and there's a pathway there, they don't have to dream it up, it's there and it's so possible. Honestly, it's amazing and something we never had."

Being a role model is something that Bates is so incredibly proud of. Sitting out the front of the Kennedy Community Centre on Sunday, there are two kids having a kick on the oval with their parents. The young boy, probably aged about six or seven years old, yells to his sister that he wants to be like Emily Bates when he's older. 

The AFLW competition has grown so much since the early days, where teams played just a handful of games and the Grand Final ended up being the top two sides on the ladder.

Bates doesn't watch back those games, but she is so proud of being a small part of something that has become so big.

"To be part of that generation that paved the way for where we are now is pretty special," she said.

'MY WHOLE LIFE CHANGED': BECOMING A LIONS LEGEND

When Bates was first drafted to Brisbane, she was just happy to be a part of it.

"I remember getting my first pay cheque, it was crazy, I would've done it for free so it was just a bonus," Bates said.

"Wearing a Brisbane Lions guernsey was the payment that we all felt we needed, it was all about gratitude, which it still is, but now it's much more professional and a real career for us."

AFLW pioneer Kate Lutkins was one of Bates' biggest influences during her time in Queensland. Lutkins, who came from an army background, epitomised hard work and was a real leader at the club.

"She was tough and really set the tone for what hard work looked like. She made it into an environment where there was no complaining and you just got on with it. Having her influence early in my career was awesome," Bates said.

Teammates Nat Grider and Ally Anderson brought out Bates' competitive instincts and the trio spurred each other on each and every session.

Bates is one of the most decorated players in AFLW history, but it was the 2021 premiership that really drove her to go to the next level and become an immortal.

"It was incredible. That premiership in 2021 is really what inspired me to go to that next level in my journey," she said.

"At that point I'd won a couple of best and fairests and was performing, but I knew there was so much more in me that I wanted to give."

So she went to work. Bates looked into her diet and ensured that every session she did over the break was with a teammate. She knew that's how she could get the most of herself and that training with people better than her would allow her to improve her game considerably.

"I was always chasing, that off-season was a big springboard, my whole life changed. It was remarkable, such a crazy year."

They say the rest is history.

'HARDEST DECISION OF MY LIFE': MOVING TO THE HAWKS WITH BEST MATE BODEY

Greta Bodey and Emily Bates go way back.

The pair first met back in 2013, when they were studying sports science at the University of Queensland together. 

They were often in the same assignment groups and ended up following each other on Instagram. Years passed, but they reconnected when Bodey arrived at the Lions.

"I rocked up for the Winter Series at the Lions and knew no one. Emily was the first person to come up and talk to me and say hi, she remembered when we did that uni course together," Greta Bodey tells AFL.com.au.

"Early days at Brisbane she was very focused on being the best athlete that she could be. She's probably the most professional person I've ever met. She was all focused on trying to squeeze every ounce of performance out of herself," Bodey said 

"But since coming to Hawthorn, or even the later years at Brisbane, she really started to grow and cared so much about other people, she wants to get the best out of every single person. She does a really good job of caring for every single player on our list, I'm not sure how she does it, but she's grown so much as a leader."

Bodey is one of Bates' closest friends. They do heaps of things together outside of footy, including a recent hiking trip with West, teammate Najwa Allen and ex-Hawk Lou Stephenson. 

Bodey knows about Bates' fear of low-neck shirts, how much she hates swimming and that despite her exploits on the footy field, she isn't great at many other sports.

Despite being as tough as nails on the football field, Bates is quite happy to be a "passenger princess" when it comes to camping, according to Bodey.

"When we chat, it's not about football. She's like my outlet. Eliza and I are so intense in that way, but Greta's the opposite. It's a bit of a ying yang situation," Bates said.

"She's probably one of the funniest people I know. We spend a lot of time together… we have a very similar sense of humour so we're just laughing the whole time," Bodey said.

Bodey revealed the role that Bates played in giving her the confidence to move to Victoria, following a very successful stint in Queensland.

The pair had gone for a walk down at Oxley Common, a favourite for walking the dogs, when Bates discussed Hawthorn's interest. Much to her delight, Bodey was also in talks and tossing up a move.

"It's always very daunting moving states and clubs. Emily mentioned that she was thinking of moving to Hawthorn and I had been having discussions with Hawthorn as well, so it played a huge part in my willingness to leave and make such a huge decision because I had someone to do it with," Bodey said.

"Hawthorn's so lucky that we got Emily. She's helped make the program what it is today and I genuinely don't think we'd be where we are now if it wasn't for her, she's done so much work. 

"Creating a women's program from scratch would be so difficult, so I think it was so important that the Hawks did bring in some experienced players to kind of direct and guide it. Emily's been a huge part of that, especially coming from Brisbane which was such a successful setup. 

"She's brought so many learnings from her time up there, but the Hawks have also been really great at listening to her and implementing some of the strategies she's advocated for."

The Hawks had registered their interest in Bates after she claimed the League best and fairest in season six. The Lions narrowly lost a preliminary final to Melbourne that year and had plenty of good footy ahead of them. Bates was craving another flag with the group she'd grown so close to. 

From there, the Hawks organised a dinner in Brisbane for Bates and Bodey and had both Kaitlyn Ashmore and Stephenson attend as well, to give a players' perspective on the program and how the Lions trio could help to shape it. 

Hawthorn just felt like the right fit. Bates, who had interest from rival clubs too, wanted to make sure her approach to professional sport would align with that of the current playing group. She was convinced and it wasn't long after that when she and Bodey both decided to make the jump.

"I think at that point I was really stagnant with my life in Brisbane. While football was going really well, I wasn't really happy with other parts of my life, I was ready for a change and something new," Bates said.

"It was easily the hardest decision of my life so far. My whole identity was Brisbane Lions, we'd had so much success there. I'd grown up there and it was my home. I'd gone through the whole pathway, I was basically the poster girl for AFL Queensland. It was a really hard decision but I was ready to challenge myself in a different way."

Bates has always pushed herself to the physical limits, but wanted a change of scenery. She'd become too comfortable and complacent with life in Brisbane and had always wanted to make the move to Victoria. Given the AFLW player movement rules at the time, the Lions and Hawks didn't have to strike a trade for her move, either. The stars were aligning. 

"I honestly think if Greta didn't, I wouldn't have come. It was such a scary thing to do because I was so used to winning and being part of a successful club and you knew that you were going to come to a developing club where it was going to be a very different experience," Bates said.

"I honestly don't know if I could've done it without her."

Bodey just gets Bates. She knows what she's like as a person above all else, but she also understood the challenges of going from a team at the top in Brisbane, to a side that would need a bit of building from the ground up.

The Hawks were a well-connected group who were eager to learn, but Bates could see that there was plenty of room for improvement when it came to improving standards and high performance culture.

"I didn't want to come in too hot and say we needed to change X, Y and Z. I wanted to earn the respect of my teammates, so they could understand where I was coming from and that any changes we do make, is to win," Bates said.

'MAD WORKHORSE': HOW BATES BECAME ONE OF THE BEST

Those who know Bates know exactly how she climbed the pinnacle of the AFLW mountain and continues to remain there. 

There's no secret formula for Bates' success. It's hard work and plenty of it.

"She's a mad workhorse and does not give up on anything," Hawthorn vice-captain Eliza West tells AFL.com.au.

"She trains hard every session, I don't think I've ever seen her take reps off. She gets annoyed if people aren't doing that, because she doesn't live any other way, that's how she's wired," West said. 

Bates and West are like two peas in a pod. They're the first ones out in the Shed in the morning and the last ones out on the track in the afternoon. 

"We do everything together, we're wired the same way. We're both crazy, want to do a million handballs, craft, craft, craft," Bates said.

"We love the technical side of football, love talking strategy and operate in the same way."

"We're both very routine-based and very similar when it comes to being competitive and wanting to get the most out of ourselves. It made it very easy and natural to come together and do the extras," West said.

"She's so elite at everything, she's helped me so much because I can see where the standard is. Because I'm competitive I want to try and push that and be better than that, so we're constantly bettering each other."

West is one of Bates' biggest admirers and her influence was a key reason as to why West made the call to move from the Dees to the Hawks ahead of the 2024 season.

West remembers receiving a really lengthy text message from Bates, which ultimately was a big part of giving West the confidence to make the jump.

The lure of working alongside one of the AFLW's greatest ever players and help to continue to build Hawthorn's program was exactly what West needed to tip her into the move.

"She knew I was thinking about coming across, so she sent me this really nice long message about how the change can be scary. She spoke a bit about Hawthorn and the group they were building and was just so kind and welcoming from the start," West said.

"It played into things a lot, in the end. She had made the change the year before and she was pretty much saying, 'You'll feel these things but it's OK to feel that way'. 

"She certainly was a big reason why I came across. To be able to play with someone like her is something not many players get to do. The prospect of playing in the midfield with Emily Bates was a pretty cool prospect. 

"She's very contagious, you want to do things with her and for her because she aspires to be that every day.

"You cannot believe that someone works that hard. She's true to her word, never gives up, is a true competitor and a lovely person at the same time, she's a really good human."

Bates can do everything. She's so clean on the inside, uses her power on the outside and even when things are tough, she pushes right on through.

There's been some feisty midfield battles between the pair at training, which has helped West take her game to the next level.

"Her bar is so high so she can't comprehend when people aren't trying to max out and get the most out of themselves. She's such a great leader to have on the team and train alongside," West began.

"She's very feisty and fierce, we have some pretty heated midfield battles at training, it's always really fun, we go at each other and it can get feisty, but we love each other by the end of it and get the most out of each other."

The players sometimes call Bates ‘Scratchy' or ‘Grabby', because they'll often walk away from a session all cut up. Bates treats a training session exactly like a game and leaves no stone unturned in her quest to improve.

"If I'm not getting that from her, I feel like it's not a good training session. That's how I know it's been a good session," West added.

"A lot of my improvement is a credit to her, because she's actually pushed me to get more out of myself in that space."

It would be easy for Bates to sit back and continue to do what she does, given she's been one of the game's premier players for so long. But that's not her nature.

Over the off-season, Bates noted that the game was getting faster. So she did something about it. The star Hawk went and did additional work on her sprint technique, to ensure that when the squad came back for pre-season, she'd still be at the peak of her powers. Despite being another year older, she came back faster than she was before.

She's also spent some more time across half-forward in recent weeks in an attempt to add another string to her bow, while also empowering the side's young talent to take up greater midfield opportunities. 

West believes there's one thing that would be a cherry on top for Bates' time in the competition – a premiership in the brown and gold. 

"I would love for us to get a premiership for her and for that to be a part of her story. I think it would be really special and well-deserved, because she genuinely puts in so much work, not just into herself, but into all of us," West said.

"She's constantly looking to better everyone and if we could do that for her, that would be really special.

"Her legacy is going to be that she's an absolute true workhorse and competitor and someone that genuinely inspires the playing group. The way she carries herself and the way she comes into the club and does what she does, everyone looks up to her.

"When she speaks, we're all listening and we want to hear what she has to say. To have that kind of hold on a group is really special and a hard thing to do."

'PRETTY COOL': YOUNG STAR OPENS UP ON PLAYING WITH HERO

Jasmine Fleming can remember watching Bates claim the AFLW best and fairest on TV. 

One of her footy idols growing up, it was a pinch-me moment for Fleming when Bates arrived at Waverley Park. Now, she gets to work alongside one of the best players the AFLW competition has ever seen.

"It's pretty cool. As a fan I grew up watching her, I remember watching the TV when she won the W Award and then it wasn't long after that that she was at the Hawks," Jasmine Fleming tells AFL.com.au.

"It's been so great to work with her. She's been such a good support for myself and a lot of the younger girls in the team. She leads by example, it's a pretty good spot to be in when she's your captain," Fleming said.

"She's just a great person. I've loved working with her at the Hawks."

Having watched from afar, it was Bates' competitiveness that really struck Fleming when Bates first walked in the doors at Waverley Park. 

"I hadn't seen anything like it to be honest. The way she trains and prepares, goes about anything to do with footy is at 100 per cent intensity. It's taken a couple of years to filter through our group, but it's just so awesome."

Fleming remembers "getting absolutely smoked by her" the first time she lined up against Bates at the end of her debut campaign. It's fair to say, in many ways, that was Fleming's ‘welcome to the big time' moment.

Now, she's thankful they're both in the brown and gold.

"She leads by example and that's how I try to lead. That's how we kind of bonded over the first couple of years and she's definitely helped me try to get out of my comfort zone and speak up a bit more," Fleming said.

Fleming recalls being somewhat intimidated by Bates' presence and aura when she first arrived, but the pair have quickly formed a close relationship together. 

"We were probably a little bit intimidated by her in a way, we were just young and trying to find our way," Fleming continued. 

"But she's been so great and opened up to us a lot as well … her relationships with the whole team now is awesome, it's one of her big strengths."

Fleming noted that the standards at the club were lifted after Bates and Bodey arrived and continue to shape Hawthorn's culture today.

"We were able to see how to train, how to play, what it actually takes to be the best," she said.

For the emerging stars like Fleming, Flockart and Stone, there isn't anyone they'd rather learn from than Bates.

'FIRE IN THE BELLY': LEADING FROM THE FRONT

Bates' leadership has come on in leaps and bounds since she began her AFLW career and she's now formed a fearsome partnership with Hawthorn coach Daniel Webster.

Bates was already at the Lions when Webster arrived there as an assistant and it didn't take long for the pair to immediately click. 

Webster recalls being flagged down by Bates from across the oval one day, her thirst for hard work and drive to get better becoming apparent immediately. 

"She was really good, but I don't think she knew why she was good," Daniel Webster tells AFL.com.au.

"She has such a driven nature for what she wants to become and she works so hard. From a coaching standpoint, it's so easy to deal with those players because she's so hungry and you almost have to rein them back all the time, rather than gee-ing them up," he said.

"She's a phenomenal person and a ripping human. The way she goes about it, handles adversity and pushes through challenges, she's always hungry to get better."

Webster remembers when he first arrived at the Lions, no one at the club was trawling through more vision than what Bates was with him. She was an absolute sponge, with an incredible thirst for knowledge and improvement.

"She could process so much information and then be able to apply it straight away," he said.

A common theme throughout the day is that Bates isn't the most athletically gifted player in the competition. She isn't blessed with lightning quick speed and she doesn't have the size that some of the other star midfielders in the competition do too. But she's the hardest worker. 

"She's just a competitor, it's pretty crazy," Webster said.

"She knew she wanted to be the best and loves competition… As a coach, what I love is when people want to get better. She was top of the tree and easy, she wanted to get better so we got to work."

Leadership comes in many forms, but the common consensus among the players is that Bates' strengths are building relationships and setting the tone on the training track. Being invested in the individual as a person, means it's easier to have tougher conversations when the time calls. 

"She leads by example, trains so hard. She wants to win everything, even though she's 30 now she's still pushing everyone in the running. She wants to be the strongest in the gym, she's also really vocal on the field which is really helpful for our younger onballers," Bodey said.

"She shows so much care and empathy for other people."

"She's so funny, silly but also so loving and caring and can have those hard conversations if you need them," West said.

"She's really across every type of personality trait, she's super caring and because she's such a hard ass on the field, you can assume people like that won't be so caring, but she really is… She's so thoughtful and does so many thoughtful little things for all of us… she makes us feel really good."

Webster highlights how Bates' development as a leader didn't just happen overnight. While everyone can see the work she puts in on her football craft, she spends equally as much time behind the scenes honing her leadership skills.

"She's worked on her leadership as much as she has on her craft… she puts as much time into that as she does her football. She's smart enough to be able to process things and adapt to what the group needs, she's really impressive," Webster said.

"What she's learned is that everyone's human, so how do you help the person? What do they need? Because it can't be she'll tell someone something and they do it. That's where part of her growth has come, because she has a really good understanding of how people operate and tick to then help them.

"The 'Batesy' I see off field is cool, calm and collected. She's pretty chill, but you know there's fire in the belly."

With Webster and Bates at the helm, the Hawks are well positioned both on and off the field. They've created a winning culture, which focuses on high performance and getting the most out of every single player on the list.

"It was a bit of a shock at the start, I think we had three wins in that first year," Bates recalled.

"I knew that (Webster) was going to bring those standards, he's such a winner. I knew it would transform this club.

"I couldn't speak more highly of him. I knew he'd sell himself, he's an incredible coach and he's so good at developing players and helping them understand the game."

The expectations of each player are so crystal clear now and the Hawks are flourishing as a result.

"Now we have a program where we all have high standards, so we all push each other… it's so inbuilt in our culture that it's become second nature," Bates added.

There's no secret to Emily Bates' success. She was always destined to become one of the game's biggest stars given her unbelievable work ethic and thirst to get the most out of herself.

Her footy CV is one of the most impressive in AFLW history, but her legacy will be so much more than best and fairests and All-Australian blazers. 

Bates has inspired a generation and paved the way for others, both on and off the field.