SIX WEEKS before the start of the new AFLW season, the game's biggest names gathered at AFL House in Melbourne for the annual content capture day, a fairly routine and repetitive stream of marketing photos, social media filming and interviews.

By mid-afternoon, Port Adelaide's contingent had done their work for the day and had 10 minutes before they had to leave to the airport for the flight home.

Just enough time for one more video.

Matilda Scholz, the club's 20-year-old Rising Star winner, dragged her faux-reluctant 31-year-old teammate Gemma Houghton into the AFL Media staff kitchen and taught her a dance for the young superstar's TikTok account.

"Almost made us miss our flight for this", Scholz later posted as she shared the video with her 23,000 followers.

This is Gen Z footy, the game for the TikTok generation, and no club encapsulates this better than the Power.

Port's AFLW squad of 31 has 21 players aged 22 or under, and by average age, is the third-youngest AFLW list (only a few days ahead of West Coast and Sydney).

Coupled with their heavy – and deliberate – presence on social media, the Power are the Gen Z face of AFLW, and they want to help grow the game, their way.

Scholz, the 189cm ruck whose high-flying athleticism on the field is complemented by her long blonde ponytail, is the driving force of the movement. With a combined 47,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram (her Instagram tally almost matches that of the club's account), her posts generate millions of views, likes and comments each week.

At just 20 years old, she has a Nike sponsorship, and crucially, a diploma in social media marketing.

"I don't really remember a time without social media. Even TikTok has changed a lot in the past few years as well. I feel like most of us have only really just started consistently posting," she tells AFL.com.au.

"It's fun, and it's what I like to do. It's probably a [fairly even split] of posting for fun and posting for my brand. Alissa (Brook) and I make lots of dance videos before training, and we always say it puts us in a good mood, because it's fun.

"We like to make a good dance, and Ella (Boag) likes to join in. A lot of it is fun, but then, it's also for the growth of the AFLW and for our own personal brands as well. That just comes along with it.

"It's a bit of an incentive to keep positing; the more you post, the more you get yourselves out there, which gets Port Adelaide and the AFLW out there too."

While it is a personal account, Scholz knows she is representing more than just herself. Players have been known to run videos past the team's media manager for a sense check before posting, and they've been given some general guidelines around being thoughtful of what they post while wearing club colours.

As a rule of thumb, if they feel like their dance moves might need someone to tick them off, they're probably not appropriate to post.

But the growth of the game, and themselves, through social media is something the playing group as a whole has embraced. The AFL recently ran a personal branding masterclass for AFLW and VFLW players through its Workplay+ program, pitched as a day to "sharpen creative content skills" and increase opportunities for branded content. Port was the best represented club at the conference, which included presentations from the likes of Meta and TikTok, as they learnt how to deepen fan connections through their own channels.

At a broader level, clubs - led by Hawthorn - have been increasing their cross-team coverage, incorporating both AFL and AFLW players into fun social videos, familiarising traditional AFL fans with their club's AFLW athletes.

And Scholz isn't the only Port player to have studied in the field, with winger Boag, 21, in the fourth year of a marketing and communications degree.

"We have so much fun with it. You can see all of us girls do dances and stuff, but it's also so important for us to use it to promote what we do and the game. That's how we can build our fans ourselves," Boag says.

"We're also working extremely hard. You see a 30-second video, and we get so many comments about it (wasting time and not training), but it's only a little bit of our time. We're putting most of it into training and footy.

"We've had some education around growing the game. I feel like I've been taught it's important for us and we're going to get fans by showing who we are. We've also seen girls from other teams put themselves out there, and you see (positive) comments where people really resonate with them, because they see who they are as a person."

Scholz is well aware that she's presenting a curated version of herself. Each platform has its strengths, weaknesses and trends.

For her, TikTok is purely for dancing while Instagram is for photo carousels to show a wider variety of content about her day-to-day life.

"I'm really interested in social media, but didn't really know what to do with it. I don't know if I want to do further study, but I learned a lot from the diploma. If I did want to go into marketing, something like a footy club would be amazing, I'd love that," Scholz says.

"It's really hard to show your whole authentic self on social media, because I'm only showing bits of my life. I don't want everyone to know my entire life. That's easier on TikTok, because while I post a lot of videos there, they're just dancing videos.

"I'd like to show more of myself and my personality, but it's hard to find the content to do that. Because I've made a bit of a brand of myself, posting the dancing videos, I don't know when to stray away from that, or even if I do."

Brook is Scholz's partner in crime in front of the camera, but Boag is a regular participant – she recently vlogged her way around Europe – as is Ella Heads, Piper Window and the decidedly introverted Shineah Goody.

"Well, they force me (to be in the videos). We have to make Matilda happy around here, because if she's not happy, then everything goes downhill," Goody says with a wry grin.

"I personally don't have TikTok, and the girls, especially Tilda, are trying to build their personal brands, but also exposing the club and AFLW itself. It helps me build my own platform a bit too, with a few girls having recognised me off her TikToks and those social media platforms as well.

"I basically just stand there. If you see my dance moves, they're not getting any better. I'm a bit rough around the edges. But whenever Tilds gets me in a TikTok, it takes us about an hour to get some simple dance moves in, so I always have to do the simple movements."

The videos aren't just something to do for a bit of fun before training, or to help build brands. They've also become a bonding tool.

"This year, for some reason, Tilds and I – and I'm saying her because I'm mostly in her TikToks – it's helped us get a bit closer and build a connection a bit," Goody says. "Not that I didn't consider her a friend last year, but there's a connection and some fun banter there now."

Scholz agrees that it has helped bring the group closer together.

"(Veterans) Kirsty Lamb and Justine Mules-Robinson, they don't get around the dances as much, but it's been really fun to do with the other girls," she says.

"Alissa and I have never been as close as we are now, and it's so fun because it's something we can bond over. Ella Heads is new to the team this year, and it's been a real connecting point for us."

Boag has also seen first-hand the impact it's had on some of the playing group.

"Tilds definitely loves it, drives it and pulls other girls into it. It's really good she does that as well, because then they get an opportunity to show themselves when they might not be as comfortable to do so by themselves," Boag says.

"When we were younger, Shineah seemed really shy and more serious, but she's one of the most crazy girls. You wouldn't expect it, but she's so funny and such a hoot, and you get to see that. But people outside the four walls wouldn't have seen that if she wasn't doing those things (on social media)."

Whether they do it for fun, or for themselves, they are also conscious of the broader purpose.

"Social media is so important for not just growing your personal brand, but for Port Adelaide and the wider community. A lot of the younger boys and girls, that's what they spend most of their time on. It's really helpful for us athletes, the engagement we get from that," Goody says.

"Women's football is becoming a lot more known around Australia, and it's really good to see the engagement from fans and everyone getting around us."

When it comes to building a competition from the ground up, every click counts.