Three weeks after giving birth to her beautiful daughter Ella, Kate Darby knew she wanted to return to football. 

She wasn’t deterred by the fact she couldn’t complete two body weight push ups. Nor the fact that she had gained nearly 35 kilograms during pregnancy.

She had unfinished business and she wanted to get back playing the sport she loved. 

“I wasn’t ready to let go because I just felt like I wasn’t finished. I was just starting to get consistent games and starting to feel a lot more comfortable and then all of a sudden it got pulled out from underneath me when Covid hit. I knew if I had the opportunity again there was more I could give to the sport.

So the 31-year-old started writing down reasons why the club should give her another chance.

“I’d be lying in bed and it would be bugging me so much. Throughout the night I’d be waking up with different reasons why they should give me a spot and I’d write it down in my phone.

“My baby was sleeping really well and I wasn’t because I was frustrated about how things ended. I wasn’t satisfied with not being able to play again.”

When she met club list manager Ben Waller and head of women’s football Brett Johnson at a cafe two months later, Darby arrived with a physical copy of her list. 

Not only was her list compelling, but the club wanted to support its players' looking to start families. 

So the club, the AFL and the AFL Players Association worked together to create a new type of contract to support players returning from pregnancy.

“The club knew that it was important, and they trusted the fact that they knew I was going to work hard enough to make sure I was backing up everything that I was saying

“They then spoke to the AFL because there wasn’t really an improved pathway coming back from pregnancy. You get maternity leave if you’re pregnant from when you’re initially on the list but there wasn’t really a way to support people coming back.”

“So they created a different sort of contract that allows you to be a signed train-on player, but also allows you to have access to all the same things as the full squad. So that was amazing.”

Darby had ticked off one obstacle, she was now back training with the AFLW squad four times a week. However, she found out very quickly that this was only the beginning.

“When I stopped playing I was an elite athlete and I feel like my last season I was probably the fittest and strongest I’ve ever been. When I was pregnant I put on 35 kilograms or something like that, and you lose so much strength, and obviously fitness as well. I came back to our first gym session this year and I couldn’t do two push ups. Two bodyweight push ups! I just could not do them.”

It wasn’t only her fitness that was a challenge, it was knowing that she had to leave a four month old baby at home with her partner and the logistics that came with that.

“When she (Ella) was younger I used to be a lot more stressed or anxious leaving her because when they’re quite little a lot of the time they just need Mum. So I felt bad leaving her knowing that if she got really upset Daniel (Darby’s husband) would have to deal with a screaming baby.”

“I’d have to set out a little schedule for him. I’d write everything down, what time to feed and what time to do bed and bath and all the rest of it. I had to be super organised, otherwise it could become a bit chaotic.

Fast forward another four months and Darby has regained her biggest footballing assets; her strength and her speed. She’s doing more than keeping up at training, she is feeling the best she ever has.

“I felt like I was training well. In my head I was just making sure that I was training for VFL and putting myself in the mix for next year (AFLW) cause I didn’t want to expect anything this year and then be disappointed.”

Then came the news of Renee Garing’s pregnancy. This was exciting for two reasons; one because Renee was a long-time friend of Darby’s and she was thrilled for her and her husband Tony, and two because it meant that there was now an opportunity for Darby to join the primary list.

“When I found out about Renee, I thought that I was in for a pretty good shot, but I was scared to let myself believe that I might, because again I didn’t want to be disappointed so I just thought, ‘whatever it is, it is’.”

Darby was the obvious replacement. Not only had she been training with the team since September, she was training the house down. She couldn’t hide the emotion when she found out the news.

“I just burst into tears and it just felt like a massive relief. I know that there’s more to try and achieve, but it was just that first big stepping stone.”

The final step for Darby was playing an AFLW game in season six, something she didn’t have to wait long to achieve. Darby was named to play in Round 1, and four games in, Darby is in career-best form.

“Obviously getting on the list was a huge tick, but I didn’t want it to be like, ‘Sweet, I got back on the list now, that was my goal, now I can kind of sit back.’

“To one day tell her (Ella) that after she was born I went back and played footy again, that would be so special, to be able to do it with her in my life.”

If Darby’s current form continues, you get the feeling Ella will be watching her super-mum from the sidelines for a while to come.