IF you were to ask football fans to name key pioneers of the women’s game, it’d be hard for many to go past the Demon duo that is Daisy Pearce and Paxy Paxman.

The two both arrived at the Melbourne Football Club as marquee and priority signings prior to the inaugural AFLW season in 2017, but their impact on women’s football reaches far beyond the past eight years.

The two came to the Dees after many seasons spent building the VWFL/VFLW program at the Darebin Falcons, including multiple premierships alongside one another.

They both starred in the Women’s Exhibition Series, Pearce playing for Melbourne and Paxman playing for the Bulldogs, and began to mark their names in the wider football world from as early as 2013.

With all this influence on both the Dees and footy landscape as a whole, it’s no surprise that Pearce and Paxman were awarded with Melbourne Life Membership on Saturday night during the club’s 2024 best and fairest count.

Joining each other up on stage during the event, the pair shared a similar feeling of humility and pride in the special honour.

“It is hard to put into words,” Paxman said.

“There's part of me that feels a little bit of imposter syndrome sitting up here with the likes of Daisy.

“Thinking about what it means, it's an absolute honour, I’m grateful for the time I've had and looking forward to what's to come.”

Pearce echoed the same sentiment and said she felt privileged to have been a part of growing the competition into what it is today.   

“To have grown up in the generation that we did, kicking the footy around in the backyard, never thinking that we’d have the opportunity to play at this level – to now being recognised as life members at a club with such a rich history, it’s surreal,” Pearce said.

“I’m proud of how far we’ve come.”

While Pearce retired from playing in 2023, now the AFLW senior coach at West Coast, she looked back fondly on some of her Melbourne inspirations along the way – most importantly Melbourne senior coach Mick Stinear.

“I've done one season of coaching and the amount of times I've thought to myself, how has he done this for nine years with the energy, creativity and passion that he continues to turn up with?”

“It's just unreal to have been led by Mick and to have been able to turn up every day of my playing career and feel supported by someone, but also challenged and pushed to improve every day.

“I'm so grateful for it, so thanks, Mick.”

Unlike Pearce, Paxman is a still a key cog in the Melbourne line-up, a key leader of the team during the 2024 season.

Following being awarded life membership, she took the opportunity to thank the many individuals who have helped shape her into the player and person she is today.  

“Thinking about my inspirations, I'm quite spoiled for choice,” Paxman said.

“I visited Shelley Scott [former Demon] last weekend down at her family’s dairy farm…she's the most consistent, hard worker, who would never complain - someone like that is a massive inspiration.

“I think about Sloaney [Shae Sloane] getting injured early in her career and unfortunately not being able to play on, to now developing into an amazing coach. Never once did I see her head drop, so that’s inspiring.

“Lizey Mac [Eliza McNamara] did such a significant back injury a couple of seasons ago, and the season she's had this year, it just goes to show the absolute grit and determination she’s got, that’s very inspiring.

“And Dais [Pearce] I can't obviously go past, we played a lot of footy together and anyone would agree that you’re just a very special person.

“You bring so much fun and joy to the game and you’re such an amazing leader, you bring everyone else along on the ride with you.”

Paxman celebrated her 75-game milestone this year and had time to reflect on highlights of her career so far, with the 36-year-old celebrating the people within the football club rather than specific moments.

“You think about how much work goes into a footy club, each year, and just what it takes to execute things across so many departments and so many people working across multiple programs,” Paxman said.

“People’s love, commitment and passion for it, I feel so lucky to have wound up at Melbourne in 2017.

“It’s all the experiences along the way, the people you meet across that time, not just us as players, but also our families and supporters that come along and it brings so much joy and happiness to everyone.”

Pearce was in agreement with Paxman and said she was mostly grateful for the opportunities provided by the Melbourne Football Club.

“I think overall I just feel really grateful,” Pearce said.

"To have had the opportunity to get to play footy here, I just feel grateful, especially now that I've ventured out into other programs, it really makes you appreciate what we had here at Melbourne.

“Nothing I achieved would have been possible without the people around me and I say that so genuinely.

“The thing I found so inspiring about playing footy and what inspired me to keep wanting to push harder, was knowing that you had people around you that were all in and giving absolutely everything they had.”