FIFTY-three thousand people simply can't all be wrong.
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That was the official figure at Sunday's AFLW grand final in Adelaide and now Port Macquarie Magpies women's coach Mel Hunt believes the sky is the limit.
"I think it's just going to keep snowballing," she said when asked what such an impressive crowd figure meant for the sport.
"To get 53,000 to a grand final for women's AFL is just phenomenal and shows the public interest."
Since AFLW kicked off three seasons ago there has been a common belief amongst some that it wouldn't take off.
People would never watch it.
The non-believers point to the "free entry" although the numbers tell a different story.
Comparitively, the Sheffield Shield cricket final in Victoria (which was also free) at the weekend saw less than a couple of thousand people watch over the four days.
Since 2017, grand final attendances at the top level in the AFLW have jumped from 15,000 on the Gold Coast to 53,000 at the Adelaide Oval last Sunday.
"People can say it's free, but if you're not interested in watching the game you're not going to go," Hunt said.
"In years to come it won't be free for people to go and watch women's AFL and they'll pay the same as what they do to watch a men's game so it's smart of the AFL," Hunt said.
"I know that all coaching officials in the AFL are doing a mandatory course this year on sexism in the sport which is trying to challenge some of those stereotypes."
Hunt admitted her team will have up to 10 new faces that take their place in the lineup for round one on April 13.
"You're seeing new teams pop up all over the place; we had a game at Tamworth four weeks ago and it was their first team," she said.
"Women and young girls see women's AFL on tv and it is a very appealing sport for women to play.
"It does have a level of physicality, it's very skilful and you can cross over from other sports easily."
Locally, North Coast AFL will welcome a new team into the women's competition this season.
Coupled with the AFLW grand final attendance and television ratings, slowly but surely those perceptions that accompany women's sport are changing.
"There's been a lot of conversation and it's gotten great media; it's gotten people talking about it."
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