AFTER three years coaching Melbourne for all but one of the Women’s AFL Exhibition matches, Michelle Cowan was finally forced to hand over the Hampson-Hardeman Cup to the Western Bulldogs in her final match at the helm for the Demons.

The Demons were in touch until halfway through the third quarter when a four-goal blitz from Bulldogs’ full-forward Moana Hope took the game away from them en route to a 39-point loss.

Western Australian-born Cowan leaves Melbourne as arguably the first great coach of Women’s AFL, having been a pioneer for the development of the female game at the highest level. Cowan was signed as the Fremantle Dockers’ inaugural coach for the 2017 national competition back in July but decided nonetheless to see her time at Melbourne through to the end for the Hampson-Hardeman Cup.

“Full credit to the Bulldogs, they played an outstanding four quarters of footy,” Cowan admitted in the rooms after the match. The loss is the only blemish on Cowan’s score in her time at Melbourne, as she did not hold the reins for the Bulldogs’ victory at Cranbourne in March.

Cowan’s Demons were a more diverse group than the Bulldogs, with eleven of the match’s nineteen non-Victorian players pulling on the red and the blue. For Cowan, this number is nothing more than a testament to the game’s national development.

“To see a number of the girls like Eb Marinoff from South Australia or Ange Foley from the Northern Territory step up and play the way they did… there’s some really special takeaways for us from tonight’s game.”

The 2016 Hampson-Hardeman Cup was the final Women’s AFL Exhibition match before the national competition takes flight in February of next year. Cowan will begin a new phase in her footballing journey but her legacy as a pioneer is assured.

“I’m really proud of the opportunities I’ve been given and the support I’ve been given by people at Melbourne Football Club. I’ll forever hold this time with Melbourne in my heart really fondly.”