MEG Downie might be making her name as one of AFLW’s top defenders, but it was on a dairy farm where she grew up and discovered her love of the game.

That was in a town called Shady Creek, near Warragul, as she explained.

“I spent a lot of time on the farm, playing with my brothers and the tractors, running around the grass and the hay bales. We helped Dad milk the cows, so it was a unique childhood,” she told melbournefc.com.au.  

“I went to Shady Creek Primary School and there were about 30 kids at the school, when I was there.

“I like telling the story that when I was younger, one of my best friends lived around the corner and we actually used to ride our horses to school together. We used to tie them up across the road from the school. So, it was a special and unique childhood, compared to a lot of my friends in the team that grew up in Melbourne. I moved to Melbourne when I was 18 or 19 years old.”

Meg Downie with her Dad, Elliot, on his farm in Gippsland

Downie started playing football for Buln Buln, another town close to Warragul, where her brothers played.

“It wasn’t long before I was tugging on Mum’s shirt and asking to do the same. I started playing for Buln Buln when I was eight years old in the boys’ competition – it was under 13s at the time,” she said.

“I played about four years in an all-boys league and I was the only girl in the league. I got named ‘The Girl’ by a lot of players in the league. So, that was a pretty special time and that’s where I developed my passion for football. I got to play with my brothers and my Dad played at the club as well.”

When she around 12 or 13 years old, she stopped playing football and switched to basketball. But if she had the choice, she would’ve kept up footy.

“I really loved that as well, but footy was always the thing for me,” Downie said.

From there, she played basketball for Dandenong Rangers and then football for the Eastern Devils.

Downie then had a few years off football, due to work commitments, before pulling the boots on again for St Kilda Sharks.

Although she developed hamstring tendinopathy, while playing for the Sharks, she overcame the injury and then tried out for Melbourne after speaking to former women’s football operations manager Debbie Lee.

She had met Lee a few years earlier, when she played for Victoria.

“Debbo was at the try outs and it was her voice that got me to the Dees in the end,” Downie said.

From there, she was then selected by Melbourne as a free agent. 

“When I started at Melbourne, because I’d had this hamstring tendinopathy, I hadn’t played a game for four or five years, which was quite some time,” Downie said.

“We had a practice match against Carlton and that was my first game in four or five years. That was one of the most special games of my career, even though it was a practice match. I had so much pride running out in my jumper for the very first time.

“Buln Buln had the Melbourne jumper as well, so it was pretty special to pull on the same colours that I’d started my journey with in football. They had the same theme song as well, so that was really special.”

After playing in Melbourne’s first AFLW match, Downie then suffered two injuries the following week against Collingwood at Ikon Park, which forced her to miss the rest of the season.

“I went to tap the ball to one of my teammates, Cat Phillips, and landed on my feet and I felt my hamstring ping. And then a player came through and collected me in the face, so it was all a bit of a blur,” she said.

“Basically in that moment, in the space of one or two seconds, I’d ruptured my hamstring and was knocked out at the same time. I’m pretty sure I’d broken some sort of Guinness Book of World Records there for the worst luck in AFLW,” she added with a laugh.

“It’s a very long journey coming back from that moment and it was such a build-up for me to pull on a jumper and play footy again, because I’d had so much trouble with injury. For it to all come crashing down again, in the space of a couple of seconds, it was a pretty devastating experience for me.”

Downie said it was a testing period after suffering her setback.  

“After I spent a couple of days with the people that were closest to me – and I’d come to terms that my season was over, and my role in the team was different to what I’d originally anticipated – I accepted it and picked my head up and started focusing on how I could have a really positive impact,” he said.

“I then started my journey with recovery and rehabilitation. Honestly, I don’t think I had a day that went past where I didn’t feel supported by the club. I had some pretty amazing support around me to get me to where I am now.”

Downie made her long-awaited return in round one this year against GWS Giants at Casey Fields and was one of Melbourne’s best in its win.  

She said it was a moment she’ll never forget, given her extended period on the sidelines. 

“Mick [Stinear] said something in my mind that stuck in my head: ‘you play footy because you love it and you’re passionate about it’. I held onto those words and I focused on doing what I love, which is play footy. I just wanted to go out there and have some fun – and that’s exactly what I did. I had sore cheeks from smiling so much, by the end of the game,” Downie said. 

Away from the game, Downie works for ANZ and loves heading to the surf.  

“My older brother Jake, he’s an ocean baby, so we spend a lot of time at the beach together. My boyfriend, Paul, I’m teaching him how to surf as well,” she said.

“Outside of footy – that’s my getaway – to get some time and space, and clear my mind. I like to go surfing with my brother and my best friend, who has just moved to Brisbane now, which is a shame. I head down to Ocean Grove – my Mum just bought a place down there, so that’s a pretty common place where I go, outside footy. I take my board out and go for a surf.

“Also, coming down to my dad’s farm [in Gippsland], I spend a bit of time here at Christmas – it gives you an opportunity to get away from the noise and pressure, and the pressure you put on yourself as well. You can focus on other things away from footy.”

Downie’s father, Elliot, who arrived from Scotland aged 11, said he couldn’t be more proud of Meg.

“She has put her heart and soul into football – that’s one thing for sure. She was a trailblazer, being the only girl in the league, in the juniors,” he said.

“There were a lot of people in the background saying ‘girls shouldn’t play football’, but she pushed through and won a best and fairest for her club … so I’m immensely proud. I’m very proud.

“When you see your daughter out there achieving – it’s great. Whatever she does – she puts her heart and soul into it.”

Elliot said mothers and young women had been inspired by Meg. But he said “it was a terrible fear” when he saw Meg suffer her injury against Collingwood.

“Because it’s part of yourself that’s out there, you think ‘please get up Meg, please get up’,” he said.

“It was a terrible fright.”

Yet Elliott had no doubt Meg would come back because she had “a burning desire”.

“She’s a terrific person and she has a great passion for whatever she does – if she puts her heart and soul into it,” he said.

Meg’s Mum, Rose, said her daughter had been “a delight from the minute we’ve had her”. And although Rose is a one-eyed Collingwood supporter, she “definitely” supports the Melbourne women’s team and is “starting to lean towards the men’s team”.

“She’s been a blessing – she was the easiest baby ever and she grew into a really simple, easy teenager and she’s been nothing but a healthy, well-chosen, driven person. So, there has been no challenges with Meg,” she said.

“She just wanted to be the best player she could be – it was never about anything else, apart from being a true athlete and she’s just got bigger and better.

“Nothing’s changed [with Meg]. She’s still a passionate leader. She’s never become anything else but honest in her achievements. She just wants to make sure that everyone has the same opportunities that she’s had ... in her life.”

Rose added that Meg had worked tirelessly to come back from injury last year.

“For her to get picked in the first game this year was an amazing result. For her to play the game that she played was just unbelievable. It was just amazing and she displayed all of that leadership on the ground – she talked to her mates on the ground and it was just a beautiful all-round day,” she said.

Meg Downie with her mum, Rose

Overall, Downie said she was honoured to play for Melbourne, adding that it was a role she didn’t take lightly.

“There is a huge sense of gratitude that I have to be in this position. It hasn’t been an easy path to get where I am. I feel extremely blessed,” she said.

“I’ll keep playing for as long as Melbourne wants me to play – as long as I’m allowed to play and as long as my body holds out. It’s the best experience of my life – being part of this club. I don’t under any circumstances want it to end. I’ll hold on as long as I can.

“How do I want to be remembered? For me, every player at the club has a trademark and how they want to be perceived by our teammates. So, I love for the people around me to remember my time at Melbourne as a person who is really passionate about the club and footy, and someone who really supported her teammates. And someone who had a relentless attack on the ball and a competitive nature.”

And there is no doubt about all of that.