There's a wonderful story behind Jobe Watson's cap. Yep, we've fallen in love with the AFL star.

As an AFL fanatic, I’ve long admired footy players.

I’ve cheered on the Richmond Tigers with my mum, sisters and brother since I was a little kid, in awe of the athleticism and talent before us.

But while the skill and finesse in real time was undeniable, well-reported off-field antics put a limit on how much I idolised the athletes I so enjoyed spectating. As a young girl, there was too much background noise to truly see them as my heroes.

Now, that’s all changing.

Today, we hear so much support and positivity from male players about the hotly anticipated women's league. Some of them, like Jordan Roughead, have even taken up roles as assistant coaches.

Roughead's club, the Western Bulldogs, have led the charge towards "tolerance, reconciliation, recognition and harmony". They have championed the women's league, thrown their weight behind White Ribbon Night and domestic violence awareness. Their motto is "Be loud, be fair", and the Doggies plead for fans to "make the pledge" towards accepting these values on their homepage.

For others, like Essendon Bomber's captain Jobe Watson, leading the way towards a better, more inclusive sport has been as simple as throwing on a baseball cap.

This cap.

You see, this was one of the most momentous press conferences in Jobe's long tenure, where he officially announced his return to the sport he's been sidelined from for 12 months after the Essendon doping scandal.

At first, his black and green cap didn't seem overly noteworthy.

Until he lifted his chin up.

The word "FEMINIST" was emblazoned on the underside of the peak in big, white letters, and I speak for every woman watching when I say we felt warmer - more welcome - inside when we read it.

And for Jobe, that hat wasn't just a bloody hat and 'feminism' isn't just a bloody word.

During the year where Jobe was off the team, unlike his fellow team members, he went and got a job.

He flew to New York and worked in a small coffee shop. But it was woman called Jackie Funder who would change him most.

Jackie was his flat mate and during his stay she quickly educated him about a woman's experience in the workplace and in the world, more broadly.

"She educated me on what it was like to be a female in the workplace and on gender equality," he told the Herald Sun.

"She was educating me on gender equality and she bought that hat for me and I told her I would wear it if I was ever going to do a media conference here."

As a little girl, I never felt like I could call footy players my heroes, because they didn't represent what I was.

And now, as a 22-year-old, that's all changed.