Two hours from the start of the AFL women's all-star match, hundreds had already gathered and were watching the under-18s.

A precursor to the launch of the new national women's league, which kicks off in February, it was for many football fans their first look at superstars Daisy Pearce, Steph Chiocci and Darcy Vescio.

It would also be a indication of the extent to which the women's game had captured the public's imagination, for the AFL, women's sport advocates, the players and all who wanted to see it succeed.

Amna Karra-Hassan and sister Liali were two of the more vocal supporters, cheering on friends Haneen Zreika and Angela Priftis.

Karra-Hassan represents two of AFL's target audiences for expanding the game – she is a woman from Western Sydney, the daughter of migrants. But she was an AFL pioneer long before the league announced its national women's competition, co-founding the Auburn Giants, many of them Muslim, six years ago.

The sisters travelled to Melbourne for the night just to cheer on Zreika and Priftis, who were playing on opposite teams in the curtain raiser.

Liali, a midfielder, was in a moon-boot after breaking her fibula playing football.

"She might be little, but she's fierce," her sister said.

Karra-Hassan said she started an AFL team for people from other parts of the city from different cultures and faiths and she knew it was a sport that connected with other Australians.

She had fallen in love with the sport and could not wait to see the national competition on television next year. "We started playing women's AFL at the perfect time, football has taken off," she said.

Karra-Hassan said football clubs were like families.

"Haneen, who is out on that field, is praying that she's a 2017 draft pick," she said. "As long as that's her dream we'll keep helping her work towards that dream as a football club and friends," she said.

Phil Russell from Tarneit was wearing a Western Bulldogs scarf, although he admitted he was usually a Carlton supporter.

He sat in the stands with housemate Michael Williams, a Melbourne supporter. Russell said he started taking an interest in the women's game because his niece, who lives in Wodonga, was a talented footballer. He said he liked the free-flowing style of the game and the way the women attacked the football and was pleased when the Blues were awarded a licence.

"They really put their heart and soul into what they do, it's really exciting to see how it's taken off and we thought we'd come down here and support them," he said.

Girls from Auskick ran on the ground before their heroes, as pop music blared across the ground.

The crowd had turned from hundreds to thousands, many in Western Bulldogs colours, some in Melbourne's red and blue, queuing for donuts and drinks. The dark clouds had cleared and it became a still September night.

Television journalists and former men's players in suits stood still for the make-up artists, ready to deliver their pieces to camera.

Two teenager girls yelled "Go Doggies" as the banners were raised.

"The kennel is haunted,

"We're undaunted

"22 players

"All demon slayers," it read.

City lights blinked in the distance and as the club song played the players ran onto the ground and the crowd cheered.

It certainly felt like the start of something.