Ally Anderson has a few notches on her belt. She’s a Brisbane Lions foundation player, a league Best and Fairest, and one of the most respected names in the AFLW. But before all of that became possible, she was doing what younger sisters often do best – trying to keep up with her big sister and number 1 fan, Mikayla.
With only three years between them, the pattern of Ally following Mikayla started early – way before football meant anything to either of them. They grew up in North Brisbane in a house that was always full – six kids, a nephew who felt like another sibling, a Nana living downstairs, and a steady rotation of over 45 cousins coming and going. “It was always a really busy household,” Ally says, while Mikayla adds, “Mum loves a bit of chaos.”
In that environment, there wasn’t much room to stand still. You either found your lane, or you followed someone into theirs. Ally followed, and that instinct showed up everywhere. Tennis, swimming, touch football, soccer – whatever Mikayla was doing, Ally wasn’t far behind. “We did a lot of different sports,” Mikayla says. “Ally followed me and even did a bit of circus.”
One-upping the siblings
Ally’s instinct to follow was paired with a competitiveness that was hard to ignore. “We would all say that she was a bit of a hard head,” Mikayla jokes. “She was determined and she wouldn’t give up.” Ally agrees with the nickname: “That’s a nice way to put it.”
The competitiveness showed up in small, almost trivial ways. As a child, Ally was always wanting more and always finding a way to outdo her siblings – even down to something as simple as holding onto takeaway food to prove she had the most. “There was always that one-upping [behaviour]... It would really burn me off,” Mikayla laughs.
While it might sound insignificant, it became the same thread that ran through everything that was to come later. The same mindset that turned up at training, in games and in the years when there wasn’t much reward for sticking it out.
Not making it out of the car
Ally's first attempt at playing football didn’t exactly stick. She was 12 when her Mum took her down to Kedron to try out. She remembers sitting in the parked car for half an hour working up the courage to walk onto a field full of boys. “Mum was like, ‘Come on, you wanted to play?’... and I was like ‘No.’ We turned around and went home.”
They didn’t think about football for another year. But when Ally reached high school, her introduction to football came from the same place everything else did – proximity. She started playing for the school team – just like her big sister. “I was on the junior team and Mikayla was on the senior team,” she remembers. “I pretty much just copied her up until we finished school.”
Finding club football
It was when Ally entered her final year of high school that one of her teachers landed a coaching gig for Zillmere Eagles Football Club. “He was encouraging us to come along... he pretty much got our whole team to play at Zillmere,” Ally says.
He had also reached out to Mikayla and some other girls who had recently graduated. They all went to training together, and for the first time the game felt different to what Ally had come to expect. “I remember that first day… they were so serious,” she says. “I was like, ‘This is way too serious for me.’”
She left the footy field thinking she was done. But the next week came around, and when she realised Mikayla was going back, the decision was made. “I was like, ‘Oh, fine. I’ll come.’” And she didn’t look back – purely because she didn’t want to be left behind.
That decision, small as it felt at the time, is where everything started to shift for Ally. “I went down… and then just stayed,” she says.
On field with half a team
Back then, the version of women’s football Ally and Mikalya were playing barely resembled today’s game. Some weekends meant playing two games. Others meant turning up with barely enough players to form a side. “There’d be six of us girls… and then we might have half a team,” Ally says. “So [the other teams] would give us some players.”
They weren’t winning much either. “We didn’t win a lot of games… they were brutal,” Mikayla says. But that wasn’t the point. The reason Ally was there hadn’t changed. “My journey started because I just wanted to be like [Mikayla],” she says.
Even in those early days of club footy at Zillmere, Mikayla could see something building. “When she came to the club, Ally was the best player on the field… she just had a motor. She kept running,” she says.
At the time, it didn’t feel like it was leading anywhere. There was no women’s league waiting; no professional pathway to imagine. “I didn’t think there was more to AFL for women,” Mikayla says. “It was pretty limited.”
Playing the long game
Ally doesn’t describe herself as a natural standout. “I was good at a lot of different sports… but I wasn’t ever great at anything,” she admits.
In her opinion, there were always players better than her or more naturally talented. What she had was something less visible, but more durable – she was playing the long game. “I just kept playing longer than [everyone else]… and kept training to get better,” Ally says.
That’s part of what later carried her through to the AFLW – her consistency in showing up and improving over time.
When following turned into leading
Somewhere along the way, the dynamic between the two sisters reversed. For years, Mikayla had been the one leading – that was just how their relationship worked. But as Ally’s game developed, that started to change.
It became clear when they were both invited to coach at the AFL Indigenous KickStart Championships in Brisbane. “We had the opportunity to coach together,” Mikayla says. “There were young Indigenous girls from all over Queensland, and we played in the carnival.”
“It’s such a special program to be a part of,” Ally says. “I still have girls who I coached 10 years ago coming up to give me a hug.” That was just the impact they had at the time – even before the AFLW had started.
For both sisters, the experience meant something more than football – because of where they come from. Their Dad is from Theodore, a small town west of Rockhampton, and growing up in a proud Indigenous family helped shaped them.
Being part of the program, surrounded by young Indigenous girls from across Queensland was about connection, representation and giving back to that community.
Mikayla also remembers it as a defining moment when the sisterhood flipped. “I definitely was looking up to [Ally],” she says. “She was leading the way... It was really cool to see.”
The pinch-me moment
When AFLW was announced in 2016, and Ally was drafted for the Brisbane Lions, it didn’t feel like the beginning of a career. If anything, it felt temporary. “Oh, that’s cool. It might be a one-year thing,” Ally remembers thinking.
That first season carried a similar feeling of impermanence. After the final game of the inaugural season, Ally took photos of everything – her locker, her name, the Gabba – because she thought it might not last. “I remember thinking ‘Oh, this is all going to be finished now.”
But it kept going. The thing that wasn’t supposed to exist became something lasting. “And then two years turned into 10 seasons,” Ally says. “It still feels like a pinch-me moment... that I get to play football professionally.”
The win that meant everything
Of all of Ally’s footy milestones that followed, one stands above the rest for Mikayla – the 2021 AFLW premiership game at Adelaide Oval: Brisbane Lions versus Adelaide Crows.
“My proudest moment of Ally’s career… would be her [team] winning the first grand final back in 2021,” she says. “I had so much pride when I saw her lifting that cup.” Because the win didn’t come easily. There had been losses and near misses before that. “Ally hadn’t won a grand final – even when we played club [footy],” Mikayla recalls.
For Ally, the grand final passed almost too quickly to take in. “That day was a complete blur,” she says. “I just remember thinking... I think we’re going to win.” But she was cramping and in pain. Then the siren went. “I remember falling to the ground... sobbing.” The next thing she remembered was all the girls coming together, putting their heads against each other and realising they did it – they had won.
From the stands, Mikayla watched it all unfold. “The pinnacle of football is winning a grand final... it was very cool.” In retrospect, Ally sees the win with clearer wisdom than the game-day blur. “I think it’s one of those things that I’ll look back on and think ‘Wow, we did that.’”
Why Mikayla is Ally’s number 1 fan
If one thing’s true, it’s that being a number 1 fan isn’t about one moment – it's about all of them. “I’ve been there for the highs and the lows... from the beginning.” Mikayla says. The early games when Ally was the fastest on the field, the losses no one remembers, and of course – the big milestones everyone does.
Even now, as Mikayla juggles a teaching career and raising a family of her own – amongst other things – she still finds ways to support Ally. That might mean watching from the couch, calling on game day, and settling her nerves in small ways – like avoiding conversations during the game. “I get really angsty on the couch... my eyes are glued to the TV,” she says.
Ask Ally why Mikayla is her number 1 fan, and she circles back to where it all started. “She’s the reason I am where I am,” she says. “Following in her footsteps and wanting to be like her.”
But somewhere along the way, the roles blurred. The younger sister who followed became the one carving out her own path, and the older sister who led became the one watching from the sidelines. Through all of it, the core hasn’t changed. “I’m just so proud of [her],” Mikayla says. Exactly how she’s always been.
