Hayley Bullas, WA Football Manager Female Programs and Experience (24.06.2026)

**Mark Duffield** (0:00)
Welcome back to the SENWA Studio out here at Optus Stadium. On this Wednesday morning in Perth, it's nearly 15 degrees outside, building to a top of 21 degrees. Hayley Bullas is one of WA Women's Footies' favorite daughters. She's recently made a return to playing with the Claremont WAFLW team after an incredible period of time out of the game. And she joins us on the show now. Hayley, welcome.

**Hayley Bullas** (0:27)
Good morning Mark, how are you?

**Mark Duffield** (0:29)
I'm very well, thank you. So it was 1171 days since you'd played for Claremont.
And it was about 600 days since you'd played a game of footy at all. How did you pull up after your first game?

**Hayley Bullas** (0:45)
Yeah, pretty sore, that's for sure. So it hasn't gotten easier in week two either. So it's been, I kind of knew that was gonna be the case, but I'm keen for week three. So I'm still out there.

**Mark Duffield** (0:58)
So why the long break? Was it injury-enforced or did you retire and then decide to make a comeback?

**Hayley Bullas** (1:06)
Yeah, retired, decided to make a comeback. It sounds weird saying retired at 30 years old, but yeah, I had just decided footy was a lot and I wasn't enjoying it as much as I previously had. So I was keen to just have a full break of footy and getting back into working with WA Footy Commission and being around footy all the time, it kind of sparked that enjoyment and love for it again. I went down and watch an old school girls game actually and saw how much fun they were having and was like, you can have fun playing footy and I'm keen to have that again. So I thought I'd go back down to Claremont, have a run around with the girls.

**Mark Duffield** (1:48)
Yeah, that's fantastic and you mentioned your role with WA Footy. So you are the manager of female programs and experience. Tell us about that role.

**Hayley Bullas** (1:58)
I am, yeah. I've got a great team around me. Yeah, Women and Girls Footy Manager and we have just some incredible coaching, participation, umpiring programs to increase the growth and retention of women and girls in WA in football.

**Mark Duffield** (2:16)
And you've got a big day coming up this Sunday as well down at Des Penman Reserve in Nalumara, which is the Auskick All Girls Gala Day. It's the second time that this has been held and WA was the first state ever to do it last year. Tell us about that day.

**Hayley Bullas** (2:32)
Yeah, really exciting to have, I guess, an All Girls Gala Day to create an environment where girls can try football and build their confidence and develop skills alongside other girls. Research has shown that girls who have experience with being in all girls teams tend to be more likely to participate and stay involved in football and be lifelong footballers. So I guess that's the environment we're trying to create for these girls to have more opportunities to play footy in all girls teams, which is awesome. So we're expecting over 500 girls come down. We have over 50 clubs involved in this event and we're just hoping to make it bigger and better every year. So we've got DJs, we've got food trucks, we've got a lot of football activations, but also bracelet making as well.
So it's going to be a ripper day. Looking forward to it.

**Mark Duffield** (3:31)
Yep. Daisy Pierce, of course, AFLW legend will be there. And as you mentioned, food trucks, the DJ, coach education sessions and super kick activities as well.
Hayley, you're in a reasonably unique position to assess the progress on Women's Footy. You played in the VFLW at Essendon, you spent time at Sydney in the AFLW, and obviously, you spent time at West Coast and with Claremont in the WAFLW. How are we tracking in Western Australia in terms of our talent development pathways for girls and our progress with the women's game evolving here, because it is evolving so rapidly all around Australia?

**Hayley Bullas** (4:17)
We're really lucky in WA to have, I guess, the expertise and the buy-in from the AFL and WA Football as well.
Seeing, yeah, the importance of growing women and girls' football and ensuring that there's not just equal but equitable opportunities for girls and women in the state to not just play, but coaching, leading, umpiring as well, that's all equally important. So we need all of these roles filled and we always need more women in football. Um, it not just grows the game but it also ensures, uh, better community and decision-making opportunities, um, all around for clubs as well. So, um, super lucky to have the buy-in across the state for this, but there's still a fair way to go. We have the same amount of, um, girls dropping out and women dropping out every year as there is coming in. So, um, just trying to ensure that the programs that we're opening in place is, uh, creating better experiences for these women and girls to ensure they stay in the game for longer.