Women’s football was very different 10 years ago when Mia-Rae Clifford started playing for the St Kilda Sharks.

When the VFLW Bombers’ star forward first picked up a footy, there was no pathway for females to become professional footballers; they just played for fun and their love of the game.

But a decade and 18 AFLW games later, Clifford is excited for the future of women’s football with the next generation of players having clear pathways to become elite footballers.

When reflecting on how far women’s football has come, Clifford said her journey compared to her younger teammates highlighted how different it was for current developing juniors.

“I guess back in the day it was a lot more bash and crash and to see it evolve and to watch the younger kids come through, now they can kick left and right, their footy IQ is through the roof, where we kind of just had to learn as we go,” Clifford said.

“When I started, I didn’t have the pathway coming through and women weren’t allowed to play so I think it’s really cool that these young girls have an option to start learning at a really young age. We have young kids like ‘Millzy’ (Emilia Yassir) and ‘Barbs’ (Alana Barba) that are coming through and their skills are just so clean.”

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Clifford, who played AFLW for Melbourne, Geelong and Fremantle, uses her experiences to help others at the beginning of their football journeys.

“I’ve learned through playing at different clubs and at high levels that you can get very lost and down on yourself quite easily and I want to make sure these young kids go in and are prepared for the mental side of things,” she said.

“I think if they can stay composed and trust themselves more than anything, I think they’ll go a very long way.”

Clifford knows how a positive mindset can impact on-field performances, which is why she wants to support her teammates and help them feel at ease on the footy field.

“Football can be a real mental game and I think that gets overlooked a lot, so it’s more about just telling these young minds to relax and trust themselves and don’t get too lost in structures and all this crazy lingo,” she said.

“At the end of the day, you’re out there and no one else, so you can only control what’s in front of you.”

Despite being new to the club at the start of the season, Clifford’s teammates quickly appreciated her wealth of knowledge and guidance, with the 34-year-old voted into the  leadership group.

“I guess I’m never one to want to put myself out there as a leader because I’m pretty vocal anyway, but I wanted to help create something amazing here,” Clifford said.

“I don’t know how many more years I have left to play, so I want to help these young kids evolve to be great leaders.”

Over the years Clifford has been involved in football, she knows what makes a great leader and can see important qualities in her younger teammates, with Alana Barba and Eloise Ashley-Cooper standing out to her.

“’Barbs’, she’s one who is up and coming. She will captain a team one day, so I want to help her in anyway,” Clifford said.

“We also have ‘Coops’ (Eloise Ashley-Cooper). We forget ‘Coops’ is quite young as well, but she has such a level head on her.”

Even though Clifford focuses on helping her teammates develop, she knows there is still room for improvement and won’t let her age stop her from progressing her game.

“I’ve had to change my role slightly so it’s been pretty cool to add another string to my bow, but I’ve learnt a lot and like I said, it is a pretty young side, beside me and ‘C-Bomb’ (Cecilia McIntosh), we are of the ages,” she said.

“But at the same time, I think we’re still keeping up with the young ones. It’s been really cool to be a part of and paving the way and creating a really amazing culture here at Essendon, so it’s really exciting times.”

One coach who has impacted Clifford’s performance is forwards coach Gavin Urquhart, with the former North Melbourne player’s guidance helping Clifford score 15 goals to sit third on the VFLW goalkicking tally ahead of the final round of the home and away season.

“I think we have a really good group (of coaches) and everyone contributes something different. Major (head coach Brendan Major) has always backed me in, but ‘Gav’ (Gavin Urquhart) has spent a lot of time with me after training with my set shots and goalkicking, and that’s real mental as well,” she said.

“So ‘Gav’ has put a lot of confidence in me and helped me with my routine to back myself. Then all the other coaches have a lot of faith in us. They’re all a really great group, and it doesn’t matter what line you’re in; they believe in us all, all the time.”

As Clifford and the VFLW Bombers prepare for a maiden finals series, Clifford can’t help but get excited for what’s to come.

“I think our best moment is still to come, I’ll put that out there. I think my favourite moment of the year is soon to come,” she said.

The fifth-placed Essendon VFLW will face Darebin from 12pm at Bill Lawry Oval on Saturday, with the Bombers all but certain to play finals next week.