This time last year, Chloe Molloy had just suffered the fate no athlete ever wants to.
Just one game into the 2024 AFLW season, the Sydney Swans skipper tore her ACL, spelling the end of her season and the start of a near year-long recovery.
On Saturday, she booted seven goals to carry her side to an 82-point victory over the Gold Coast Suns, the Swans also posting fourth-highest score in league history.
Matching the all-time record for goals in a single AFLW game, with her forward line coach Brooke Lochland, Molloy propelled her performance from the week before in leaps and bounds, no easy feat having finished Round 1 with four goals, five marks, and a triumphant message to the league: she's back.
Speaking to the AFLW Weekly podcast ahead of Round 2, Molloy said: "I watched from afar last season and I hate missing out on the growth of the game, so being on the sidelines and not being able to help I just did everything I could to be up for round one selection obviously.
"When you're on the sidelines and you go through an ACL injury it is one of the worst injuries physically and probably mentally.
"I was just so happy to be out there, I just couldn't wait to play football, couldn't wait to show everyone the hard work that I'd done."
Admitting that a silver lining to her injury was that she is "fitter than I've ever been", having kicked 11 goals across two games, Molloy couldn't have been more right.
The star Swan's clinical performance wasn't the only history-making moment in the second round of what is already shaping up to be the most dominant season of the league so far.
North Melbourne's Jasmine Garner produced one of the most complete performances in AFLW history, with the gun midfielder racking up a cool 31 disposals, and a club-record six goals .
The powerhouse Kangaroo is known for a bizarre blip in the AFLW history books; she is clearly one of the strongest players across the country, but somehow the top gong of AFLW Best and Fairest alludes her every year.
One reason may well be that her teammate Ash Riddell steals the umpires' votes, something which may well have happened this week when she also starred, equalling the AFLW disposal record with a whopping 43.
The Kangaroos also notched a record as a team, with their 72-point winning margin the highest in their AFLW history.
The stats don't lie, and we have already seen them soar in just two rounds. Four teams scored over 85 points, Brisbane fell just short of the all-time scoring record.
Melbourne's Tayla Harris slotted four majors in the first half of their domination of St Kilda, while GWS's Tarni Evans booted three in a single quarter in their slim loss to Collingwood.
It's the product of nine seasons of relentless effort from players desperate to show just how good they can be, and the public are finally starting to take notice, or, the game is demanding them to.
And the good news keeps coming, with two prominent Melbourne netballers, Olivia Lewis and Maisie Nankivell both of the Melbourne Mavericks announcing their intention to pursue football at the highest level.
This is a significant win for the league, it shows that Australia's most elite female athletes see AFLW as a strong option for a professional sporting career, and affirms the high regard the league is held in across sporting circles.
It's a huge step in the right direction, going from plucking elite women athletes from other sports to build the league, to now becoming a destination sport for cross coders.
We said it last week and we'll say it again. This season is a game-changer, and the players new and experienced are demanding us to take notice.