Australia's most in-demand female footballers have won rare licence: the power to hand-pick the AFL club they want to call home and reject even the most compelling of suitors.
Behind-the-scenes bidding wars have amplified since the AFL made what was arguably the most feel-good announcement in its history by naming eight foundation women's teams for a 2017 league launch.
On Thursday, Adelaide, Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Fremantle, Greater Western Sydney, Melbourne and Western Bulldogs must submit – in order of preference – the five players they most want to fill two marquee positions on their lists.
The marquee players will earn $25,000 each but will almost certainly be enticed by much more lucrative incentives like full-time employment, ambassadorial positions and even cars.
The AFL expects it will take at least a fortnight to nut out permutations that will include several interstate relocations and – most interestingly - multiple clubs bidding for the same players.
Daisy Pearce, considered the top established female footballer in the land, told Fairfax Media the day the teams were unveiled she would consider retiring as a player if there was a push to move her from Melbourne.
With her somewhat controversial position so clear it's now highly unlikely any rival club would even nominate Pearce as a preferred marquee player because it would essentially be a waste of one of their five nominations.
Fairfax understands, however, that multiple clubs have inquired about the intentions of Katie Brennan who the Western Bulldogs have long had earmarked as their ultimate marquee 'face'.
At least one rival club is understood to have inquired late in the peace despite the fact the Dogs and Brennan seem as committed to each other as Pearce and Melbourne.
Carlton, in recent times, has employed the clearly marquee-level talented Darcy Vescio to do graphic design work for the club and looks set to nominate her as its first-choice player.
The position of Meg Hutchins, who Collingwood employed full-time in May to run the set up of its womens' team, is interesting given it's arguable whether she the veteran defender will be rated as marquee material.
If Collingwood does not nominate Hutchins as one of its five preferred marquee players in the list it submits to the AFL on Thursday, however, it takes its chances in the next stages of player drafting.
The AFL has given itself the complex task of making sure the top 16 players in its new league are happy with where they land while also constructing the most equalised competition it can orchestrate.
Tensions between clubs became apparent well before the announcement of the eight foundation clubs. This was most pronounced upon the flagrant trumpeting by Brisbane that it had signed their "first women's player" in the prodigious Tayla Harris when in fact there were no player signing rules set by the AFL.
There's no doubt Harris will be one of Brisbane's two marquee players but, for now, she is technically only employed by the club in a communications and community role.
The AFL firmly instructed clubs there was to be no further employment signings of female players until the drafting process is complete.
The AFL says it is monitoring, and will insist clubs eventually declare formally, the inducements they will offer to make themselves more appealing to players. Eyes are firmly on Collingwood in this regard given its wealth.
