Fremantle have convinced in-demand trailblazer coach Michelle Cowan to leave Melbourne in a big blow to the bitterly disappointed Demons who were building a women's team around her.
Forcing an unwanted coaching search at Melbourne, it is the most significant poaching yet in the AFL's new female league but based solely on Cowan's family circumstances.
Cowan has agonised over the decision and Melbourne's hierarchy – though ultimately understanding of the move she personally informed coaches, players and staff of on Friday afternoon – was at pains to retain her.
Cowan lives with her husband and two children in Perth but has been commuting to Melbourne fortnightly to work for the Demons who contracted her to a new position with male and female football responsibilities in February. Cowan has coached women's teams for Melbourne since 2013.
The timeline for Cowan's transition to become head women's coach of the Dockers is unclear.
It is uncharted territory for the two clubs involved.
Cowan is a regular in Paul Roos' coaching box and is set to carry on this Sunday when the Demons host Adelaide at the MCG. She has a development role with Melbourne's younger male players.
Normally she would have led the Demons' Daisy Pearce-captained women's team in a stand-alone, special event fixture against the Western Bulldogs on September 3.
Melbourne would still like her to do that. But issues regarding her potential conflicts in the men's and women's settings will be addressed and settled in the coming days by Demons football manager Josh Mahoney.
The responsibilities Cowan will have within Ross Lyon's coaching team at Fremantle are unclear.
Women's teams are expected to commence training at eight AFL clubs in November but playing lists for the launch season are being assembled now.
Demons chiefs, particularly CEO Peter Jackson and footy boss Mahoney, have done everything in their power to retain Cowan but Melbourne's loss is Fremantle's great gain.
Cowan's magnetic effect on players borders on legendary in women's football circles.
She is said to be the kind of figurehead who could convince a player to join her club simply by being there herself.
This bodes well for Fremantle, particularly in light of the AFL's unabashed desire for the female footballers that will populate its new league being happy with where they land. The AFL is actually giving players a unique power to declare their preferred club.
Fairfax Media is aware of many top women players who are not only inspired by Cowan but have developed a sense of loyalty to her as she has coached Melbourne's female sides over the last four years.
The Dockers, unsurprisingly, came knocking for Cowan in earnest once they beat the West Coast Eagles for a 2017 women's team licence but they had reached out to her some weeks before that.
She has thrived at Melbourne and, thoroughly motivated by the opportunities the club has offered her, has commuted from Perth to work four-day blocks every fortnight.
But as well as being an ambitious coach and successful businesswoman independent of football, Cowan is mother to Milly, 5 and Albie, 7. Her husband, Chris, has a senior job in mining based in Perth that is not transferable.
With Melbourne's strong encouragement the couple explored several options to make Cowan staying with the Demons sustainable.
Reporting directly to Roos and Mahoney, Cowan developed strong relations with senior men's coach-in-waiting, Simon Goodwin, in a mentor-mentee capacity.
In an interview with Fairfax Media earlier this month club CEO Jackson said of Cowan: "We want Michelle full-time. We want her to come over [to Melbourne] full-time … and it's not as if this is all on the back of women's football … Michelle could make a career wherever she would like to make a career in football, really."
Goodwin also spoke highly of Cowan, telling Fairfax: "We've certainly seen that some players feel more comfortable talking to her about certain things. It has added a new dynamic to the group.
"Education, relationships and leadership are her strengths. She builds good relationships and she drives behaviours. She has a positive, can-do approach. She's very positive in her language towards players, which I think is really important."
Cowan and Peta Searle stand alone in cracking the glass ceiling in AFL coaching ranks.
Searle joined St Kilda in 2014 and though she is contracted with the club until the end of 2017 her ongoing position is intriguing in light of the Saints' failed bid for an inaugural women's team licence.
