That’s one-moment actress Lauren Richardson will remember forever.

FIERCE is a play which tracks the career of Suzie Flack (played by Lauren Richardson), an extraordinarily talented Australian Rules Football player, who achieves her lifelong dream of being drafted to play alongside her male counterparts in the AFL.

This raw but imaginative play explores the impact of this success on Flack and on her family, her relationships, her team and the sport as a whole.

The protagonist of FIERCE, Richardson has faced many trials and tribulations as a woman who is trying to hold her own in a harsh society. In this ground-breaking play, she’s finally found a place where she receives the respect she has been longing for and can use her voice to advocate for women’s rights.

Richardson has now been able to use her voice and her ability to corroborate that the stereotypical gender role of women can be diversified and liberated into something no one wold expect.

“I think as women, sometimes our potential is limited by what society might think we are capable of,” she said.

“The knee-jerk reaction when they hear ‘there’s this woman that plays AFL against the men’ is ‘that would never happen’. That’s not the point. The point is ‘what if’."

Playing the main role, Richardson has come into her own, bringing the determined and headstrong Suzie to life in a powerful and emotional fashion.

“My character demands. She takes up space, she stands her ground without apology,” Richardson said.

“I’ve just had to back myself in the role.”

Despite the many hesitations of women competing is a predominantly ‘male sport’, the men in the FIERCE cast have been welcoming and open to adapt to the radical ideas of this pioneering play.

“It was a big thing in casting to make sure we got actors who were on board with the story and were respectful.”

“And kicking a footy is a regular thing to do before rehearsal."

To further assist in understanding the challenges and commitment required to pull on the boots each week in the ever-improving AFLW competition, the cast of FIERCE had the opportunity to visit GWS Women’s side headquarters.

“It was mind-blowing. The sheer athleticism of professional athletes- it’s something else,” she said.

“To see what it is actually like and to see the world [of AFLW] was so invaluable.”

This experience further assisted Richardson’s understanding of the game of AFL, a sport that she was unfamiliar until recently.

“I didn’t know too much about AFL. I literally have Aussie Rules for Dummies next to my bed!”

But Richardson has done her work and proved her worth to play the leading role in FIERCE. 

And while she believes there are many different messages the show portrays, she has no doubt that FIERCE will act as a catalyst for men and women to speak up and find the balance AFL- and life requires.

“It poses questions and presents the audience with problems to wrestle with. The play is asking ‘do men have any more right to the experience than women?’”

“It opens conversations. That’s its contribution to its issues around gender.”

For more information, or to purchase tickets to this ground-breaking performance, Written by Jane e Thompson and Directed by Janine Watson, head to: https://www.redlineproductions.com.au/fierce