Daisy Pearce is widely regarded as the face of the AFL Women’s competition. Daisy as served as the Melbourne Captain since the competition’s inaugural season and was the Captain of Victoria in the inaugural AFL 2017 Women’s State of Origin (where she won best on ground) and in the same year was the AFL Women’s All-Australian Captain. In 2017, Daisy became the first woman to be elected as a director on the board of the AFL Players Association (AFLPA).

Hailing from country Victoria, Daisy is a pioneer of Women’s Football in Australia. In May 2013, she was the number one draft pick chosen by the Melbourne Football Club in the first ever women’s AFL draft. Daisy was one of fifty women to make history in June when the club’s women’s team took on the Western Bulldogs women’s team at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was played as a curtain raiser to the men’s match between the two same clubs. Daisy was the inaugural winner of the Melbourne Football Club’s best female player award at the end of the 2014 season, polling five out of a possible six votes.  

In July 2016, Daisy was announced as one of Melbourne’s two marquee players to play in the inaugural AFL Women’s season. She was announced as the club’s first AFLW captain in January 2017. Daisy made her AFLW debut in the opening round of the 2017 AFL Women’s season against Brisbane at Casey Fields. At the end of the season, Pearce was nominated by her teammates for the AFL Players’ Most Valuable Player Award, was named captain of the 2017 All-Australian team, and won the AFLW Players’ Best Captain Award. Melbourne signed Pearce for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017. She then captained Victoria in the inaugural State of Origin match on 2 September, where she was adjudged best afield with 37 disposals in the 97-point win.  

In the media, Daisy has been a rotating panel member on the Seven Network program AFL Game Day since 2016, and also provides special comments for Seven and Triple M, covering both AFL and AFLW matches. In February 2017, the Melbourne Football club unveiled their new mascot for the women’s team, named “Daisy” in her honour.  

On 7 March 2017, Daisy became the first woman to be elected as a director on the board of the AFL Players Association (AFLPA). At the same meeting, the AFLPA decided to include AFLW players as full members of the association. Daisy sat out the 2019 AFLW’s season delivering twins in February 2019, however her time however was not spent in idle. She further established herself as an expert analyst for the Seven Network and on radio for SEN, in addition to this she also continued her work at Melbourne, taking on an off-field role mentoring the club’s first-year players. With her passion for the game still strong, she is already back in training in preparation for the 2020 season.