1 Sunday ` proudly brought to you by Mazda. Tonight on Sunday ` car vs cyclist. I had no idea what was gonna happen. The terrible consequences of one bad decision. He said, 'I'm really sorry, but there's been a terrible accident.' A dad and an educator whose career was full of promise. Principal Craig Hickford has just started in the role. It just doesn't allow me to be Craig. It allows me to be just a fraction of who I was. And the fight to get his life back. He has his daily struggles, but he has come such a long way. I questioned why I have so much and there are people in the world who have nothing. The life she has chosen is extraordinary. The nun that swapped Culverden for Colombo... Everybody else thought I was crazy, but I just walked out and left everything. ...to care for orphaned children. When a child is abandoned, they want to know somebody is there. And that's you? (CHUCKLES) Yeah, that is us, yeah. Welcome to AFL women's. (WHISTLE BLOWS) Here we go. Here we go. Yes. A rising star of women's football. I've been able to fulfil my life dream of playing AFL. And the love that's given her strength... If I explained to you my upbringing, you'd probably say I didn't have much, but for us, we had something that nobody else had, and that was, like, the richest love. ...and brought success both on and off the field. Well, I've never read a book before in my life, and now I'm releasing an autobiography. Like, that is insane. Copyright Able 2017 Kia ora. I'm Miriama Kamo. The timing was perfect for a catastrophic crash. It was the end of a long Otago summer's day. One man chose not to have a glass of wine. Another man to have a second cup of tea. Their paths would cross with devastating consequences. Janet McIntyre with Craig Hickford's story and how a split second can change lives forever. Valentine's Day, a lazy Sunday. Dinner's done. The sun is sinking. The kids are not long for bed. We joke that Craig had said, 'Oh, have you got a bottle of wine in the fridge for Valentine's Day?' And I said, 'No, I don't.' So instead of raising a glass with his wife, Craig Hickford pulls on bright red riding gear. His cleats clumping out of the kitchen. 'Bye, babe. See you later.' (LAUGHS) And that was` I was like, 'Yeah, OK. See ya. Be safe.' I always say be safe. Craig has done this hundreds of times before. Fit, athletic, in training for his second coast-to-coast, he knows the roads around Dunedin. He's used to 40K rides. Yeah, it was about 8.30, and I thought, 'Mmm, you're not home yet.' Across town, 29-year-old Harry McArthur, a horse dentist, is finishing up work and has just had dinner at his auntie's. My favourite ` uh, devilled sausages. Cup of tea? I think there might have been two cups of tea. In his four-wheel drive ute, Harry is just 150m from the house where he's staying when, in a split second, his and many other lives are about to change. I had no idea what was gonna happen... until it was all too late, so... Seeing a cyclist disappear from in front of you. Did you think he was going to die? Yeah, I did. I think I was in the shower for all of five minutes, and in the middle of washing my hair, I heard some quite loud bangs on the door. And I proceeded with my shower, hoping that they would just go away. (BANGING ON DOOR) 30 seconds later, there was, you know, yet again, loud bangs at the door. I wasn't expecting a policeman standing there. And that's exactly what I got. What did he tell you? The words are crystal clear, even to this day. TEARFULLY: Sorry. He said, um,... 'I'm really sorry, but there's been a terrible accident. 'Craig's been hit by a 4x4, and it's not looking very good.' Craig, what do you remember about that day? Don't remember anything. I don't remember anything. Craig and Stacey had been a couple for 14 years, drawn together by basketball ` Craig playing for the Canterbury Rams... Hickford with the three. ...and eventually becoming Stacey's high performance coach. In 2005, with his help, she reached her dream of becoming a Tall Fern. He just had the driving force. He always has. That's who he is. Whether it's my goal or his goal, he'll just try and push along the way to get there. Whoa. Here he goes. (CHILDREN LAUGH) He's been devoted to their kids, Grace and Toby... GIRL: Mr Hickford! ...and to those at the schools where he's taught, eventually stepping up to become a principal. There's a new person in charge at Brockville primary school. Principal Craig Hickford has just started in the role. I'm, in particular, looking to bring in some innovative teaching practice. Um, getting the children to, sort of, really take ownership of their learning. I try to... try to build up all children to be confident and caring and independent. I think he had an amazing career in his hands. I know that he was flagged out by the ministry as being someone quite special coming through the ranks. Until one late summer evening in 2016, riding downhill on Main St in the Dunedin suburb of Fairfield, Craig was hit by Harry McArthur's turning ute. (TYRES SCREECH) Describe the impact. Just a... fairly solid bang just on the front of the truck. Was he thrown up? He was thrown, yeah, basically out of my vision, above the windscreen. I remember, um, hearing the bang, looking out my bedroom window at the front of the house and seeing Craig, uh, shooting through the air off his bike. Mark Wolf was one of many who rushed to help. The bike landed about here. It was about here when I came out. And Craig would have been, uh, about where you're standing now. What shape was he in? Oh, he was in a bad way. A very bad way. He'd had a serious head knock ` big time. First thing I did was just jump out of the truck and race over towards the cyclist. Harry seen here on the left. He was lying, basically, with his head at a funny angle to his body and just, basically, face-down in the grass. Ambulance officers worked on Craig on the verge for more than an hour. Constable Dave Leonard, in charge of the scene, stayed by his side. Basically, I just held his hand, and I talked to him. What did you say to him? Oh, I was just telling him that he was gonna be OK. And, um, 'Hang in there.' And, you know, 'You're gonna be all right.' Do you think he heard you? I like to think he did, yeah. Yeah. Craig, in critical condition with a brain injury, was taken to Dunedin Hospital. The whole emergency department came to a stop, basically. They all just went to Craig. TEARFULLY: I was, the whole time, just thinking, 'Don't you dare leave me. We've got two young kids. 'Don't you dare.' Unconscious, unresponsive and unable to breathe unassisted. That's how Craig's condition was described to his parents, Gary and Lyn. Far away in New Plymouth, they jumped in the car at midnight and started heading south. And then we finally got to Craig, and, yeah, he was just hooked up to machines and tubes. It was devastating. What impact did it have on you? Oh, other than a heart attack, not much. (LAUGHS) A heart attack? Yeah, I had a heart attack on the Saturday morning. Lyn, how did you cope? I just had to keep going, didn't I? While Gary recovered on the cardiac ward, Craig was two floors below, in intensive care, for 10 days on life support, doctors monitoring the swelling in his brain. He's always in, you know, danger of... of not making it through. Stacey kept the kids away. Dad lying unresponsive in a bed ` and that's just frightening for a child to see. And I wasn't prepared for my children to see that. Four weeks in, hope and fear. When he was in HDU, I took a video of it. It was him sitting there, and he was doing all the actions of Craig, like, all of his mannerisms, so I knew that he was there. He wasn't talking a lot that time, but he, sort of, opened his eyes, looked to me, just looked right through me ` there was no acknowledgement there ` and then looked away. And I just thought, 'Wow. 'Is this` Is this it?' Like, 'Is it gonna get any better?' Up next, the horse dentist with a history of bad driving. Where have you been in your darkest moments? Sorry, I just` (GROANS) And Craig's long road to recovery ` from rock bottom... He was essentially a baby. ...to back up on a bike. To be the person I was or be an improved model of Craig. (POIGNANT MUSIC) Have you actually walked back here to where it happened? Um, no. I've been back here in a car, but I haven't had the chance to hop out of the car and have a good look. 'This is Craig Hickford's story. The trouble is he can't tell it.' Yeah, I don't have much of a memory of the accident or anything, really. The images I have are what I've been shown. TEARFULLY: Um... And it definitely brings a few tears. Almost everything from the past 14 months is erased from Craig's memory. The five months in hospital and rehab ` the torturous process to regain strength and function. He's had to learn to redo basically everything again. You know, he was essentially a baby. Adult diapers. It was hard to` to watch that. The enduring injury, if I'm really honest, is what's been done up here to my brain. Um... It just doesn't allow me to be Craig. It allows me to be just a fraction of who I was. Good form, Craig. That's the way. He has vision problems. He has balance problems. The ability to process things sometimes is not quite there. His temperament, you know ` the fact that he's not able to hold in his anger. There's... You know, he has daily struggles, but he has come such a long way. (LAUGHS) (POIGNANT MUSIC) Harry McArthur returned to work a couple of weeks after the crash. A Christchurch-based horse dentist, he helps horses long in the tooth to eat without pain. Good man. Eh. He struggles to describe the effect of the crash on him in the following days, holed up in his bedroom, not knowing if he'd killed someone. Where have you been in your darkest moments? Probably some places that you wouldn't like to admit on camera, so... Sorry, I just` (GROANS) 'Harry still asks himself, could he have avoided the crash?' How could you not see the cyclist? I've run through the situation that many times in my head as to how I could have seen him or, basically, how I could have missed him. He couldn't see, um, where he was going is how it happened. Constable Dave Leonard was at the scene, interviewed Harry, investigated the crash. He was travelling into the sun. Sun was up above those trees. And... he wasn't able to see clearly before he made that turn. What should he have done? He should have pulled over to the side of the road. And then he would have had a better angle; he wouldn't have had the sun directly in his eyes. So, why wouldn't someone do that? You'd have to ask him that. I thought I could see enough of the road to be able to make that turn safely. You've admitted it was your fault. Do you honestly hold that view? Yup. Like, it's accident. It's not something that I intentionally did. But it's my fault for turning in front of a` basically turning into oncoming traffic. Charged with careless driving causing injury, Harry initially pleaded not guilty. But months later, on the eve of his trial, he changed his plea to guilty. In March, he stood in the dock for an hour, hearing the impact of his actions. As a parent, it is a phone call you never want to get. To see our son lying in ICU in a coma and not knowing if he would live... TEARFULLY: was devastating and extremely stressful. It disturbs us greatly that the driver of the ute hasn't asked once how Craig is. His actions could be considered contemptible. The judge, noting five previous driving convictions, described Harry as cavalier, putting other people's lives at risk. He ordered Harry to pay $30,000 in reparation, to do 200 hours of community service and disqualified him for 10 months. I watched him throughout the hearing. I didn't see any remorse. Um, I'm a principal by trade, so I sort of know when you've been naughty and know what you do, you know, how you act. Um, so, I didn't see any of that. Can't really even begin to imagine what, you know, he's going through, so... I've just never really known how to approach the subject. What do you want to say to Craig? Sorry. But... just doesn't seem like enough. Want a drink? OK. So many lives have been changed forever. Stacey, the former Tall Fern, is now the sole income earner... Gracie-Racie. ...juggling the household, working two days a week as a legal secretary. Gotta get in the car! Craig continues to make small steps at rehab. I'm challenged in so many ways to be the person I was or be an improved model of Craig. Grace and Toby, after losing their dad for a year, are starting to get him back again. Toby was holding a frisbee. And I went outside and just threw it softly to him, and he caught it. And I just thought, 'God. We haven't done that, have we?' Getting back some dad time. STACEY: (CHUCKLES) Yeah. You ready? Yeah. Oh! So close. Stacey, Craig said earlier he's just a fraction of the man he was. Is that true? I'd like to say no, but I think the reality is he's not the Craig that... we're used to. I mean there's elements of Craig there. There's his sense of humour. Being just driven and stubborn and... You know, all of those traits are there, but, yeah, there's just so much of him that's quite different. (ALL SING IN MAORI) Last week Craig was invited back to the Christchurch school where he once taught, now reopened and renamed Waitakiri since the earthquakes. Thanks, guys. It's his dream to return to a school like this one. So, what do you have to add to it to get 15? I want to live life with children. I want to make a difference for children. I want to be a teacher. I was in hospital for... Who can guess? KID: 10 years. 10 years?! (CHILDREN LAUGH) Not 10 years. He's always said he wants to return to being a principal, and I just say, well, never say never. You just don't know` You don't what's gonna happen. You don't know what you'll be like in three or four years' time. You know, you've made great recovery so far. In a year, you know, you can't count it out. I'm driven for it not to rule my life. I think of it as a big monstrous challenge... that I'm gonna win. Craig's case is far from an isolated one; Around 40% of car vs cyclist collisions occur when a vehicle has turned into the path of a cyclist. So can we realistically safely share the roads in this country? Head to our Facebook page. Up next, the extraordinary Kiwi who left behind her life in North Canterbury for one of devotion and sacrifice in Sri Lanka. Mother Teresa was able to reach from the other side of the world to this teacher in New Zealand and say, 'I have something special here for you to do. Come and help me.' I just knew I had to go, so I went. Sister, do you recognise this? I never saw it before. You've never seen this before? No. READS: 'God bless you. Mother Teresa.' 1 Welcome back. Our next story has been two decades in the making ` that is how long we've been waiting to interview Philomene Hoban. These days, she prefers to be called Sister Aroha. She's a Catholic nun, the first Kiwi to join Mother Teresa's order. For decades, she's cared for sick and vulnerable children, unwanted by their own parents. Cameras have never been allowed inside Sister Aroha's orphanage until now. Jehan Casinader travelled to Sri Lanka for a look inside her extraordinary world. (CHILDREN GIGGLE) They're the kind of smiles that can melt hearts. There are children that are very loveable, and there are some children that are very naughty. But these faces don't tell the whole story. They've been abandoned by their parents. They've been abandoned in the hospital. They've been abandoned on the road. Or their mothers just cannot cope. When a child is abandoned, they want to know somebody is there. And that's you? Yeah, that is us. Yeah. In an orphanage on the outskirts of Colombo... Ah, very good. ...a kiwi is reaching out to children unwanted by their families. They need love. Without love, they will not survive. But love isn't just found in her work. It's also in her name ` Sister Aroha. Aroha means love. Our works is love, isn't it? We will be judged on love one day. She has spent three decades in Sri Lanka, far from her own family in North Canterbury. The life she has chosen is extraordinary. I certainly couldn't do it. She's making an enormous difference, and, I mean, we're proud of what she's doing. But there are certainly times when I wish that she was here. At 75, most of us will be enjoying our sunset years. But for Sister Aroha, working 16 hours a day is pretty normal. A lot of washing. A lot of washing. Every morning there are 60 sets of sheets to wash... Uh-huh. ...and just as many tiny mouths to feed. You have to give them the love and the care that a child should have. But her life hasn't always been this way. Before she was Sister Aroha, she was Philomene Hoban, a farm girl in Culverden. She was a very sociable, competent young woman. Judith is Philomene's sister-in-law. I mean, she loved life, she enjoyed people's company, she was a great sportswoman. And in her 20s, a great school teacher. From the reports we've had, the kids adored her. We probably just all thought Phil would get married one day, and that was it. But life took a different turn when Philomene went travelling. In Asia, she saw poverty up close. I questioned why I have so much and there are people in the world who have nothing. I always had this feeling that I would like to be with the poor and to serve the poor. At 35, she dropped a bombshell on her staunchly catholic family. She'd decided to become a nun. For me, that came as a huge shock, really. I didn't anticipate that at all. She loved entertaining. She's a fabulous cook. And all of that just went. For her parents, especially, that was really tough. But they're people of extraordinarily deep faith. Her parents would say, 'Well, if this is what Philomene wants, 'then that's fine. We will support her in it.' Philomene was accepted as a missionary of charity. In this early interview, she describes her decision. It was just a really deep conviction within me that this is something that I just have to try. Otherwise I'll have no peace in my life. Everybody else thought I was crazy, but I just walked out and left everything. Did you think about what you were giving up? I didn't really think about it, no. I just knew I had to go, so I went. The Catholic order sent her 10,000km away to Sri Lanka. (TRAIN HORN BLARES) Did you have any idea what it was like over there? We only knew that that's where tea came from, and we didn't really know much else. Her new home ` behind the gates of this orphanage with seven other nuns. ALL: Amen. This is the first time cameras have been allowed inside to capture their lives of devotion and sacrifice. You have no computer. No computers. No TV. No TV. No radio. No radio. No newspaper either. O God Almighty Father... She owns just three identical saris, a bible and a prayer book. But most precious of all is her set of vows. We have a vow of poverty, a vow of chastity, a vow of obedience and a vow of wholehearted and free service. They're our possessions. READS: 'He will be gracious to you when he hears you crying.' Her accent has really changed, hasn't it? Oh, the accent's dreadful. (CHUCKLES) It's become a mixture of all sorts of things. Yes, yes, I no longer have a New Zealand accent. My mother was very sad to hear that my accent had gone. But language has never got in the way of service. (SPEAKS SRI LANKAN LANGUAGE) Some of the kids she cares for are seriously ill. (SPEAKS SRI LANKAN LANGUAGE) Even close to death. They're completely dependant on us for everything. We know some children are not going to live, and we give them all the love and care that we can. Like, in a waiting room for heaven. (SPEAKS SRI LANKAN LANGUAGE) Diduli has cerebral palsy. How does society see these children? Many of the parents will reject them completely. They don't see it as a sickness. They see that someone's put a curse on them. When they're born, they just leave them in the hospital. When they brought her, they said she would live maybe only one month. But, uh, it's now three years, so... she's doing OK. She's continuing the work of the late Mother Teresa, the founder of this orphanage. I just never thought I'd meet Mother Teresa in my life, and there she is sitting down having breakfast with me. I didn't know what to do. Just to see her in action with the poor. She's a really incredibly person. We try to be what Mother wants us to be. Following that example requires faith, even on a trip to the local market. We are not buying meat today. Being a nun is a frugal business. We will not accept regular income. We will not accept the government grants. We will not accept any church grants. Instead, they rely solely on donations and good will. We're completely dependant on divine providence. God is there. And he has never let us down. The nuns choose to live in poverty, sharing the burdens of the people they serve. What does poverty do to a person? It demoralises them completely. They don't have a proper house to live in. They don't have proper food to eat. They don't have proper work to go to. Every Saturday, she welcomes and feeds them, regardless of their religion or race. When you meet them in the street, they greet you like a long lost friend. Are there times you wish that you could do more? It's not always possible to do more, is it? What you can do at that time, we do. Good morning. Good morning. Sister Aroha is deeply respected by the locals. Subbiah Thiagarajah is a jeweller and one of her biggest supporters. She's an extraordinary person and one of the best examples of Mother Teresa's work. He knows that, having spent time with the saint. Do you see anything of Mother Teresa in Sister Aroha? Quite a lot. She's another version of Mother Teresa. Whatever Mother Teresa had is in her. But her life of sacrifice and service can't go on forever. Up next, securing a future for the kids in the orphanage... She's going for adoption this month. ...and a stunning surprise. We deliver Mother Teresa's final words for Sister Aroha's family. I never saw it before. You've never seen this before? No. (SHEEP BAA, BIRDS CHIRP) Culverden, North Canterbury. For Pat Hoban, life on this farm is the only life he's ever known. But there's a hole in his tight-knit family. Pat's sister Philomene is serving the poor on the other side of the world. I think it's amazing work that she's doing. It requires somebody with pretty special skills. We were actually very proud of what she was wanting to do, yeah. Sister Aroha, as she's now known, has stayed in Sri Lanka through monsoons, a tsunami and years of civil war. Were you worried about her safety? Yes, we were. The nuns are very visible, and there are well-documented cases of the missionaries of charity being killed in other parts of the world. The Hobans only see Sister Aroha once every 10 years, when she's allowed to come home for a visit. The first time I remember her in person was when I was 13. She made a huge impact on me. These pictures from the early '90s capturing that very moment. She never felt like a stranger. She came back into the house as though she'd been here a week ago. She relaxed. She enjoyed our food. She's wearing that beautiful sari, and that creates a kind of presence. Saying goodbye was tough. She leaves such an impression on people that meet her. Why are you crying? She's ordinary, um, considerate, but more than anything, she sees the fun in everything. Well, your bag's checked right the way through to Colombo. Oh, thank you. She lived the same as I've lived. You know, she went to university. She had a career. She enjoyed the farm. And then her life went one way; my life went the other. Kate's the only member of her family who's visited Sister Aroha in Sri Lanka. Do you miss your old life in North Canterbury? I would miss this life, but I would not miss that life, no. Her only regret ` not getting to see her great nieces and nephews grow up. BOTH: Hi, Aunty Phil. (CHUCKLES) Oh, they're gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. (GIGGLES) They grow so fast, and they change so fast. What do you think when you think about the Kiwi lifestyle compared to what the children have here? Yeah, Yeah. They just... They're miles apart, aren't they? Our kids just don't have even 100 to what they have. I often think if I could only take these children for one day just to run on the grass. (GIGGLES) But they don't have that joy. And they've never had the joy of love from their parents. These kids are well cared for, but this orphanage can't be their home forever. We will do all we can to search for their mother or whoever abandoned them. If it's safe, some kids are returned to their families. Boy or girl? WOMAN: Boy. Boy. But we don't have birth certificate. For others, Sister Aroha tries to find new homes,... She's going for adoption this month. ...battling bookwork and bureaucracy all the way. In the time that Sister Aroha has worked in this orphanage, almost 2000 children have passed through these walls. She's helped many of them to be adopted by Sri Lankan families, who can give them a chance at the life they deserve. We're happy that the child is going for adoption, but still the tears will roll when we see the child going, because the child has become part of our life, so naturally, we are sad. Some have grown up and started new lives all around the world. Many come back to visit. They're really happy. They open up like a flower a little bit each day. It is so nice to see. From the outside, Sister Aroha's faith seems rock-solid, but 40 years of hard work and heartache have put it to the test. Are there times you've doubted God? Yeah, yeah, everybody has to doubt their faith a little bit at times, but not to the point that I would think of packing up and going. When times get tough, she thinks about the saint who inspired her to choose this life. Mother Teresa was able to reach from the other side of the world to this teacher in New Zealand and say, 'I have something special here for you to do. Come and help me.' But there's one of Mother Teresa's final acts that Sister Aroha doesn't know about. Sister, do you recognise this? Oh, how you got that? Decades ago, Mother Teresa wrote a letter to Sister Aroha's mum, Margaret Hoban. 'Dear mother of Sister Aroha. Thank you for giving your child to God. She is a gift of God to us all.' READS: 'God bless you. Mother Teresa.' That is lucky. I never saw it before. You've never seen this before? No. For her to have taken the moments to pen a personal message, it was pretty special. What do you think it would have been like for your mother to receive this? Oh, she would have been very happy, huh? And Mrs Hoban treasured it always. It was very special to her. A lot of people say that there is a lot of Mother Teresa in you. (CHUCKLES) Not like Mother Teresa. Sri Lanka is the place Sister Aroha calls home, and it will always be. How long can you keep doing this? We will do until I die, finish. And somebody said, 'So, what are you going to do when you get old, Phil?' And she just said, 'Ha, just keep working.' (CHUCKLES) Thank you for having us to visit. Thank you very much for coming, huh. May God bless you all. Isn't she lovely? Now, we'd like to thank the Asia New Zealand foundation for helping us to report from Sri Lanka. Also we'd like to acknowledge the footage of Sister Aroha that was shot during her visit here in the 1990s. That was from TVNZ cameramen Ron Madden and Mike Fitzgerald. Next up, the unlikely friendship that's propelling a young footballer to stardom. First of all, when I saw her, I thought, 'Why do you have to have tattoos? You're so beautiful.' It's really funny, cos I judged her for the woman with the pearls and the Dolce & Gabbana, and she judged me for the girl with the tats. 100 goals for Moana Hope this season. I've asked her to adopt me. She thinks I'm joking. I'm not joking. She says my mum will care. My mum's fine with it. (CHUCKLES) But yeah, she's pretty cool. 1 Hello again. Across the ditch, Aussie rules football or AFL is pretty much a religion. It's historically been a male domain, but this year, the first ever national women's AFL championship kicked off, attracting more than 20,000 fans to the first game. One of the trailblazing players is a remarkable young woman with Kiwi heritage ` Moana Hope. She grew up sharing a bedroom with her 13 siblings on the outskirts of Melbourne. Now she's one of the sport's rising stars. Melissa Doyle reports. (UPLIFTING GUITAR MUSIC) I think growing up the way we grew up is something you can't buy. And having what we have is something, you know, money can't get. And if I explained to you my upbringing, you'd probably say I didn't have much. But for us, we had something nobody else had, and that was, like, the richest love. # When you grow up... # Moana Hope grew up with not much room but an abundance of love in this two-bedroom housing commission home in Glenroy, on the outskirts of Melbourne. She has 13 brothers and sisters, and most of them are here celebrating a family wedding. # We're gonna take your mama out all night. # Yeah, we'll show her what it's all about. # We'll get her jacked up on some cheap champagne. # We'll let the good times all roll out. # I remember all of us kids shared one room, so it was, like, bunk after bunk, head to toe. And we all stayed in one room. I guess, looking back now in the position that I am, I'd say we did it tough. But I never knew it as a kid. And in any spare time that we had we were playing a footy match. In the backyard, out the front, in the hallway. Wherever we could find space, we were playing a game. A world away from Glenroy, Nicola Barr lives on Sydney's affluent North Shore. She was at an exclusive all girls school when her life took an unexpected turn. Our sports director at school came up to me and said, 'Hey, Nic, what do you reckon about footy?' And I was like, 'Oh, you know, looks good, but I've never played it.' He just got a bunch of girls who were either fit or coordinated. I do think that it shocked a lot of parents at the school. They were sort of like, 'Why are you getting my daughter to play AFL?' Faster. Put on pressure. Nicola Barr and Moana Hope ` born into families that couldn't have been further apart, but now sharing centre stage, starring roles as the faces of female footy. Centering kick. Taken by Nicola Barr. They're Australia's newest sporting heroes. She's measured that beautifully. Mo Hope's on the board. Collingwood with the opening goal. Have you met Moana Hope? I have met Moana Hope. I've played with her for the Bulldogs in the exhibition match in September, and she was very exciting to watch. I think I as actually just standing and watching her play, not actually playing myself. I was too excited. But quite different to you, which is what I love. Yeah, exactly. And that's just one example of how different people can come together and` and have that love for football together. Even if you do have absolutely nothing else in common, you have football in common. And it's such a bonding experience playing football together and being in a football team, even if it's for one game, you know. And I love that. Back in Melbourne, Moana Hope's mum Rosemary can't remember a time when her little girl didn't have a football in her hands. Actually, when she was a really little nipper, she used to always run round the house kicking the football all the time, you know. So it sort of grew from there, really. Yeah. Yeah. And play with her dad? That was something` All the time. All the time. Two peas in a pod, round` running everywhere. It was really good, yeah. Moana's dad, Gary, was a big man and an even bigger football fan. But when Moana was 10, he was diagnosed with leukaemia. Rosemary had to go to work to keep food on the table. So Moana quit primary school to care for him. There was nowhere else I would wanna be. I wouldn't wanna be at school while he's out suffering or he didn't have anyone there with him. And the majority of days, I just sat with him, you know. I was just there for him. Back then I never saw it as I'm his carer or, you know, I'm taking care of him. It was just I'm hanging out with my best friend and just doing what he needs me to do while I'm hanging out with him. Moana's father died when she was 14. She'd missed too much of school to return but never stopped playing footy. I kept playing footy cos I knew that's what he'd want me to do, and that's how I felt close to him. (CHEERING) 100 goals for Moana Hope this season. Footy's always for him. And that's why whenever I kick a goal, I normally look up or, um, look at my tattoo or I normally do the cross ` whatever it is I need to do to acknowledge that he's there watching. Hi, guys. How are you? Hi. Hi there. Go Dogs. Also watching Moana during her early days on the field was a pioneer of female footy ` Sue Alberti. (LAUGHS) I'd get muscles doing this. She's one of Australia's most successful businesswomen and a driving force behind the new competition. I'd been following her for years, though. She didn't know that. I'd been watching her performance playing football because I could see there was a great talent. Mo Hope puts it through. We met for the first time, and I think we were both pretty guarded about` I was a bit nervous. First of all, when I saw her, I thought, 'Why do you have to have tattoos? You're so beautiful.' It's really funny cos I judged her for the woman with the pearls and the Dolce & Gabbana, and she judged me for the girl with the tats. So we both started off on the wrong foot. Thank you. Sue is introducing Moana to new experiences. It's her first time at high tea. Welcome to high tea, Mo. I know. I've never heard of it. I had to look it up. Surprisingly, Sue and Moana came from very similar backgrounds. My growing up was very difficult. I came from public housing just like Mo did. We didn't have anything. We didn't have any extras. But the one thing that my father encouraged me to do was to play sport, to keep me fit and healthy, keep me off the street. I hung up my boots at 15 because I was not allowed to play any more. One of the saddest days of my life. I was just a simple girl who liked playing sport. But always at the back of my mind, I had this burning desire that I didn't want this to happen to other women. Closing remarks. That's fine. I'm happy to do that. Sue made her fortune in the construction industry and has invested her money and energy into making the women's league a reality. ALL CHANT: Bulldogs through and through! Her favourite team is the Western Bulldogs, but her favourite player is Collingwood's Moana Hope. She's measured that beautifully. Mo's like a daughter to me. I've seen what she's gone through. It's been not an easy life for her. And we're more than friends. I guess you could say I mentor her, although she's pretty smart herself. Everyone says she's a mentor, but for me she's more than that. I have asked her to adopt me. She thinks I'm joking. I'm not joking. She says my mum will care. My mum's fine with it. (CHUCKLES) Um, but she's pretty cool. And Moana's mum Rosemary couldn't be happier about how things have turned out too. At the wedding reception, Moana surprised everyone with a gift that will change her mum's life. So I'm going to give you a cheque of $50,000 so you can go and buy your own house. (CHEERING) I think she was pretty emotional. I love her to death, you know, so anything I can do for her, I'll do it. How proud are you of her? I'm very proud. She's my baby. (CHUCKLES) She's my baby. Precious. And to do what she does, Moana also has to be tough. The women's league isn't for sissies. (ACTION MUSIC) Are you scared of getting hurt? There are always gonna be injuries in football; it's a contact sport. There are injuries in the men's game. There's gonna be injuries in the women's game. Looking ahead, where do you see the women's league in a couple of years? I see it exactly the same as the men's league. REPORTER: Fans turned up in their thousands. You know, if you think about we had 22,000 at that first game. So, I think, if that's your starting point, you've got a massive future ahead of you. Welcome to AFL women's. (CHEERING) Here we go. Here we go. Yes. And the future is in good hands. Moana is relishing every game she plays and every win, especially when she boots her team to victory over Sue's beloved Bulldogs. I'm so proud of you, Mo. You'd think life doesn't get any better. ALL CHANT: Good old Collingwood forever! But for Moana, it's really just getting started. Incredibly, she's written an autobiography about her rags to riches story. I'm releasing a book. Whoever thought` I've never read a book before in my life, and I'm releasing an autobiography. Like, that is insane. Hello. How are you? Can I get a high-five? Are you happy? Oh, I'm the happiest person in the world that I've been able to fulfil my life dream of playing AFL. I don't need, you know, a triple-storey house. I don't need a Ferrari. I just need to make sure that everyone's happy and smiling and I get to play the game I love. So life is pretty good. And Moana's autobiography, My Way, came out last week. That's our show for tonight. Join us on Facebook and Twitter ` Sunday TVNZ.