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The passion, the players, the coaches, the fans and most especially, AFL chief Gillon McLachlan.
It was the standout feature of the first AFLW season.
Many may wonder about McLachlan being referred to like that but without his desire to fast-track the league, it simply would not exist.
The AFL's desire to break into the women's market cannot be underestimated and the result has proved worth it.
Adelaide won the inaugural title but just as importantly, the Crows banked about $1 million in sponsorship for their women's team.
It made the whole deal not only worthwhile for what it generated in public interest but demonstrated McLachlan's vision was 20/20.
After all, it is one thing to support the development of a women's competition but quite another ensuring it will pay for itself.
Just ask Basketball Australia, Football Federation Australia and Netball Australia just how hard it is to drive women's sport forward without money.
The AFL, of course, was fortunate in many ways.
There is little doubt it is the richest of Australia's football codes, arguably the most national of them and the most popular.
Therefore, there was plenty of interest in the game to leverage into a women's league.
McLachlan and his executive team were very clever in not over-reaching.
They offered only eight licences, ensured the season was just a boutique eight weeks and timed it so that there was little competition from other major sports, especially cricket's Big Bash League.
The AFL's media relationships were used to their full extent as well.
Among the real issues for other sports driving women's competitions is media coverage.
No problem though for the AFL.
Despite the AFLW being an unknown commodity, with players drawn from parklands football competitions and other sports and with very few of them truly elite athletes, television networks agreed to broadcast the games. Every game.
And the little cherry on top for the competition was the AFL making every game at every ground free entry.
Again, there would have been envious looks from other sports at the money that could be spent on this approach.
The hype then was at extraordinary levels.
There was an incredible 'must see' factor about it and the footy public, starved of the great Australian game since the previous September, lapped up the chance to see football, albeit at a standard that is a work in progress.
The challenges remain though in spite of the success of the inaugural season in terms of crowds, television audiences and the overall 'feel good' story.
The most obvious is whether the AFLW can truly become an elite competition and a serious option for some of the best female athletes in the country.
Inevitably there will be more players — perhaps better but certainly with more training in the basic skills — coming through at a suburban and country level as clubs there create teams.
But, it will take three to five years to truly gauge the talent of the playing stocks in the AFLW as those new players push through.
It may well drive the game to greater heights but ultimately the test will be requiring people to pay to get through the gate.
The watershed moments ahead will be when the training wheels are taken off, the public is asked to pay and consideration is given to expanding the number of teams which in turn would mean a longer season.
It is these events which will truly reveal the extent of the passion for the game.
Topics: australian-football-league, sport, adelaide-5000, sa, australia