Bronwyn Davey and Tesharna Maher become the first mother-daughter duo in the SANFLW

Bronwyn Davey and Tesharna Maher made history this month when they became the first mother-daughter duo to play alongside one another in a SANFLW match. Bronwyn is the sister of former AFL goalsneaks Aaron and Alwyn Davey.

Woodville-West Torrens players Bronwyn Davey and Tesharna Maher this month became the first mother-daughter duo to line in the SANFLW. Picture: Hannah Rex

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Bronwyn Davey spent about five years trying to convert her daughter Tesharna Maher from soccer to footy and even after doing so never thought they would end up in the same SANFLW team.

But Brownyn, 39, and Tesharna, 17, made history this month when they became the first mother-daughter duo to play alongside one another in a SANFLW match, lining up for Woodville-West Torrens against West Adelaide at Richmond on Good Friday.

It was their second match playing together – they featured with Alkamilya in the Central Australian Northern Territory Football League last year.

Tesharna was playing her seventh game for Woodville-West Torrens, while it was the debut for Bronwyn, who sustained an ACL injury in 2016.

Bronwyn Davey, pictured last year with her daughter, Tesharna Maher, who was involved with West Adelaide before switching to Woodville-West Torrens this season. Picture: AAP/Morgan Sette

“It was a special moment,” says Bronwyn, who is the Crows’ inaugural coach of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Female Football Academy.

“It took me about five years to try and convert her over to football.

“Then after I injured my ACL in 2016, I thought it was over for me and never did I think I’d be playing alongside Tesharna.

“But once I got my rebuild phase going … I said to her ‘who knows, me and you could be the first ever mother-daughter duo in the SANFLW’.

“Then when (Eagles coach) Tess Baxter gave me a call to tell me I was playing, we were both really excited.”

Bronwyn – the sister of ex-Melbourne and Essendon goalsneaks Aaron and Alwyn Davey – lined up with Melbourne against the Western Bulldogs in an AFL women’s exhibition match in 2013.

But her footy journey stalled three years ago when she injured her knee in a shepherd playing for NT club Palmerston.

She returned to the field for Port Adelaide in the Adelaide Footy League last season, only to stop playing because she was not physically or mentally ready to return from the injury.

Bronwyn Davey with her brother, ex-Melbourne forward Aaron Davey, before the first women’s AFL match in 2013. Picture: News Corp

Tesharna, who is in the state under-18 girls development squad, is enjoying being in the same team with her mum.

“It’s really special because I don’t think there will be another mother-daughter playing in the SANFLW for quite a long time,” the Mount Carmel College Year 12 student says.

“I play in the backlines and she plays in the forward line.

“Mum gives me heaps of tips.

“I’m one of those players that likes to run off, so she gives me tips about that, when to go, when to stick with your player and all of that.”

Bronwyn and Tesharna are hoping to feature in the Eagles’ final SANFLW match of the season against Glenelg next Saturday, after the league-wide bye this weekend.

The Mansfield Park mother-daughter pair will then team up again with SMOSH West Lakes in the Adelaide Footy League once the SANFLW season ends.