Harper Buntine with father Troy (left) and Demons star Tayla Harris. Pictures: Supplied
AS TROY Buntine and his daughter Harper approached Tayla Harris at Hobart airport, they had no idea that they were about to embark on a lifetime friendship with the AFLW star.
It was 2019 and Buntine was in Tasmania with three-year-old Harper to watch Carlton’s AFLW team, when on their journey home they noticed Harris at the newsagency.
“Tayla was in the newsagency and I said to Harper, ‘There she is, why don’t you go and say hello?’,” Buntine says.
“She got very, very shy. So we queued up to buy something, and Tayla turned around and said hello and crouched down and said hello to Harper.
“We had a conversation and they had a photo and she encouraged us to come to their next game and to come to training.”
Troy and Harper Buntine. Picture: Supplied
So the next week Buntine and Harper went down to watch Carlton train at Ikon Park.
“We went along to training and they had a little kick together. Tayla the other day sent me the vision of that, which, now that she’s 10, I can’t believe that so much time has passed,” Buntine says.
From a coincidental meeting at Hobart airport, a friendship between Harris and the Buntine family began, a friendship that is still going strong nearly seven years down the track.
“I gave her a letter at the end of that season and just thanked her for engaging with Harps. And with all the milestones that have happened certainly through Harper’s early years, we’ve just included each other on those things and stayed in touch and stayed friends,” Buntine says.
When Harper began playing footy herself, naturally this piqued Harris’ interest.
Carlton’s Tayla Harris in action against St Kilda. Picture: AFL Photos
“When it came time for Harps to try footy, Tayla was obviously very interested in that. This year she came to a few games and we had our Lightning Carnival on Sunday and she came along to that,” Buntine says.
“I think she just really enjoys engaging with the whole team, not just Harps. She was giving them some advice through the course of the day and really enjoys being a part of it.”
Buntine is the head coach of the under-10s team and is part of a larger group of parents who volunteer their time to help the team.
He says the love of the game that he and Harper share has become a special part of their father-daughter relationship.
“It is dad and daughter time at its best, essentially,” he says.
Troy and Harper Buntine. Picture: Supplied
“Footy in general really bonds us closely. We love watching the game together, we love going to games together, and that’s been a constant since, well, she’s 10, since she was about three, and then playing is a new dynamic for her.
“I think she really enjoys the bond that it brings about for us. We’re super close regardless of footy, but I think it’s just even more opportunity to be together at training and match days and also just going for a kick of the footy outside of that, just to enjoy kicking the footy together in a park.”
Harper’s team won their end of season carnival and to celebrate, Buntine organised a surprise for the girls at Melbourne’s round three game against Collingwood last weekend.
The group was given special access on the ground before the game to watch the Demons warm up and form a guard of honour for the players.
But the biggest surprise was left to Harper, who had the opportunity to run through the banner with her heroes, with Harris alongside her.
Tayla Harris and Harper Buntine run onto Victoria Park in R3, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos
There was more to come after the game; Harris attended the club’s presentation night to hand the girls medals and a package that included a packet of AFLW trading cards, but also a packet of trading cards of their own team, their own teammates.
And given the carnival they won did not involve a trophy, the Demons’ brought along their 2022 AFLW premiership trophy in it’s place.
Harper and the AFLW competition have grown up together, with the two nearly the same age. For the now 10-year-old, she doesn’t know a time where women didn’t play football.
As a father with a young daughter, Buntine can’t speak more highly of the competition’s impact on society.
Tayla Harris signs autographs for Harper Buntine and her teammates. Picture: Supplied
“I think the impact that the AFLW has had on girls that are my daughter’s age is profound. Not simply around having female role models and heroes, but just absolutely intensifying their love of the game,” he says.
“There is something to be said that’s quite strong around girls seeing girls play. Not even if they have ambitions to play the game, but really just to follow the game and to love the game and to engage in it and to watch it.
“I think it has deepened – and I can only speak directly for girls I coach – but it has completely intensified their potential to love the game, because they can see themselves in the girls that they see playing on the field.”
Harper Buntine and her teammates ahead of Narrm’s match against Collingwood in R3, 2025. Picture: Supplied