Daisy Pearce manifesting AFLW success for herself and her Demons

Daisy Pearce isn’t afraid to visualise the Demons lifting the 2022 AFLW cup - but there won’t be a ‘hole’ in her life should it fail to happen.

Daisy Pearce closes her eyes and visualises lifting the AFL Women’s premiership cup.

She’s atop the dais — it could be the MCG, or Adelaide Oval — her teammates flocking around her and coach Mick Stinear by her side.

“Your 2022 AFLW premiers, Melbourne,” the ground announcer booms.

And then, the repeated calls of “Mum … Mum … Mum” break the daydream from twins Sylvie and Roy, who recently turned three and are every bit a glorious cyclone of giggles and sticky fingers.

It happens a bit, the star Demon admits. She doesn’t shy away from it, as she prepares to lead her team into a historic preliminary final on Saturday — the first AFLW game to be played on the MCG.

“I’m a let yourself think about it (person),” Pearce said.

“I think you manifest what you want to achieve and see yourself and the team doing what we’re on this journey to achieve.

Daisy Pearce addressing her teammates, who are now preliminary finalists. Michael Klein

“I couldn’t even pin it down, it happens in all different moments. Sometimes in distracted moments when you suddenly realise the kids are saying “mum” a hundred times.

“It’s a balance between letting yourself imagine it for your team, but also understanding what it takes to be able to do it and then refocusing your mind on that.”

Pearce, 33, was this week (see below) announced as an assistant coach in the AFLW Academy — alongside Jacara Egan, and with Giants counterpart Alicia Eva an assistant in the AFL Academy, the trio form part of the first coaching panel that is equally split between men and women.

It’s a role she can’t wait to sink her teeth into, with a front-row seat to the game’s next generation.

She said before the season that she wasn’t sure if it would be her last, but if it was, she planned to make the most of every moment.

Jacara Egan and Daisy Pearce have been announced as assistant coaches for the AFLW Academy. Getty Images

She also said she wouldn’t feel like “there’s a big hole in my life” if she never claimed an AFLW premiership to go with her 10 VWFL/VFLW flags from her time at powerhouse Darebin, and was relatively relaxed this week.

Now a forward, and selected in this week’s All-Australian squad and firmly in contention to make the team for the first time in four years after booting 13 goals from 10 games, only has to do her bit against the Lions — the reigning premiers.

“We’re pretty strong on that we need players to go out and play their role,” she said.

“We don’t need best on ground performances or miraculous goals — they’re not the things that I need to do as a player to help get us there. Tied in with the thought of this team succeeding is what I need to do and what my role is, and it’s pretty basic and boring stuff that I have to do to help us get there.”

The Demons have made a preliminary final once — last season, when they fell short of Adelaide.

Pearce missed that game with a knee injury.

It’s all part of a storied history over six seasons that has developed the Demons — a foundation AFLW club — to be ready, she says, for anything.

“What makes us better equipped to attack this finals series is just all of those other seasons that helped kind of build us as a team,” Pearce said.

“That’s been a big part of it. We’ve had good continuity throughout the six seasons which has helped — even through expansion, we’ve been able to retain a pretty good core group of our list. To have had the same senior coach in Mick has given us good continuity to keep building our game and what we’re about.

“The development of some of the players in our list has been incredible, too … and we’ve added some personnel. Last time we played in a prelim, we didn’t have Tayla Harris, Olivia Purcell, Eliza West … me and Sinead Goldrick weren’t out there.

“I don’t know. it feels different in a sense of that all the experiences we’ve had over the last couple of seasons and the way this season has played out in the different scenarios we’ve been in in games … all of those things have little gifts in them to make us a better team.

COACH DAISY: PEARCE TO SHAPE AFLW FUTURES

Daisy Pearce is officially taking her first step into coaching.

The Melbourne superstar will join female trailblazers Jacara Egan and GWS captain Alicia Eva as assistant coaches in the AFL and AFLW National Academy, alongside senior coach Tarkyn Lockyer, with an even split between male and female Academy coaches for the first time.

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It marks the first time the 33-year-old will be working in an official capacity as a coach, and Pearce said getting a front-row seat to the next generation of AFLW players was a key factor in convincing her to take the plunge into an area of the game that has long interested her.

“I just find it so rewarding and inspiring,” she told the Herald Sun.

“To get to meet some of them up close and get involved in their journey in some small way is something that was the biggest thing that drew me to want to do it.”

Egan, who earlier this year was appointed as Vic Metro under 18 girls coach – the first indigenous person to hold the role – said the trio’s involvement was a “great step forward”.

“Representation is so important, so to have three women involved in this year’s AFL and AFLW Academy programs is a great step forward to ensuring the next generation of players learn from coaches of all backgrounds, knowledge, and experiences,” Egan said.

Eva, who works as a development coach in the Giants’ AFL outfit, is returning for her second year in the AFL Academy as an assistant coach in the boys program.

There’s an AFL Women’s flag to try and win first for Pearce – with the boots still firmly on and a preliminary final looming at the MCG this Saturday – but the star said she plans to “be myself” as she plots a path to coaching post-playing career.

She plans to encourage players to be themselves too, in a generation of young stars who are encouraged to share their personalities.

Earlier this month, it emerged a number of AFL clubs including Geelong had approached the 10-time VWFL/VFLW premiership player and Melbourne skipper to gauge her interest in an assistant coaching role within their men’s football programs.

Pearce is firmly focused on this weekend’s preliminary final, before turning her hand to coaching for the first time. Picture: Getty Images

Pearce said removing her own name from the reports, she was most heartened by the response that prospective female coaches now receive.

“That’s the thing I walked away from that whole couple of days thinking … the fact that we’re in a place where when that question gets raised, the instinctive reaction now is ‘oh yeah, of course they could’, rather than when I’ve been posed that question (previously) … five years ago it would be probably a 50-50 split between people just saying ‘no’ and the other 50 might have said ‘maybe one, maybe in 30 years’.

“The fact that already we’re in a place where industry leaders see that it is a very real possibility and that female coaches can add such value, it’s a good place to be.

“It’s an exciting thing for women in the game.”

The 2022 AFLW National Championships will be played in April, with the boys competition scheduled to kick off in June.

Originally published as Daisy Pearce manifesting AFLW success for herself and her Demons