‘I’m not going to set any limits’: Former AFLW star Daisy Pearce’s big move

She made a name for herself playing AFLW, now Daisy Pearce is breaking new ground with her move into coaching – and responds to critics.

Since the start of the AFL Women’s competition in 2017, Daisy Pearce has been named in three All-Australian teams, kicked 25 goals and captained Melbourne to its first AFLW premiership. But her recent retirement doesn’t mean the mother-of-two has left the sport that made her a household name – she’s now a development coach for Geelong’s men’s side and remains a key member of the Seven Network’s AFL commentary team. As Pearce tells Stellar, her ambition is stronger than ever: “I’m not going to set any limits”.

Daisy Pearce is trying to work out which balls are made of glass and which are made of rubber.

That’s how she describes balancing her life and career as an AFLW player-turned-AFL -coach, an expert commentator (as part of the Seven Network’s broadcast team), and a mother to four-year-old twins Sylvie and Roy.

Daisy Pearce: ‘I was content to the point that I was done, and happy and satisfied with that chapter of my career.’ Picture: Cameron Grayson for Stellar

“It’s very much a juggling act,” Pearce tells Stellar with a laugh, recalling the metaphorical caution given to her by another mum: “You have to constantly be aware, so that you know which [of the balls] you can drop if you have to drop one.”

Any mum, Pearce acknowledges, can relate to that struggle.

“You’re torn between competing interests and you feel like your heart is in many different places a lot of the time,” she reflects.

“It’s always the family first and making sure that any work decision I make, or anything I take on in a career sense, has to work not just for me but for my family, as well.”

In January, Pearce, 34, announced her retirement from AFLW. Fittingly, in her last match in November she captained Melbourne to its first AFLW premiership.

However, the reality of ending her playing career is still sinking in. “It hits me in little and unexpected moments,” Pearce says.

“You catch yourself thinking, I’ve got to eat this. Or, what do I have to do tomorrow, exercise-wise? And then you realise you don’t have to do anything – which is both good and bad.

“I couldn’t have dreamt of anything more or better. Winning a premiership has been a big driving factor in what we’ve been trying to achieve as a team for six years now, and seven seasons. To weigh it all up, and the feeling of the satisfaction in having won it and ticking that box, it made me realise I was content to the point that I was done, and happy and satisfied with that chapter of my career.”

Daisy Pearce: ‘You need to have big dreams and big plans, but you also need to be OK with changing them. That’s my philosophy.’ Picture: Cameron Grayson for Stellar

But she won’t be lost to the game. In her new job as a development coach for Geelong, Pearce joins a growing list of women breaking new ground by taking on such roles in the AFL.

“I’m pinching myself,” she tells Stellar about working with Cats premiership players including Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Hawkins, Jeremy Cameron and Isaac Smith.

And despite all she has accomplished on the field, Pearce says, “It’s going to be a great place for me to learn. The people like [coaches] Chris Scott, Nigel Lappin, Matty Egan, who I’ll work closely with in the development side of things, and those great players – they’re all great football people and to get in and learn from them in a great environment, I couldn’t ask for a better way to start my coaching career.”

While Pearce might appear cool and calm about working alongside some of the biggest names in footy, she has had to deal with pointed criticism from her fair share of naysayers – former AFL players among them.

“[The criticism] has had its challenges, largely because there wasn’t a clear path ahead of you,” she explains.

“[With] a lot of the stuff – and not just me individually but we in this era, as ground has sort of been broken – there isn’t a huge number of others doing it before you.”

So with anything that you dive into or have a crack at, there’s externally and internally an element of, can we do this? And, are we cut out for this?”

Because that’s the narrative I grew up in as I fell in love with the game and started becoming passionate about football. That’s what I’ve been up against from the get-go.”

Even with the opportunities she has been given, Pearce offers that the main challenges she faces are internal.

“It’s kind of embedded in your own psyche, that feeling of, do I belong?”

Daisy Pearce features in this Sunday’s Stellar. Picture: Steven Chee for Stellar

That’s why Pearce and her partner, firefighter Ben O’Neill, hope to impart to their children – in particular daughter Sylvie – a strong sense of self-confidence and empowerment.

“A lot of my dreams and passions weren’t clear-cut and the path to getting there wouldn’t have looked easy at the time,” she says.

“I had very open-minded and encouraging parents and family, which I’m grateful for, but I definitely came across teachers and career counsellors who suggested doing something more conservative and safe.”

That may have been practical advice at the time, but Pearce admits, “I just feel like, by following my passions and working hard and dreaming big, I’ve kind of landed in a place where going to work is really rewarding.”

I hope Sylvie sees the world in a similar way. I’ll try to encourage her, for what influence I’ll be able to have, to choose her own path.”

As for her son Roy, the message is that he can learn from anyone.

“The men who have had the biggest impact on me are supportive, caring men who are as willing to learn from me as they are to show me the way,” she says.

And true to form, when it comes to the heights that Pearce hopes to reach during her coaching career, she refuses to acknowledge that there is a ceiling.

“I’m not going to set any limits, but I haven’t exactly sat down and set out any great ambitions yet, either,” she says.

“At the moment, my vision in coaching is to help the people who I’m coming in contact with and try to help as many people as I can, whether it’s a group of six first-to-third-year players, or one day maybe becoming a senior coach. I don’t know yet.

“You need to have big dreams and big plans, but you also need to be OK with changing them. That’s my philosophy.”

Daisy Pearce is an expert AFL commentator for the Seven Network, which will air the 2023 AFL season live from March 16.