Geelong Falcons’ coach Tash Heffernan opens up on her accelerated journey into coaching
Geelong Falcons’ girls coach Tash Heffernan never imagined she’d be working full-time in football, before a call changed everything. Plus, she reveals the former Cats who have helped her along the way.
Geelong Falcons’ girls head coach Tash Heffernan has gotten used to being comfortable doing the uncomfortable.
A reluctant public speaker in the past, Heffernan predicted if she told her players that now, they wouldn’t believe her.
But in overcoming that aversion, Heffernan’s rise through the coaching pathways has been steep, from her first role as a development coach in 2022 to a head coach at the Falcons by 2025.
Self-doubt and confidence might have been Heffernan’s biggest hesitation when initially applying for the role as head coach Melissa Hickey went on parental leave, but stepping into a full-time football opportunity has been a dream come true for the 40-year-old.
“That’s just something I’ve had to overcome, in my own personal development and growth, and I think if I was to say to the girls, ‘I hate public speaking’, they wouldn’t believe me,” Heffernan said from the Falcons’ offices at Highton Reserve.
“It’s that ‘get comfortable being uncomfortable’ situation, where if you’re not challenging yourself to grow, you’re not going to grow.
“I’m a completely different person to what I was, say three years ago.”
While initially taking on the head coaching job for Hickey for 12 months, Heffernan will remain in the role for another season as the former Cats AFLW captain remains on leave.
“(It’s) to consolidate with this group really, what we’ve achieved over the last year and what we’ve set our focus on for next year,” Heffernan said of a group who was bottom-age heavy in 2025.
Working full-time in football is a path Heffernan, a nurse by trade, could never have imagined for herself, having only started playing herself six years ago.
Growing up on King Island, there was “definitely no” girls football for Heffernan to join despite her love for the game, and just three men’s teams playing week-on-week.
As a student at Assumption College, she got as close as running water.
A move to Geelong after welcoming her third son Charlie, now 7, saw her family, including husband James and Hugo, 12, and Archer, 10, join St Mary’s and expose Heffernan to women’s football for the first time.
Taking up the game at 34, Heffernan played a few seasons before injuries crept in.
It was a later call from school friend and former AFL premiership Cat Tom Lonergan – then the Falcons’ talent lead – looking to appoint more female coaches which would kickstart Heffernan’s coaching journey.
Starting as a development coach in 2022, when Paul Corrigan was the Falcons’ dual boys-girls coach, before moving into the midfield coaching role under Hickey in 2023-24, Heffernan has continued to say yes to roles in Vic Country’s U16, U17 and U18 programs, while last month she was one of two head coaches for the AFLW Futures game at Ikon Park.
“I’ve been fortunate enough just to be able to continue to say yes, and it opened the doors for my journey, which is essentially the way you have to go,” Heffernan said.
“There is a lot of doubt, but if you just keep backing yourself and saying yes and asking all the right questions then the doors will continue to open.”
With her family strong supporters in helping her balance the logistics of her work, Heffernan also pointed to Corrigan as an ongoing mentor and someone she leant on during the first half of the 2025 season as she “got her bearings” in the head coaching role.
“He’s always got his phone on and ready to answer a question if I call him,” she said.
Hickey is another Heffernan credited as a strong role model, while it’s another former Cat in Cameron Ling, a junior coach alongside Heffernan at St Mary’s, who Heffernan has also modelled her coaching on.
“He (Ling) and I have a really good relationship, and I think he has been a mentor without being a mentor in the way he communicates and the way he is inclusive and the way he educates, even the small boys as 12 year-olds, and the respect he gives them all – then how I apply that to my coaching,” she said.
Bilyk, McKeegan fly Falcons’ flag in Futures appearance
Geelong Falcons’ Greea McKeegan and Ava Bilyk put injury-interrupted seasons behind them with strong appearances in this year’s AFL National Futures showcase.
The pair lined up in Sunday’s fixture – which brings the best 46 17-years-olds and 2026 AFLW draft prospects from across the country together – with staff also represented by all states and territories.
Falcons’ girls head coach Tash Heffernan, who teamed up with McKeegan and Bilyk as their coach of Team Conti, was pleased with the way both players acquitted themselves in the game, especially considering shared journeys dealing with injuries through the Coates Talent League and APS Geelong Grammar football season this year.
For McKeegan it was a fractured knuckle playing for Geelong Grammar, while Bilyk suffered a syndesmosis injury for the Falcons, which later saw her play just one game – the Falcons’ losing elimination final last month – in eight weeks.
“I think they’ll only be better for the experience,” Heffernan said of their games on Sunday.
Playing at Ikon Park as a curtain-raiser to Geelong’s AFLW win over Richmond, Team Conti had the ascendancy in the first half, leading by 14 points at half time, before Team Vescio came home strong to edge out their rivals, 7.6 (48) to 5.11 (41).
“It was really hotly contested and while Team Conti was probably on top in the first half, after a few changes it sort of evened out in the last half,” Heffernan said.
Both McKeegan and Bilyk had opportunities to hit the scoreboard, though McKeegan’s’ second half shot went to the right and Bilyk’s earlier snap on goal touched the post.
McKeegan, who represented Vic Country in three U18 national championships games as a bottom-ager this year, played across halfback early, and showed her competitive intent to go back with the flight of the ball to spoil a contest further up the ground.
She then worked her way into the game more with a move to the wing in the second half.
“She liked the open space, and played really well in that wing role,” Heffernan said.
Meanwhile, Bilyk started in the midfield where she showed her class to pick up 11 disposals and four clearances in the first half – before finishing with around 18 touches – showing an innate ability to navigate tight spaces with ball in hand to get the handball release.
A move to defence came in the second half, with one eye-catching moment seeing Bilyk work up the ground and judge the flight of the ball better than an opponent to then wheel and go, before a return to the midfield in the final 10 minutes.
“She had really great influence there (midfield) … and playing across halfback, she influenced the game like she always does there,” Heffernan said.
“Her football IQ really stood out and she was able to impact.
“She’s really composed with ball in hand and often makes some really good decisions, her disposal efficiency was great again.”
Both teams had little time to prepare for Sunday’s game, players arriving at Essendon’s Hangar training base on Saturday for a 45-minute training session before spending the rest of their preparation connecting as new teammates.
“Our main message to the whole group was to really showcase your weapons,” Heffernan said.
“And to have fun and really enjoy the experience and to really lean into that learning and connecting with others going through the same challenges, whether that be adversity through injury or travel, all the little things that we’re able to connect them.”
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