Adelaide Crows AFLW premiership Bec Goddard steps up her resume by joining Australian team for IRS Tests against Ireland

BEC Goddard is the AFLW’s best coach. And she intends to get better by learning from the AFL’s best coaches in the International Rules Series at the weekend.

Even after cracking the premiership mountain in the AFLW, Crows coach Bec Goddard is still wanting to learn from the best — including the Australian coaches, Chris Scott and Ross Lyon, at the International Rules AFL-Gaelic series in Adelaide this weekend. Picture: Dan Peled.

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BEC Goddard will never shy away from asking a question. The AFLW premiership coach wondered, asked and is now embedded with the Australian men’s team for the International Rules Series against Ireland this weekend.

And it all began with an email as the woman most likely to crack into a senior match-day role in AFL coaching ranks continues to build her impressive resume.

“I saw the (International Rules) series was on; I thought I wouldn’t mind that for my professional development, so I emailed (Australia coach) Chris Scott if it was a chance,” Goddard said. “The AFL came back with, ‘Yes, it is a chance’.

“If you don’t ask, you don’t get. And this opportunity is too good to miss.”

It is not the first time the AFL has had its International Rules expedition offer professional development opportunities to a women’s team coach. Michelle Cowan, a pioneer in breaking the gender barrier in Australian football, was inducted in the Australian team during the 2014 series — the most recent on home soil.

Goddard’s eagerness to learn — even after reaching the AFLW pinnacle — highlights why her path to a serious role in the AFL is getting closer to a meaningful appointment.

Adelaide Crows AFLW premiership coach Bec Goddard will be embedded in the Australian International Rules team. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Goddard is hoping to pick the brain of Geelong coach Chris Scott who is coaching the International Rules team. Picture: Michael Klein

“I want to learn from different coaches,” said Goddard, who will learn from Scott and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon as they deal with a different game — the hybrid AFL-Gaelic football — and seek to get the best out of the AFL’s best while they are out of their comfort zone.

Goddard has completed her first winter without any involvement in a coaching panel, but has not wasted any weekend in her study of coaches and coaching methods.

“I’ve loved the weekends, even with community football,” said Goddard. “I’ve watched coaches here, in the VFL (women’s competition) and in the NT — how they talk to their players; how they structure team meetings.

“Now I get to learn from the best in the business (with International Rules).”

Goddard will only be part of the first Test in Adelaide. At the moment, the Australian Federal Police officer can only afford to spend her weekends on football before she becomes fully immersed in the unprecedented coaching challenge of defending the AFLW premiership.

“I said at the SANFL coaches’ meeting on Friday that this time last year I was relaxed — there was no pressure,” Goddard said. “This time, it is different ...

“Everything we have done at Adelaide was to set a high standard (in the inaugural AFLW season). We come back knowing others are reaching to that standard, so we have to do better.”

The Irish Gaelic travel party will arrive in Adelaide on Tuesday, followed by the Australian squad on Thursday.

Tickets remain on sale for the first Test at Adelaide Oval. The series concludes with the AFL’s final event at Subiaco Oval in Perth on Saturday week.

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Originally published as Adelaide Crows AFLW premiership Bec Goddard steps up her resume by joining Australian team for IRS Tests against Ireland