Alan McConnell hopes emerging AFLW league could work in GWS Giants favour
WHEN Alan McConnell was appointed as the Giants’ AFLW coach in October he told his team there was one thing missing from almost four decades in football — a premiership.
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WHEN Alan McConnell was appointed as the Giants’ AFLW coach in October he told his team there was one thing missing from almost four decades in football — a premiership.
He also told them his desire to win one still burns, but at 60 years of age he knows there won’t be too many more chances.
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If the GWS women’s team are to do it this year they will have to do something no team in AFL VFL history has done, go from last to first in one season.
Richmond pulled off the biggest single season improvement to win a premiership when they went from 13th in 2016 to number one last year.
McConnell’s team have a couple of advantages over the Tigers.
The first is they will only have to improve eight places to claim the flag instead of 13. The second is that they’re playing in a competition which is only one year old and still very much in the development phase.
It’s something the wily veteran is trying to exploit.
“Where the game is in the AFLW at you can fudge lines a bit,” McConnell said.
“The age of players is a good example. If you don’t have elite high end talent in the men’s competition it’s hard to compete. In the men’s game it is so much about power and speed that the second you don’t have it you can’t play.
“The women’s game isn’t so much about power and speed so consequently, we’ve been happy to recruit women in their mid-30s.”
It’s a similar plan to the one the men’s Giants side employed effectively in their opening seasons when they signed veterans Chad Cornes, Dean Brogan, Luke Power and James McDonald.
The Giants AFLW team have three players aged between 32 and 36 — Tanya Hetherington (32), Courtney Gum (35) and Irishwoman Cora Staunton (36).
“They bring a poise and life experience to the group which is invaluable,” McConnell said.
“We know that worked extremely well with our men’s team. Culturally those older women are really driven. They aren’t here to make up the numbers.
“When you are told you are too old and too slow and you can’t play there is a fair motivation to prove them wrong. They are great role models in a whole lot of ways.”
They have only been together for seven weeks preparing for season 2018 but there is a real unity among the players behind their veteran coach.
“We’ve come a long way since last year and Alan McConnell has made a huge difference as coach,” captain Amanda Farrugia said.
“He’s invested a lot in us as people not just players.”
W-League veteran Ellie Brush is relatively new to AFL and knows when a team and coach are on the same page.
“There is a very good feeling among the players,” Brush said.
“Al is a special kind of coach and person. He is such a great mentor, coach and teacher. If we can click who knows what can happen, if we can play freely and have fun it could all come together.”
McConnell has been around the block as well and knows when a team is switched on to what he’s saying and he has it with this group.
“It’s been a blank canvas in a lot of ways,” McConnell said.
“They are open to what you ask them to do. The challenge is to keep it simple.
“Everybody has a game plan, they have a hankering for the knowledge they are getting at this level. In the end it’s a game of fundamentals and if you get too carried away it gets harder and not easier.”
Originally published as Alan McConnell hopes emerging AFLW league could work in GWS Giants favour
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