From licence to debut: Behind the scenes access of Richmond’s AFLW journey
It’s been 18 months in the making but suddenly it’s here - the Tigers will make their AFLW debut in front of a packed crowd on Friday night. Lauren Wood takes you behind the scenes in the Tigers’ lair.
Richmond
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They call it “The Dungeon” — a 3m x 3m windowless office for six.
It sits in the corner of Richmond’s Punt Road headquarters and it helped give birth to one of AFLW’s newest four clubs.
The first to inhabit The Dungeon were coach Tom Hunter, football boss Kate Sheahan, recruiter and now player Lauren Teseriero, player development manager Sarah Wyllie, high performance boss Matt Parker and part-time culture and leadership chief Liz Quinn.
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Those close quarters were a little too close at times, they laugh.
They lived on top of each other, Sheahan reveals, for more than 18 months.
If one had a headache, another seemed to cop one, too.
If one had a dream about a player, another seemed to, too.
They were working in such close quarters, for such long hours, in pursuit of the one goal — building an AFLW team from theground up — they were just about becoming the same person.
“It was hilarious, and weird, but goes to show exactly how much we were all putting in,” she says.
THE COACH
Tom Hunter retired from AFL aged 20 after sustaining a serious neck injury as a Collingwood rookie in 2011.
He found himself as an assistant coach in Richmond’s VFL program, and was working as a primary school teacher at Keilor Views Primary School when he first answered the call of Tigers women’s football boss Kate Sheahan at the end of 2017.
“I’d never thought about coaching women,” Hunter admits.
“I didn’t think it was for me. Part of it was that I didn’t want it to be seen that I was using it as a pathway to get to the men’s.”
But then getting in, doing a few sessions and meeting Kate a few more times and talking about education – and helping the girls get that foundation of football knowledge, I was in … I was certainly unsure.
“But when I found out about how much scope and growth that the girls have in their game, that’s what drew me to it – you could be a teacher, but teach footy.”
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THE TEAM
The licence was officially ticked on September 26, 2017.
Hunter was on board soon after, and Project VFLW began.
Some 130 women turned up for the talent identification day in November that year to form a VFL women’s side and while Hunter knew footy, he was a little unsure about what he was looking for.
“I’d never really watched women’s footy up until I knew I’d be doing it,” he says.
“I loved footy, but I didn’t think I’d love the women’s side of it as much. And I do.”
First they formed a VFL Women’s side, next would come the AFLW outfit.
Club president Peggy O’Neal this week spoke of the lengthy bidding process, and how the initial rejection felt “unjustified”.
When it was granted while Sheahan attended her uncle’s funeral, her immediate reaction was excitement, but frustration.
“My genuine reaction when we got the licence was ‘we’ve got to wait, again?’,” Sheahan recalls.
“But I’m so grateful that we had that time to do what we’ve done.
“VFL team, based here, working in the Next Generation Academy zone. I’m impatient at the best of times, but it’s the best thing that happened to us.”
Hunter said leading Richmond’s VFL Women’s side through the 2018 was a good, learning experience.
“It taught me how to defend ... the good sides know how to attack,” he said.
“In 2019, we changed it and just taught ball movement and had a successful year in the VFL. That put us in good stead for this season.”
The 2019 season was then geared towards building an AFLW team.
“There was working out player lists, working out who we wanted to target through expansion … then our academy players and signing them,” Hunter says.
“And then once we did that, we had our season to worry about.
“And then once the season was done, we had the draft. We’ve been working for 18 months pretty much non-stop for this point.”
THE STARS
At the end of last year, the Tigers cast the net for some big fish, landing stars Katie Brennan, Monique Conti and Sabrina Frederick.
Brennan — then skipper at the Western Bulldogs — recalls the “mean spread of food” at Sheahan’s place when she first met with her, Hunter and Tigers football boss Neil Balme.
“It was a really great meeting and I got a really good vibe from it all,” Brennan said.
“It was a tough decision, but since meeting the people and setting foot in the club, I haven’t looked back. I’ve really loved the journey.”
Sheahan – who also had baby Harry in that time, probably sharing “a bit too much” with those in The Dungeon, with dreams and ailments common among all becoming normality – knows more than anyone how long the wait has been, having been appointed before the club’s licence was even approved.
THE RECRUITS
Fast forward to this week and young recruits Tayla Stahl and Iilish Ross sprawl over chairs in the new player lounge at Punt Road, all arms and legs and plates of peanut butter toast.
They’ve come straight from work – Stahl in warehousing and logistics – and admit the balance is tough.
“You have to pack your footy bag the night before and definitely can’t forget anything,” Stahl says.
Ross chimes in: “They’re long days, but so good.”
Tall Rebecca Miller lauds the employers and parents who are on this journey, too.
She has been allowed to take this day off work.
“I’ve got the best boss in the world,” she beams.
“There’s so many people who have gotten us here.”
THE BONDING
At 5.32pm, it’s players-only to the theatrette, the walls emblazoned with the men’s team’s premiership glories of recent years.
The coaches can hear the laughs and screams from inside but have “no idea what goes on in there”, Sheahan says.
Teseriero steers this session, which kicks off with a prank on youngster Kodi Jacques.
Sabrina Frederick, Miller, Laura Bailey and Jacques are fitted with makeshift blindfolds made of towels under the charade of an eating challenge.
Little does Jacques know as she swiftly scoffs two bananas thinking she’s on the clock, the other three at the front of the room have removed their blindfolds and watch on laughing like the rest.
When Jacques catches on, it’s raucous.
“You could have the longest day, but within 10 minutes of being here, you can’t help but get up,” one player remarks.
Hunter and his fellow coaches arrive and the switch is flicked - it’s all systems go with a presentation and match vision of the Blues, the plan for training and a quick team-building exercise focused on positivity.
A warmup in the gym transitions to the track for about 90 minutes – contact-free for some, laps for others, a post-session extra for a few. Busy.
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THE SELECTION
As the team devours lamb wraps, Hunter retreats to The Dungeon to pick the side.
Ironically, the room has since been extended but he is the lone occupant.
Tonight he is joined around the whiteboard and its player magnets by specialist coach Nathan Chapman, forwards coach Jason Armistead, Tom Humphrey, backs man Sam Shaw, Sheahan, Parker and midfield boss Jacob Thompson.
As the team is picked, players gather downstairs to hand out their weekly “fines”, led by Teseriero.
The team is virtually set – a few already sidelined because of injury – but there’s one spot in particular that’s hot debate among the crew, who have their dinner delivered to the war room.
Sarah Sansonetti is coming back from a concussion – she’s passed all the tests, but is she up to a match?
How do they set about managing the Blues’ young star Maddy Prespakis?
Which midfielders will rotate forward?
Which player still needs to prove once more that they’re right, and who makes the final judgement call?
Hunter is contemplative, Chapman the rational realist, grabbing magnets off the board once they’re out of the mix. They delegate who is going to be the one to break the news.
“It’s a good team,” Thompson quips. “They’ll go well.”
Then it’s logistics. Buses to and from the ground, recovery schedules.
Media commitments, family wristbands, even discussions about the Round 2 trip to the Gold Coast.
It’s all new. Then they scatter. Home to their “real” families.
THE DAWN
Hunter is left standing alone at 9.35pm.
It’s been more than 18 months in the making but suddenly it’s here — 889 days after the licence was granted.
He’ll be nervous – he always is before games.
There hasn’t been much sleep in the lead-up to today.
“I’ll be nervous for the players – that’s the main one. Excited for them,” he said.
“I want them to do really well. I’ll be stressed that they’re going to be stressed.
“I can’t wait to see them on the ground – we’ve encouraged them to take it all in, embrace it, look around, smell it, touch the grass.”
It hasn’t dawned on him yet that this team they’ve built will be a part of Richmond’s history forever.
His partner Danielle will be there tonight, his family and hers.
He’s missed a lot, building this from the ground up – that’s been the hardest part.
“One day, it probably will dawn on me, and looking back and knowing that I had a hand in it will be exciting,” he said.
With the club now empty and the doors locked, an accidental pocket dial has led to four laughing mates in a group Facetime.
“Gotta go,” Hunter smiles.
“They want to see The Dungeon. See you at the footy.”