AFLW Crows coach Bec Goddard quits, but Adelaide is hopeful it can still work with her

ADELAIDE has left the door open for inaugural AFLW coach Bec Goddard to remain on the Crows’ payroll as a consultant after she quit as senior coach on Friday morning.

Chelsea Randall, Bec Goddard and Erin Phillips celebrate the inaugural 2017 AFLW premiership on the Gold Coast. Picture: Michael Wilson/Getty Images

• First report: Trailblazing coach leaves Crows’ nest
• Analysis here

ADELAIDE has left the door open for inaugural AFLW coach Bec Goddard to remain on the Crows’ payroll as a consultant after she quit as senior coach on Friday morning.

Goddard, who piloted the Crows to the first women’s national league title in 2017, is returning to Canberra and her duties with the Australian Federal Police despite being offered the job for the 2019 season.

Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan said Goddard, 39, and the club had been anticipating a potential split for as much as a year, with Goddard struggling to find enough leave from the force to coach the Crows and her two-year secondment to Adelaide coming to an end.

Goddard told Fagan it had been an impossible equation: to find three months leave a year – even more, as the AFLW is expanding with a heavier schedule – while still maintaining her career and private life with her partner, Lydia, in the nation’s capital.

The Advertiser understands Goddard aspires to one day land a full-time job in football but that the Crows, who tried to find a solution, could not find one that could compete with the senior standing she holds with the AFP.

It is also understood Goddard sent a text message to all of the Crows’ AFLW players on Friday morning thanking them for their efforts and roles in making history for women’s football.

She will remain in football as an assistant coach in the NEAFL with the Canberra Demons and there are already rumours other AFLW clubs are inquiring about her services.

Fagan told The Advertiser she would always be part of the Crows services and hoped that the club could continue to tap into her knowledge and experience for the third AFLW season but understood Goddard was in high demand.

The announcement of Goddard’s departure came as radio report out of Melbourne suggested there had been a falling-out between Goddard, some of her players and officials, something Fagan strongly denied.

“It was an absolutely amicable departure,” Fagan said. “We would have liked for Bec to continue coaching.

“She had to return to Canberra in order to continue her career with the police force which was really important to her – she’s been in there for 17 or 18 years and she continues to progress through senior ranks.

“Through the acquisition of leave through her employer she was only going to find two or three months time to coach which made it practically impossible for her to do the job.

“She contacted me ... it was just an obstacle we couldn’t overcome because of her commitment to her work.”

But Fagan was hopeful Goddard wasn’t lost to the Crows.

He would continue to be in touch with her about the 2019 season, as much as he realised other clubs would seek her out.

“I said to Bec that if there’s a way in which we can find a way forward, find another coach.

“I want to keep the door open for her to be involved in some capacity with the football club because she’s a tremendous asset,” Fagan said.

“She’s been a tremendous representative of our club and if we can work out that she’s involved at some level – whether that is directly involved in AFLW or in the club more broadly – we’d love to keep her involved.”

Originally published as AFLW Crows coach Bec Goddard quits, but Adelaide is hopeful it can still work with her