Courtney Cramey reveals that while rehabing her injured hamstring, she’s seeing the game from a whole new angle: the coaches box

In her exclusive column for Advertiser.com.au, Crows joint vice-captain Courtney Cramey reveals what she’s doing while rehabing her injured hamstring.

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STARS will always be stars and it was North Melbourne’s star power that got them an undefeated start to the AFLW season.

Just like last week, we were not shy of a challenge, knocking off an undefeated Fremantle side in Darwin, and we knew that it was going to be another great game.

Like any top-of-the-ladder clash it comes with excitement and nerves all mixed together, but it was an opportunity that our 21 contributors all rose to.

We spoke early in the week about opportunity. It’s the big games you want to play, it’s the competitive nature of every footballer to want to match it among the best. Emma Kearney versus Ebony Marinoff; Jessica Duffin versus Erin Phillips; and Chelsea Randall versus Jasmine Garner, were some of the enticing match ups, just to name a few.

The stars can shine, but the emphasis of our great win on the weekend was more about an even spread of contributors.

The girls maximised their opportunity when it was their turn to win the contest.

When it was poise that was needed, they stayed in the moment and most importantly, they took their opportunity to enjoy it, getting us another win against an undefeated side, 4.5 (29) to 10.4 (64).

I got to see the game from a different perspective. As I progress through my hamstring rehab, I have learned that with adversity comes opportunity and the opportunity to go in the coaches’ box was something I took with both hands.

Courtney Cramey is pictured with Crows AFLW assistant coach Peter Cavan. Picture: SARAH REED

A foreign place for myself, it gave me a greater understanding of what happens on game day from a coaching and high-performance perspective.

It got me thinking about how many women we have in coaching roles in the AFLW.

The Crows have Narelle Smith as our forward line coach and there are nine female assistant coaches in the AFLW. There are no women anymore in head coaching roles in our competition, nor any in coaching roles in the men’s AFL.

We see female player participation rapidly growing, female representation on boards and off-field in administration roles, however, how long will it take for there to be a bigger representation from women in coaching roles?

Adelaide Crows AFLW joint vice-captain Courtney Cramey during an open Crows training session at Norwood Oval. Picture: RUSSELL MILLARD.

My experience on the weekend is the start of many more opportunities we should be affording women interested in following a coaching pathway to accelerate their knowledge and understanding of the game and what it takes to coach at the highest level.

As International Women’s Day approaches, we continue to speak of player pathways for women and thankfully the conversations have started on female coaching pathways too.

With that in mind, this week we look ahead to the first ever AFLW match at Unley Oval against GWS, where once again we need to take the opportunity and keep the wins coming.

Originally published as Courtney Cramey reveals that while rehabing her injured hamstring, she’s seeing the game from a whole new angle: the coaches box