Battle of the bumps: Pregnant Perth coach Jess Sedunary and South Fremantle coach Pia Faletti to go head-to-head in WAFLW

Rival WAFLW coaches Jess Sedunary and Pia Faletti will share a unique bond when their teams meet this weekend — they’re both due to give birth within months. Eliza Reilly finds out more.

It’s not common for football coaches to have packed maternity bags with them on the sidelines, or to get phone alerts saying to relax during a halftime address, but Jess Sedunary and Pia Faletti are not common coaches.

The two head WAFLW coaches at Perth and South Fremantle respectively will meet on Sunday at Fremantle Oval.

And they’ll do so while performing the miracle of life – a battle of the bumps if you will.

Sedunary, 29 weeks, and Faletti, 34 weeks, have both managed to balance the entire WAFLW season so far with pregnancy and all the hospital visits, morning sickness and baby brain that comes with it.

So when they come head-to-head on Sunday, the pair are hoping first and foremost for a win but secondly for their waters to still be intact post-match.

“As soon as I found out Pia was pregnant I was like ‘Is there something in the WAFLW waters?” Sedunary told this masthead. “She used to coach me at West Coast I can’t wait to catch up with her and share war stories.

“My pregnancy app says something like ‘loud noises can shock the baby’ and I’m standing there on the boundary line screaming!

“Luckily he seems to sleep during games. I don’t feel him kicking.”

Perth coach Jessica Sedunary. Picture: WA Football

South Fremantle currently sit percentage out of the top four while Perth is still searching for its first win of the season, a critical clash in the context of both team’s seasons.

“If it’s not a stressful game for one of us it means it probably is for the other,” Faletti said. “I don’t know how we avoid that!

“I’ve been told to pack my bags so that’s when you know it’s getting serious but I’m still feeling really good physically. I just want our girls to play competitive football.”

Sedunary, a former AFLW player with Adelaide, St Kilda and West Coast, was appointed the Demon’s inaugural coach last August. She fell pregnant a few months later and struggled with intense morning sickness early, something she struggled to hide from the players.

Pia Faletti instructs her players. Pic: WA Football/Jack Foley

“My first trimester was really challenging,” she said. “It was a shock to the system.

“I was trying to juggle coaching a brand new team and being the head of women’s football while feeling sick non-stop. I ended up in hospital (with hyperemesis gravidarum) due to vomiting too much.

“I couldn’t even drive from training home without a bucket. But since the 20-week mark, it’s been a lot better.

“I wanted to let the girls know what was going on because I didn’t feel like the best version of myself. I eventually told them one day during a team meeting.

“I said ‘We’ve got another recruit but they won’t be here until August 2025.’ It took them a while to click until I put up a picture of my ultrasound. They call me Mumma Sedge now.

“One of our players brings her six-month-old down to training as well so I’ve been really big on being able to juggle family and kids and still play at this level.”

Pia Faletti with former Western Bulldogs coach Nathan Burke. Picture: South Fremantle.

Jessica Sedunary missed Perth’s inaugural game due to illness. Picture: WA Football

Sedunary skipped one of Perth’s pre-season practice matches with illness but it was nowhere near as bad as being forced to miss the club’s first-ever WAFLW game in round one against Peel Thunder.

“I had to go to the doctor’s because I had a rash,” she said. “They thought it could’ve been measles so I was put into quarantine.

“I went to get it checked the morning of the game to get it sorted out, and had all of my coaching stuff in the car, but then I had to quarantine until I got tested and cleared so I missed our very first game.”

For Faletti, the mental toll has been more challenging than the physical.

“There’s a lot that comes with running a football club,” Faletti said. “There’s a squad of 35 players you’re trying to develop into people and football players while your body is doing what it’s doing.

“I’ve been trying to keep myself grounded and realistic about what I can do week to week. The girls are definitely protective of me. They’re constantly telling me to get out of the firing line or go and stand over there because I can’t really be on the bump bags anymore!

“There’s been days where I’m a bit fatigued and foggy and rock up to training where 35 girls need my attention and energy. That’s when it gets challenging. But I’ve always loved taking on big challenges.”

Pia Faletti (centre). Picture: South Fremantle.

Perth is yet to win a game so far this season but the Demons are already the best of the expansion clubs when it comes to points scored and conceded.

For the players, securing Sedunary her first win as coach is a matter of urgency. After seven interstate moves in the past decade, the 34-year-old is finally moving back home to South Australia in three weeks to give birth.

It means she’ll miss the final five games of the season but she’ll forever be a part of history at Perth.

“It’s really sad because I’ve loved every minute of coaching these girls,” Sedunary said. “I’ve played in a premiership but coaching this group is right up there.

“I’m confident they’ll have success in the future. It’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made.

“I think it’s put the girls under a bit of pressure. We’ve had so many close games in the last month!

“We’ve often been within a goal in the last quarter. My watch keeps saying ‘stressful period’ and I’m like ‘I know!’ But they’ve said they really want to get a win for me in my last three games.

“The club has been so supportive. They’ve never made me feel guilty.”

In an ideal world, Faletti’s birth would coincide with South Fremantle’s bye in mid-July and she’d be back in time to coach the Bulldogs in finals should they qualify.

But she’s not naive.

“From all the education my husband and I have done, we have a plan but we’re prepared to throw it out the window,” she said. “The goal is to make finals.

“The way things are tracking, the baby should be here before then so I’d aim to be back as soon as the health of both of us allows.

“The girls know I’m committed to them and coaching as far as I can into this. We’ve set up the other coaches to take over when I need to take a little bit of time off.”

Whatever happens on Sunday at Fremantle Oval, Sedunary and Faletti can coach content knowing they have 35 babysitters ready for duty.