They’re an AFL powerhouse. So why can’t Collingwood’s women’s team find success?

September 12, 2026 — 6:30am

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For nearly four quarters, Collingwood captain Ruby Schleicher was on the verge of an unwanted statistical milestone.

With just three minutes left in last weekend’s game against Carlton, her career-high personal tally of three goals and four behinds would ordinarily have been cause for celebration. But the disappointing fact for Schleicher and her Magpies was that she had contributed 100 per cent of her team’s score.

Teammate Georgia Knight offered a reprieve with a behind, followed by a goal to Dominique Carbone, which made the 39-point loss to the undefeated Blues sting a little less.

To put the loss in perspective, the injury-marred Pies were missing key players, including last-minute drop-outs from star Ash Centra and Jemma Rigoni and were facing Carlton – a team that made finals last year and will likely to do the same in 2026.

Still, Sunday’s defeat marks their fourth consecutive loss – a streak that, compounded by several years of poor results, should be sounding alarm bells at Collingwood headquarters.

In 2019, this masthead published a piece, with the headline “What’s wrong with Collingwood’s AFLW side”, which examined the club’s poor performance after high-profile players Jasmine Garner, Moana Hope, Emma King and Jess Duffin defected to North Melbourne during W’s rapid expansion period.

At the time, critics questioned the Pies’ list management, draft and recruiting strategy. Staff turnover was also cited as a concern, after the club had employed three women’s football operations managers in three years.

That was seven years ago. Even the brightest of optimists and diehard Pies fans would concede not enough has changed since then.

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Collingwood are currently second-last on the ladder and – like Essendon, St Kilda and West Coast – yet to record a win ahead of their match on Saturday against Gold Coast at People First Stadium.

So why single Collingwood out, when three other clubs have the same 0-4 start?

Essendon, St Kilda and........

© Brisbane Times