Full-time workloads, part-time help: Coaches in women’s footy are being short-changed

November 8, 2026 — 4:00am

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Who’d want to be a woman and an AFLW coach?

Not many people, judging by the events of the past year.

There are now just three women left in the senior roles across the competition: Daisy Pearce at West Coast, Lisa Webb at Fremantle and Tam Hyett at the Bulldogs.

The numbers were higher earlier this year, before Natalie Wood parted ways with Essendon after five seasons, and Lauren Arnell quit as senior coach of Port Adelaide before the season began.

Assistants are dropping off too. Take Power assistant Sam Virgo, a former Brisbane Lion who was an All-Australian defender. She quit this week.

Those three women all have one thing in common – workload.

At Essendon, Wood worked up to 70 hours per week. Arnell, who has a young family, said when she announced her resignation that she wanted to spend more time with them. She would have had no full-time assistant coach to share the load for the 2026 season. And Virgo said she was burnt out after four seasons – juggling a full-time job and the part-time footy role.

Contrast that to the men’s game, where at Carlton, Josh Fraser now has the luxury of a full-time mentor with unmatched experience in Chris Fagan.

No such role exists in AFLW.

By contrast, a senior........

© Brisbane Times