Bec Goddard says she won’t hold back as Hawthorn’s AFLW coach, vowing to be “deliberate and afraid of nothing” as she looks to lead the side into their inaugural season at the end of next year.
The AFL confirmed last week that Hawthorn would join the competition ahead of the 2022/23 season, with Goddard currently the only female coach within the league.
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Speaking to Broad Radio this week, Goddard said it was an honour to be at the helm of the Hawks.
“I’m glad that I’m back, I’m not going to be quiet, I’ll be deliberate and afraid of nothing, and I can’t wait to get stuck back into it,” Goddard said.
“We’re waiting for some of the rules around who we can draft, how many players we can take from other clubs if they want to come over to Hawthorn, and how that will all work.
“We don’t know what our list will look like yet, but we know how we want to build it - we’ve got to lay the foundations of the house for success and then play the footy.”
Goddard joined the brown and gold family as coach of the club’s VFLW side last season, with part of her focus on promoting female coaches, trainers and players in preparation for admission to the AFLW.
Although the Hawks did not qualify for VFLW finals in a disjointed season this year, she oversaw a program that generated another three women elevated to the AFLW in last month’s draft, taking the club’s overall tally to 11 draftees over the past four years.
She already has a proven coaching record in the AFLW, having led Adelaide to premiership success in the competition’s inaugural season in 2017.
After stepping away from the Crows following the end of the 2018 season, Goddard was unsure whether she would return to coaching.
Now she’ll be hoping to recreate AFLW success for the second time round.
“We’re definitely starting to change our way of thinking and the way that women can add value to traditionally male-dominated environments, and in particular in sport," she said.
“It’s time, there are some great women available, the game is growing rapidly, but we’ve got women ready to go, let’s just give them a go.”
