Hawthorn VFLW will showcase an all-female coaching panel for another consecutive season.
The club recently finalised its coaching positions ahead of the 2022 VFLW season which is set to kick off next month.
It comes after Hawthorn became the first AFL club in VFLW/AFLW history to field an all-female coaching panel last year.
Senior Coach Cherie O'Neill will lead the brown and gold in 2022 alongside Assistant Coaches Lou Wotton, Christina Polatajko and Hayley Gregory.
Natasha Beck and Steph Carroll have been named as Development Coaches, while Meg Hutchins and Chantella Perera have come on board as Player Development Mentors.
Meanwhile, three-time Hawthorn premiership player and former coach Peter Schwab has taken on the role of Director of Coaching.
The renewed structure continues the club's proud history and commitment of supporting and developing female coaches across its women’s football programs.
Find out more about the coaching team below.
Cherie O’Neill – Senior Coach
O’Neill was announced as the club’s new coach late last year following the promotion of Bec Goddard as Hawthorn’s AFLW coach.
O’Neill boasts an impressive coaching resume that has most recently seen her in an assistant coaching role at the Bendigo Pioneers in the NAB League competition.
She'll be responsible for leading a competitive VFLW outfit while also having a lens on developing the next wave of future AFLW talent for Hawthorn through its VFLW program.
Lou Wotton – Assistant Coach (Midfield)
After spending a year as a development coach, Wotton will now take on an assistant coaching role helping to guide Hawthorn’s midfield talent.
The Hawks premiership star announced her retirement in 2020 following a 233-game career spanning across 16 years, and decided to turn her attention to coaching.
Having played mostly ruck throughout her football career, Wotton is particularly excited to continue to help develop the midfield group.
Christina Polatajko – Assistant Coach (Backs)
Polatajko will continue her role as the Hawks backline coach going into 2022.
Involved within coaching for the last six years, Polatajko joined Hawthorn's VFLW program in 2020 following a year with Carlton VFLW.
Hayley Gregory – Assistant Coach (Forwards)
Gregory will continue as the side's forward line coach, a role she has held since 2019.
Prior to that, Gregory was a match day coaching assistant for the Box Hill VFLW team in their inaugural year before moving into the role of Development Coach in 2018.
Natasha Beck – Head of Development
Beck joined the Hawks ahead of the 2021 season, coming from the NAB League's Dandenong Stingrays.
In 2019 she was assigned the role of Development Coach in 2019 for the Casey Demons VFLW team before joining Hawthorn VFLW.
Beck is interested in continuing her development and improving herself to help young girls realise their dreams.
Steph Carroll – Development Coach
Having spent the last two seasons on the Hawks VFLW coaching panel, Carroll will continue her role as development coach in 2022.
A lifelong Hawthorn supporter, Carroll joined the VFLW team in 2018, going on to be a premiership player.
She retired after the 2019 season, continuing her involvement with the VFLW side as a development coach in 2020 and 2021.
Meg Hutchins – Player Development Mentor
Hutchins will step into her first coaching role in 2022, becoming a player development mentor.
A champion of women's football, the former Hawks captain has built an incredibly impressive resume throughout a career that first began in 2003.
The 39-year-old, who retired at the end of the 2021 season after more than 250 games across the AFLW and VFLW, finished in third place at the club’s best and fairest last year.
Chantella Perera – Player Development Mentor
Perera will also enter into her first coaching stint alongside her former teammate Hutchins.
The premiership player returned home to the Hawks last year after playing with West Coast in the 2021 AFLW season.
The Hawks side will be buoyed to see her experience and football knowledge translate into a mentoring capacity.
