With the AFLW season done and dusted and AFL pre-season kicking into gear, AFLW Senior Coach Bec Goddard doesn’t have much time to rest.
Following an intense season of AFLW, Goddard will now recommence her role as a development coach in Hawthorn’s men’s program alongside AFL Senior Coach Sam Mitchell.
Despite the men’s and women’s seasons not aligning, Goddard and Mitchell still worked together on many instances during the AFLW season, strengthening their relationship.
In fact, their relationship has been strong since day one after coming through similar pathways to reach the pinnacle of coaching.
“We’re two high performance coaches trying to be the best and we work with each other to be better coaches. One doesn’t have a difference to the other,” Goddard told Hawks Insiders.
“It’s like any other office environment where you’ve got men and women working together, that’s exactly what Sam and I have got.
“We bounce ideas off each other, we talk to each other about how our post-game reviews are going, we go into each other’s different stuff just to get fresh ideas and different ways of doing things.
“We’re together but we’re also quite independent coaches in our own right who love to collaborate and bounce ideas off each other.”
Reflecting on the AFLW season, Goddard was excited about the youth coming through.
Jasmine Fleming is an obvious name that comes to mind because the 18-year-old is “wise beyond her years”.
“She comes into every conversation and every match very maturely about what she’s going to do and what she’s got for us,” Goddard said.
Charlotte Baskaran also showed immense promise in her first season, averaging 10.5 disposals and 5.1 tackles while playing all 10 games in her final year of school.
Goddard recalled one moment where she was blown away by the 17-year-old.
“I watched Charlotte Baskaran literally get fended off by Ellie McKenzie, who is a monster of the competition, and just get flattened and jump straight back up,” Goddard said.
“That’s the kind of thing that you love to see and it gets me really excited about what’s going to happen in the future if we got that after five weeks of pre-season.”
In the ruck, it was Lucy Wales who dominated with averages of 9.7 disposals, 16.8 hit-outs and 4.4 tackles.
As impressive as finishing in the top 10 for hit-outs this season was, it was Wales’ efforts across the field that stood out to Goddard.
“Her work around the ground for a big person is really quite remarkable and I think is only going to get better as the years go on,” she said.
“She gets down the line, she takes a mark… and she’s got an enormous future ahead of her. She’s a fantastic person as well.”
Perhaps the player that improved the most this season was Akec Makur Chuot.
Following limited game time for Fremantle and Hawthorn, Makur Chuot blossomed at the Hawks, playing all 10 games this season and excelling in a new position on the wing.
“That was absolutely her best AFLW season from what I’ve seen of her playing at Freo and at Richmond,” Goddard said.
“She selected herself consistently every week.
“She’s got an enormous off-season ahead of her to try and maintain that for next season if that’s what she wants to do.”
Off the field, Makur Chuot was a ray of sunshine, which was invaluable in developing the team’s culture.
“She’s just a great person, she makes everyone smile and she brings colour and life to everything we do,” Goddard said.
“She certainly makes me laugh and everyone else laugh.
“You can’t put a figure on how valuable having that kind of diversity is: her cultural heritage and background coming into our group and teaching us about her life and her family and her community and culture.”
