Natalie Wood (coach)

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Natalie Wood is a former Australian rules footballer and current senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW).[1]

Natalie Wood
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
2022 (S7)– Essendon (W) 21 (10–11–0)
3 Coaching statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 season.

Playing career

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Wood played 190 games for the Darebin Falcons and Melbourne University in the Victorian Women's Football League, and represented the Western Bulldogs in women's exhibition matches in 2013 and 2014.[2]

Coaching career

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After retiring as a player in 2014, Wood joined the Geelong Football Club as a part-time assistant coach for the club's inaugural women's team that joined the VFL Women's (VFLW) in 2017.[2] Wood was then appointed to a full-time coaching role with Geelong as an assistant coach for the club's first season in the national AFLW competition in 2019.[2] As part of this role, she was also promoted to senior coach of Geelong's VFLW team.[2] This appointment meant that Wood was the first woman to attain a full-time coaching role with the club.[3]

On 18 March 2022, Wood was appointed as the inaugural coach of the Essendon Football Club's AFL Women's (AFLW) team.

Coaching statistics

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Statistics are correct to the end of the 2023 season[4]
Legend
 W  Wins  L  Losses  D  Draws  W%  Winning percentage  LP  Ladder position  LT  League teams
Season Team Games W L D W % LP LT
2022 (S7) Essendon 10 4 6 0 40.0% 10 18
2023 Essendon 11 6 5 0 54.6% 7 18
Career totals 21 10 11 0 47.6%

Personal life

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As well as full-time coaching, Wood is a high school teacher.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Essendon hires Natalie Wood as inaugural head coach of AFLW team". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 18 March 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Nakos, Nicholas; Black, Sarah (29 August 2018). "AFLW: Cats and Roos bolster teams". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 5 December 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b Oates, Stacey (28 August 2018). "Wood becomes part of Geelong Cats history". geelongcats.com.au. Telstra Media. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  4. ^ "Natalie Wood". Australian Football. Retrieved 18 July 2024.