By RUSSELL BENNETT
WAYNE Siekman is jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire, and he couldn’t be more excited about it.
The long-time assistant and development coach at the Dandenong Stingrays has been named as the inaugural senior coach of the Collingwood side in the AFL’s national women’s league, which takes to the field for the first time in 2017.
Still only 33 years old, Siekman has been coaching since he was 17 after injuries curtailed his playing career.
He has since gone on to coach the Vic Metro Youth Girls to national championships in 2015 and 2016, and was an assistant with the Vic Country under-18 side that won the national championships last year.
He’s also previously served as the head coach of the Sandringham Youth Girls Academy among his other roles, but it’s his long-time association with the Stingrays that he’s most known for.
“I’ve been lucky to have been at the Rays for a long time and in that time I’ve covered off every role you can have from a coaching point of view, and that is the great thing about the Stingrays – they develop players, but also coaches,” he said. “I’ve been a development coach, runner, opposition coach, forwards, mids and backs coach, a senior assistant, and I also coached a TAC game last year.
“They gave me an opportunity and, further to that, have allowed me to coach the Vic Metro Youth Girls and Vic Country under-18s the last few years and I’ve had to miss a few games to do that so that shows how supportive they are.”
Siekman admitted he had imagined one day holding a senior coaching role in an AFL environment, and now that day has actually arrived.
“As you gradually go along the coaching pathway, you always think to yourself ‘could this be me one day?’,” he said.
“Obviously, to be given this opportunity in the inaugural season for the women’s league is a great achievement and something I am truly honoured (in), especially to be given the chance to coach the biggest and best club in the AFL.”
Siekman had a brief stint at Collingwood in December when he got the chance to take part in a week of personal development with the club’s coaches.
“They were great – they allowed full access to all meetings and training – and it certainly helped me this year, especially with the Vic Metro girls in improving on and off-field performances,” he said.
“I can’t thank the players who have played for Vic Metro the last three years enough, as their willingness to listen, learn and implement the structures and procedures we have put in have certainly help me. As they say – your players are a small reflection of the coach, so I’m pretty thankful to them.”
Now, a whole new footballing world has been opened up to him.
“I’ve been coaching for half my life, and although I’m still young I have gained plenty of experience and still have so much more to learn and this will continue my growth and development as a coach,” Siekman said.
“The day you stop listening and stop learning you are in trouble as new coaches on the rise will replace you, so you have to keep learning and finding new ideas.”
In the past six months, Siekman has worked to help establish a skill curriculum for the youth girls – one that all academies will be able to use and refer to in order to see where a player should be at with her skills for her age and her years playing the game.
“The game is evolving quickly and even more so now that there is a women’s league.
“It will have a big impact.
“We will be doing everything we can to ensure we play some exciting footy so fans and the general public will watch it and keep coming back. That is certainly one of my goals as coach next year – to make it entertaining for everyone to watch.”
